Designing Regenerative Economies Event
Date: Friday, September 18, 2026
Time: 5:30 – 8:00 pm ET
Location: MFA DSI Studio, 136 W 21 Street, 5th Floor
RSVP REQUIRED
What would it look like to design stronger businesses and economies around community, place, and ecological resilience rather than extraction? Explore how narrative change, catalytic capital, and Indigenous innovation can shape enterprise design for economic and ecological resilience.
School of Visual Arts MFA Design for Social Innovation Program (MFA DSI) hosts an in-person conversation with Sonali Mehta-Rao, Founder of Ahaana Ventures, and Rinzing Choden Bhutia, Founder & CEO of Agapi, moderated by Mari Nakano, SVA MFA DSI Faculty, civic designer and ecologist. This event is in harmony with Climate Week NYC.
The conversation will be followed by a Q&A and informal reception with an Agapi product showcase and pop-up, offering an opportunity to connect with the speakers and continue the conversation.
Learn more about the School of Visual Arts MFA DSI and apply for Fall 2027. Creatively lead design innovation with purpose and impact – to support the care of people and planet. An experience-based graduate degree, where you’ll learn to think critically, explore, iterate, and measure; study with a group of industry practitioners; and build a resume working in development, health care, government, research, business strategy and innovation, and social design. Want a better future? Co-Design it.
This event is open to the public. Space is limited – Eventbrite registration required.
About the speakers:
Sonali Mehta-Rao will share Ahaana Ventures’ approach to shifting capital toward historically underrepresented entrepreneurs across South Asia. Rinzing Choden Bhutia will share the story of Agapi, an Indigenous-owned clean beauty and wellness brand rooted in Sikkim’s Himalayan botanical traditions.
Together, they will explore decolonizing capital, Indigenous innovation, ethical supply chains, and new models of enterprise designed to strengthen both communities and ecosystems.