Olaiya's Cradle: Stepping Into a Lead Role to Secure $50K in Funding
A pro bono service design audit that secured $50K in funding and became a reusable toolkit for future engagements.
- Role
- Service Designer (Pro Bono)
- Timeline
- Feb–May 2024
- Tools
- Figma, FigJam, service blueprinting
- Team
- Capital One Pro Bono cross-functional team
The Problem
Client participation in Olaiya’s Cradle, a maternal health support program run by Sasha Bruce Youthwork, was dropping, and it wasn’t clear where the service was breaking down.
The Process
This was a Capital One Pro Bono engagement: a small cross-functional team partnered with the nonprofit to audit how the program actually worked, not just how it was supposed to work. Early on, it was clear the assigned engineering lead wasn’t equipped to lead the project, so I stepped up as the de facto lead: building the project timeline, delegating the blueprint and journey-map deliverables, and setting up the research interviews myself.
The Decision
Rather than default to a generic research readout, the team built a service blueprint and journey map that made the program’s frontstage/backstage gaps visible, and traced those gaps directly to a funding case stakeholders could act on.
The Outcome
- Findings secured a $50K grant for the program
- The process became Capital One’s reusable Pro Bono Design program toolkit for future engagements
Reflection
This one’s a reminder that “service designer” sometimes means “whoever in the room can actually move the project forward.” Stepping into the lead role wasn’t in the original plan, but it’s what the project needed.