November 2025

DSI Journeys | Social Design in Action with DSI Alumni at Open House 2025

Hear our innovative DSI alumni, Amer Jandali, Bruno Monteiro, and Alejandra Saker share their DSI professional career journeys.

Watch the videos of their presentations at Open House.

In November, MFA DSI centered our 2025 Open House around the theme of “DSI Journeys” and invited a decade of DSI alumni to reflect on the questions: Who were you before coming to DSI? And how DSI changed your way of thinking and practicing?

Each of our special alumni speakers reflects a uniquely different and inspiring “DSI Journey”:

Amer Jandali (MFA DSI ’16) founded and leads Marketplace of the Future, which just celebrated its ninth year, closing out Climate Week NYC. Amer is a former nightclub and festival DJ turned Environmental Entrepreneur. He practices Social Design to bring the public closer to climate solutions. Amer exemplifies the entrepreneurial path many DSI-ers take.

On his DSI experience, Amer said:

“First, DSI was my first sandbox and launchpad. A place to rewire my brain with vocabulary, processes, and tools to allow my values to work towards the betterment of humanity. It’s truly become integrated in my practice and my life. To the point where the Social Design Principles are the first lesson in all four classes that I teach between two universities.”

Bruno Monteiro (MFA DSI ’16) is Vice President and Head of Digital Experience at HealthEquity, tackling the healthcare affordability crisis in the United States by redesigning and empowering people to save, spend, and invest for their health and wealth. Bruno shows us the DSI core of systems-thinking in application to the private sector, while still designing with care.

When asked what DSI provided him, Bruno said,

“The most important thing DSI gave me was the ability to see in systems — to understand how policy, behavior, and design are interconnected. That lens completely changed the way I lead, build organizations, and translate research into meaningful strategy.”

Finally, Alejandra Saker (MFA DSI ’24) is a Social Designer at Johnson & Asberry Communications and Communications & Education Designer at +POOL. Alejandra illustrates a non-profit journey post-DSI.

When asked what DSI provided her, Alejandra said,

“DSI taught me how to design with rather than for communities — grounding my work in co-creation, cultural context, and care. It helped me understand design as both a reflective and relational practice: one rooted in listening, transparency, and shared authorship. Those values continue to shape how I approach every project, from community engagement to public communications.”

Thank you to all our incredibly inspirational DSI alumni!

Watch Amer Jandali’s presentation here.

Watch Bruno Montiero’s presentation here.

Watch Alejandra Saker’s presentation here.

Want to know more? Read about our Alumni-At-Work.