MICA is hosting a big design confab this weekend

Designing for social innovation will be a big topic around MICA this weekend.
Starting Saturday, April 9, MICA’s Center for Social Design is set to play host to a symposium called LEAP 2: Value of Social Design.
The four-day event is expected to bring more than 100 designers, social entrepreneurs, educators and funders to the center of the city.
“For the next three days, Baltimore will be the center of a growing national and international conversation about the future of design and the role, responsibility and value of design and designers in addressing complex social problems,” said Mike Weikert the founding director of the MICA Center for Social Design.
See the schedule
Along with MICA, workshops are set to be held at the Motor House and Impact Hub on North Avenue. Amid the agenda are three events that are free and open to the public.
Here are details on the public events:

• April 10: A pair of dialogues will discuss career pathways for design in social innovation. Among the speakers are Greater Good Studio cofounders George Aye and Sara Cantor Aye, NPR Creative Director Liz Danzico (whose work habits we profiled in Brooklyn) and Center for Urban Pedagogy Executive Director Christine Gaspar. The event takes places from 7-9 p.m. in MICA’s Falvey Hall.
• April 11: A panel including Liz Ogbu of Studio O and Tomorrow Partners Founder Gaby Brink considers future pathways for design’s role in social innovation. The event takes places from 7-9 p.m. in MICA’s Falvey Hall.
• April 12: MICA’s graphic design program hosts an event on Designing for Civil Rights. Ferguson-based activist DeAndrea Nichols is set to discuss design’s role in pushing for social change. The event is set for 1 p.m. at MICA’s Falvey Hall.