The result was Equity is Dynamic: a Web App that features an innovative equity framework, dynamic e-learning content, access to a community of practice, and a creative data visualization tool that helps companies measure their progress over time.

In 2009, Elemental launched a new non-profit model for funding climate tech deployment and since has invested in over 130 growth-stage companies and celebrated more than 20 exits, funded more than 100 technology projects, and built a platform for scaling equitable, market-driven solutions to climate change.

Elemental Excelerator sought to partner with a full-service design agency with expertise in anti-racism pedagogy, curriculum design, stakeholder engagement, brand strategy, web design, and data visualization to support the creation of an equity field guide (print and digital) for their portfolio companies. The guide needed to offer a centralized list of resources, learning modules, and best practices. The goals of the equity field guide were to enable climate tech companies to:

• infuse equitable practices early into their startup culture
• operationalize equitable practices across their organization
• measure and communicate their progress to their peers and stakeholders

Idea2Form’s multidisciplinary team and full-service model offered Elemental Excelerator the convenience and strategic benefits of working with one company to execute the project requirements. Our four phase design process was instrumental in helping Elemental Excelerator expand on their original vision to create a print and digital equity field guide.

• a custom sub brand that expanded on their existing brand
• a unique framework for understanding and implementing Principles of Equitable Behavior (PEB) through a customized learning journey 
• a scalable, community-informed, interactive web application featuring an editable workbook, and innovative data visualization tools to help companies observe their progress over time
• a Sphere of Influence (SOI) tool that pulls census data to provide companies with insights about the makeup and uniques challenges faced by the frontline communities they serve

The Equity is Dynamic brand is distinct from its Elemental Excelerator parent brand. It is bold, unapologetic, and colorful. Primary hues paired with a rosy pink and faded grape create a colorstory grounded in the natural world with stirring vibrational qualities found at the heart of movement work. Abstract, geometric and animated illustrations guide you through your learning progress with the steadiness and whimsy of a storybook sidekick on your hero’s journey. The chosen fonts are structural with clear legibility for their use across the web app.

In December 2021, Idea2Form and Elemental Excelerator launched the web application to test with a small cohort of climate tech startups. Elemental Excelerator plans to open up access to the application to all of their portfolio companies, partners, and peers with the aim of scaling their new framework and tools throughout the climate tech sector.

With each test group the Equity is Dynamic Journey continues to evolve. Since the launch of the Web App Idea2Form has provided ongoing maintenance and support.

Tomas Alvarez III, Dr. Preeta M. Banerjee, Lexx Valdez, Kyle Barrios, Alejandro Michell, Falon Shackelford, Idris Agüero, Mar Trava, Edith Cauich, Danny Cen, Marja Carrillo

Nathaly Moreno, Sara Chandler, Carmen Ayala, Collyn Chan, Danielle J. Harris, Ian Chipman, Justin Marquez, Lauren Tonokawa, Luisa Morales, Meghan Heintz, Michael Dowd

Development – Basecodeit