What we offer

A fuller range of services
than either of us alone.

Our partnership gives clients access to capabilities neither organization offers independently — combining rigorous human-centered design methods with the firsthand knowledge of people who have lived the experiences your programs are designed to address.

Six service areas

Everything your initiative needs
in one partnership.

Dalbert Design

Lived Experience Integration

Advisor selection, compensation frameworks, pre-implementation review, and ongoing feedback mechanisms that keep community intelligence reaching decision-makers throughout your project lifecycle.

Advisor frameworksCompensation structuresFeedback loops
CivicMakers

Community & Stakeholder Engagement

Trust-first strategies built with the communities they serve. Plain language, pop-up workshops, customized outreach, and co-design sessions that surface genuine insight rather than performed consensus.

Engagement strategyCo-design sessionsOutreach materials
CivicMakers

Service Design & Evaluation

Centering programs around real needs through participatory research. Service blueprints, actionable evaluation reports, and prototypes for improvement — tested with the people they're built for.

Service blueprintsEvaluation reportsParticipatory research
Partnership strength

Strategic & Implementation Planning

Homelessness strategic plans and departmental roadmaps that connect policy intent to on-the-ground reality. Lived experience analysis adds the community perspective that strengthens plan language, improves uptake, and produces better long-term outcomes.

Strategic plansImplementation roadmapsOperational protocols
Dalbert Design

Gap Analysis & System Diagnostics

We identify where referral pathways can be strengthened, where resources aren't reaching the people they're designed for, and where community experience reveals opportunities that data alone doesn't capture — informing improvements and better outcomes.

Gap reportsSystem mappingPathway analysis
Partnership strength

Training & Capacity Building

Interactive workshops in co-design, trauma-informed practice, and human-centered design methodology — so agencies can carry the work forward. We share our tools and we don't want dependency.

HCD workshopsTrauma-informed practiceFacilitation training
Our process

How an engagement actually unfolds.

Not every project uses every step — but this is the flow we return to, adapted for your context and budget.

Intake & scoping
Lived experience centering
System mapping
Co-design
Deliverables & handoff
Capacity transfer
Who we work with

Built for those doing the hard work.

We partner with the institutions and agencies doing serious work to serve their communities — and who recognize that lived experience makes that work more effective.

County Departments

Health, planning, behavioral health, probation, and housing agencies at the county level.

Nonprofits & CBOs

Community-based organizations working directly with vulnerable populations on housing, workforce, and health.

Government Agencies

State and municipal agencies implementing programs that require meaningful community participation.

Regional Housing Systems

Continuum of care networks, housing authorities, and regional homelessness response systems.

Workforce & Equity Initiatives

Programs connecting underserved populations to economic opportunity through workforce development.

Planning Consultants

Implementation teams that need lived experience expertise to strengthen their own engagements.

Ready to scope an engagement?

Tell us what you're working on and we'll figure out together whether and how we can help. No boilerplate packages.

Start a conversationSee our work