Design Thinking Catalyst student Tyberious Brooks '26 has helped create story walls throughout campus, provided educational workshops for over 70 local students, and supported Alamance County Community organizations: All to help inform people about the Power+Place storyteller series.
Tyberious Brooks ‘26 spent his summer and fall with the Center for Design Thinking, providing workshops and supporting local organizations, professionals and youth in the Alamance County community. He is currently the team lead of the Power+Place Collaborative, a partnership between organizations that collect and preserve oral histories and cocreated digital stories with residents from diverse communities across Alamance County.
“I joined the Power+Place collaborative when I joined the center,” Brooks said. “I really wanted to get a sense of familiarity and closeness with the community around me. This really allowed me to get out there and form connections and see how much that work can shape something.”
Brooks worked with 70 students at the Alamance Youth Leadership Academy to teach the basics of design thinking to assist them in designing improvements to their schools. He noted that youth were even better than Elon students at bringing creative problem-solving skills.
“I was happy to get them thinking about how they can start solving the problems they care about,” Brooks said. “They really took the idea of general brainstorming, and they were drawing out ideas.”
While Brooks started the first half of his summer helping students understand design thinking, he started thinking about what to bring to the Power+Place Collaborative after his visit with The Family Justice Center of Alamance County. Brooks emphasized the importance of mental health as he remembers the “heartwarming” experience of working with professionals who deal with high-stakes situations.
“The Family Justice Center was definitely very eye opening,” Brooks said. “We were talking about health and well-being. They requested the workshop to talk about how their mental health was taking a strain because they’re working with such sensitive topics. Even though it takes a toll on them, they’re still happy to do it at the end of the day.”
Brooks decided to take his skills back to the Design Center this past summer while he was doing undergraduate research in environmental engineering with his mentor at Elon University.
As time has progressed, Brooks remembers when he first joined the Center, the goal was to build up the Power + Place Collaborative. However, he believes the work being done outside the community is helping them grow.
“It’s still about going upward, but now it’s much more about going outward and reaching as many people as we can,” Brooks said. “It’s why we’re doing the partnerships with the Boys and Girls Club. That’s why we’re visiting the local library. It’s more about expanding the collaborative to touch as many people as possible.”
Learn more about the Power + Place Collaborative and make a donation.