“I get a lot of confusion from like pure capitalist business people like, ‘Wait — you want to work with a clientele that doesn’t have money? Why?’” said Amanda Dunfield, Architect and owner of Astra Studios. “In a way, I get it because there’s not a blueprint for what we do,” she said, so laser-focused on her mission that she missed her excellent architectural pun.
But there truly is no blueprint for a business like Astra Studios. An architecture, interior design, brand design, and website design firm that provides world-class services to traditionally underserved groups such as New Americans is a novel concept.
“New Americans’ stories are amazing. I want to do what I can to help them feel welcome and to help them succeed and thrive.” Astra Studios not only serves New American business owners but also employs New American designers.
We're here to break down barriers for those facing workplace biases, especially architects and designers educated abroad who often struggle to be taken seriously in the US. By embracing our team's backgrounds, we're not just bringing diversity to the table — we're using it to empower communities who've historically been left out of the design conversation.
The “power of design” may sound like an abstract concept, but maybe it’s because, for so many, it’s out of reach. “The field of architecture, in particular, is very elitist.” My status, privilege, and history allow me to guide these people and network them into better circumstances. It’s all who you know.” Now, they know Dunfield.
As a child, Dunfield spent time with her father, a general contractor, in the spaces he worked on. One of their favorite activities was to visit the Brewery District in the days before it was renovated. “We’d look at these old, abandoned brick buildings and just dream up what they could be. I loved thinking about the histories they told through their cracks and battle scars.”
When it came time to apply for college, Dunfield applied to exactly one architecture program at one college — perhaps an early example of her laser focus and affinity for leaps of faith. Her college exploration into the possibilities of architecture opened her mind to a critical question: could architecture be a platform for activism?
“Then I worked in 13 different offices. I wasn’t fearful of changing jobs. I learned all I could so I could do this. As soon as something ran out of educational value for me, I go find a place I could learn more from.”
In 2016, she left to work on her own. “I was dumb enough to make the leap and smart enough to figure it out, right? Like, because I think if you’re smart enough to know what the leap will entail, you won’t do it. It’s terrifying. So I just put the blindfold on and ran off the cliff.”
That cliff is real, and in the canyon below, there’s no money. How would Astra Studios provide the same kind and quality of design that they would provide to a full-paying client to an organization that wouldn’t otherwise have it? They needed full-paying clients.
“We also serve clients who don’t have the same needs as our social enterprise clients. That way, we meet every client where they are. These companies know we use design as an agent for positive change in the world, and we use some revenue to help fund a project for an organization that doesn’t have the funding to pay for it,” Dunfield said.
To grow, Astra Studios has partnered with nonprofits like the United Way, to create a fund in which philanthropic individuals can donate money to broaden the scope of who can have access to design.
Dunfield also worked with ECDI. “I feel like I’ve known about ECDI and the Women’s Business Center forever, but like many entrepreneurs, I was always in a rush, thinking there was no time to learn. I absolutely should’ve made time for ECDI sooner — it might’ve eased some pain points,” she said.
Although she’s done some workshops through the WBC, Dunfield is hardly a typical ECDI client. She describes her relationship with ECDI as “symbiotic.” “It’s amazing how much ECDI is able to provide for small businesses, and those are the clients that I serve.
“The ecosystem of social impact work in Columbus feels unique – like really big and valuable. ECDI is one of the major reasons that Columbus has that. It gives the rest of us trying to do this work a foundation and a home base to check in with.”
Dunfield's collaboration with ECDI has been hands-on. She's led webinars, guiding small businesses on the importance of design and its practical applications. Additionally, Dunfield has shared insights on architecture with contractors through panel discussions, emphasizing the value of collaboration. She also personally supports clients in the lending process, ensuring they understand the intricacies of their projects and navigate procedures effectively. Dunfield hopes to collaborate with ECDI in other ways in the future. She also hopes to replicate Astra Studios’ success in other parts of the country.
“My immediate plans are to fine-tune all these systems, do the hard work, and prove that the Astra Studios business model can sustain itself. Then we can grow these studios around the country with other designers who intimately know their cities and have relationships with the change makers there and not have to reinvent the wheel,” she said.
Managing an operation at this scale can be overwhelming at times. “There’s been a lot of sacrifice in this for me and my family. And I mean, the worst thing that could happen, I guess, is like, this fails, and I have to go get a traditional job, which I would be awful at,” she said. “But ok, like, what’s the best thing that could happen then? And I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but people’s lives are at stake here. We could literally be helping to save people’s lives. So let’s do that. It’s worth the risk — it’s worth trying.”
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