Chicago, Summer 2025
Hi! I'm Melanie Haro-Cortes, a human-centered design & public policy student at Claremont McKenna College. Kravis Scholar. I redesign broken systems.
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Chicago, Summer 2025
Conducted stakeholder interviews with City Hall officials and Claremont residents, synthesized findings, and prototyped a dual-portal digital request tracker — giving residents real-time ticket visibility and officials a unified system. Completed in one month through a full HCD sprint.
Conducting field observations, demographic research, and community engagement at MacArthur Park in partnership with Kounkuey Design Initiative. Research reveals women are outnumbered 10 to 1 in the park — proposing restorative design interventions to make the space safe and welcoming for all. In progress.
As a pro bono intern at Dentons US LLP, independently developed the CHANGE framework to categorize 50+ multinational cases across six justice dimensions. Simultaneously conducted 20+ in-person interviews in Chicago during the 2025 immigration crackdown — producing an investigative research essay. Both documents linked below.
Built the mentor program infrastructure from scratch — cold outreach, onboarding, and matching for 4 venture founders and 8+ product studio members. Organized cohort dinners with board directors and faculty. Currently producing the Accelathon hackathon (April 11, 2026, $2,500 prize). Evidence below.
because the best way to learn a space is to build inside it
A startup resource roadmap built under the Claremont Accelerator. Instead of scattered advice, CA School consolidates what founders actually need — organized by stage, from first idea to first dollar. I'm running a questionnaire to understand what students and founders want most before building anything. Human-centered, from day one.
In ProgressI've spent this year embedded in early-stage startup life — guiding founders on human-centered design, connecting them to mentors, and asking the hard questions before they build the wrong thing. One founder I worked with went from idea to demo stage in a semester. I want to keep doing this, at scale.
OngoingWhat excites me most is the 0 to 1 moment — when something doesn't exist yet and you have to figure it out. I'm drawn to product thinking: understanding the user, defining the problem, and building toward something real. This summer, I want to work at that intersection — contributing to product decisions, learning by building, and helping a team move faster.
Summer 2026every project starts with listening
Deep empathy through interviews, observation, and community immersion
hear firstSynthesize insights across systems, stakeholders, and lived experiences
find patternsEnvision possibilities through collaborative ideation and design
what if?Build tangible solutions and test with real people
make it realPush for implementation, policy change, and systemic impact
make it last