Word of Mouth by Susanti Vijaykumar (MFA DSI ’25) is a culturally rooted language education initiative co-designed
with emergent bilinguals and community organizations across The Bronx, Lower
East Side NYC, and Jersey City, NJ. Leveraging the richness of native cultures and
experiences of emergent bilinguals, it proposes education tools via a cookbook,
a zine, and a social media campaign that provides individuals with practical
pathways to navigate essential services, build meaningful social connections, and
access economic opportunities in their new homes.
Susanti Vijaykumar
Susanti is a behavioral designer hailing from Tamil Nadu, India. She has previously worked on identifying behavioral challenges and designing interventions at the grassroots levels across education, financial inclusion and agriculture with ideas42 in India. She is a Young India Fellow with a post graduate diploma in Liberal Arts from Ashoka University. Prior to that she trained as an Engineer. She is curious about operationalising design and user dignity in the context of social systems in the Global South and hopes to work on Gender and Climate Change. She enjoys watching Indian cinema, reading, and exploring a city by biking around.
