What is (CADA)?


CADA Foundation, is a source academic platform for local artisans, designers, anthropologists and suppliers– facilitating the creation , distribution  and studies of artisanal work , in a way that is respectful of the cultural and historical richness of craft, and the different communities’ willingness to participate in the exchange.

CADA, in its mission, aims to achieve and document sustainable models from the environmental, social, and economic point of view– offering reflection, information and dialogue formed alongside the communities’ artisanal approach.

CADA explores the adequacy and sustainability of tools at the start of any design production, all the way to ensuring a practical and ethical chain. CADA is supported by designers, practitioners, and researchers alike who strive to achieve a local and global outreach without the loss of identity, helping to reinforce the socioeconomic and creative structure of the communities while still achieving design’s main goal: providing a service.


It is important to note that CADA does not take any economic exchange or profit from its participation in the community activities. It simply exists to serve its mission. Its non-profit model emphasizes the organization’s involvement in community activities being solely driven by the values and advocacy it upholds. Its pursuits and efforts are purely devoted to the betterment of the communities they support and collaborate with. This unwavering commitment underscores CADA's genuine dedication to social impact and cultural dialogue.





CADA, at present, is furthered by the participation of inspired thinkers, creators, and actors towards a culturally-grounded approach to the transfer of meaning through material objects. This fuels the shared passion to constantly recognize gaps in the process, so that new findings may produce better results for these communities’ design-centered activities. CADA Foundation, its as a virtual meeting-place for individuals who, together, are dedicated to improving the social design model, and optimizing it without the subsequent sociocultural and environmental burnout that globalization incites.


“As designers increasingly turn their efforts to altering conditions for those who are oppressed and made vulnerable by the systems that shape our world, stubborn questions arise around the ethics of engagement. Socially engaged projects seek meaningful change, yet often discourage dissent, reify privilege, remain agnostic about outcomes, and do little to alter larger, structural inequalities. Designers can easily exit projects deemed failures and write these off as learning experiences. Armed with empathy and expertise, but with little local knowledge, design practitioners often struggle to form equitable relationships with partners and collaborators. Moreover, most design-based efforts fail to decenter dominant cosmologies to make room for a diversity of worldviews and ways of living in the world.”
(Barbara Adams /Collaborative Social Design with Mexican Indigenous Communities/Proximity and the Ethics of Engagement)




CADA is a non-profit organization; all support and services are Pro Bono. CADA does not charge for any consulting neither for services rendered to communities or/and designers.

Any person affiliated with CADA should not recieve economic benefits neither profits. CADA maintain the structure based on individual and businesses donations that help to finance and support for training workshops and other services. 

We do not have any political association and all donations are tax deductible.
Donors can deduct contributions they make under IRC Section 170 (b) (1) (A) (vi)



01 Research & Documentation


02 Case Studies


03 Manufacturing & Transformation


04 Legal & Anthropological Support


05 Current Collaborations


06 References & Dissemination


07 Multimedia, References & Sources


CADA Foundation, is a public charity foundation under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501 (c) (3), registered in the state of New York. Donors can deduct contributions they make under IRC Section 170 (b) (1) (A) (vi) . CADA is also a member of the UNESCO Sustainability Chair in Barcelona, Spain. Its team is composed of dedicated individuals who have strong interest and concern towards the future of heritage, identity, and local value.


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