Radian is a women-founded and -led architecture and urban design nonprofit with the mission to advance social equity in the built environment. Radian envisions a world where residents, who have been traditionally underrepresented in design and planning, have the agency, power, and resources they need to shape their own communities and neighborhoods.
Radian was founded in 2013, and our work is based in the acknowledgement that discriminatory policies and institutionalized racism, woven throughout the built environment, have created gross inequities in health, wealth, and power that have compounded over time. To confront this reality, we center residents' expertise and lived experiences through community partnerships and design processes that are inclusive, collaborative, and responsive.
Radian partners with trusted community groups and leaders in neighborhoods that have been historically excluded in design and planning. Our projects support BIPOC, low-income families, immigrants and refugees, our unhoused neighbors, and other groups that are vulnerable to involuntary displacement.
Current projects include The 303 Artway Heritage Trail, The RNO Equity Toolkit, The Colorado Zoning Atlas, The Education Land Use and Real Estate Framework, The ECE Development Handbook, and Design and Technical Assistance for 5280 Freedom School, Be the Change Community School, and Radical Arts Academy of Denver. We also designed and manage a nonprofit community co-working space, BUILD, in Five Points.
Learn more about Radian and BUILD at our website, and reach out to admin@radianinc.org with any questions or possible collaborations!
"Visionary, creative, entrepreneurial, relation. The Radian team has warmth; they try to connect and bring folks together."
"They bring a design thinking framework to the nonprofit world. Where usually you can't afford this, they make it accessible."
"In many ways they've been a deeper strategic partner and extension of my team. They do way above and beyond what I could have expected."
Radian is a nonprofit architecture and urban design group that advances social equity in the built environment.
Radian was founded in 2013 as a team of designers who were committed to advancing social equity by recognizing communities as experts and decision-makers in the development of their neighborhoods. Engaging, elevating, and responding to the voice, experience, and leadership of residents has been central to our organization’s mission since its conception, but as responsive designers, we have evolved and adapted our approach and how we position ourselves in this work, transitioning from community engagement and participation to community partnership and leadership.
Our work strives to align with design justice principles which include centering the voices of those who are directly impacted by the outcomes of the design process, prioritizing design’s impact on the community over the intentions of the designer, and working towards sustainable, community-led and -controlled outcomes. In every Radian project, we partner with an established, trusted community group led by and composed of local residents and leaders to support in realizing their community visions. In addition to formal partnerships, we leverage the leadership of steering committees, advisory committees, and equitable engagement practices. Our equitable engagement practices include resident compensation, language justice, community navigators, hybrid and tailored communication strategies, and honoring established networks, relationships, events, and practices.
Organization name
Radian
2014
Tax id (EIN)
46-4277283
Category
Community Improvement & Capacity Building
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
3264 Larimer St. Unit DDenver County, CO, US