Parsons School of Design, Strategic Design and Management, MS, 2025
Manasi is currently pursuing an MS in Strategic Design and Management from Parsons School of Design and has a background in Visual and Textile Design. She has previously worked as a Creative designer at Nesterra- Sutlej Textiles, Mumbai, where she has crafted visually appealing yet functional fabric experiences for every style of the house. Along with design she was also involved in discussions with stakeholders and making key strategies and decisions regarding display and in overall marketability of the product. She has also led market research, user behavior analysis, and trend forecasting to escalate sales and create a design language for the brand. Additionally, she has worked as a Research Assistant and has a key interest in academia. Her research focuses on facilitating community workshops within the African-American beach community, visual culture, community engagement, and design solutions/negotiations for marginalized groups.
As the PlayMatters Research Fellow, Manasi will directly support the IRC’s regional Research team to design, implement, and disseminate IRC-led PlayMatters research and learning activities that are taking place in Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. PlayMatters is an IRC-led education initiative funded by the LEGO Foundation that builds on children’s amazing resilience and a growing evidence base supporting Learning through Play methodologies to cultivate holistic learning and well-being for children ages 3–12+. Manasi will work closely with the regional team and country-based teams in support of a range of quality evidence-building and learning activities using a variety of research methods. Through this fellowship, Manasi will collaborate across teams to support the visualization and dissemination of PlayMatters evidence, and will work with Education Researchers from the Airbel Impact Lab, IRC’s Research and Innovation unit, to coordinate activities.