and what might it look to do so with care?

Hi, I’m Kate Barranco.
I’m a hopeful changemaker, human-centered and trauma-informed designer, narrative strategist, and researcher — and the founder of Conscious Futures .

CFC is a design + research studio weaving care into strategy and imagination into systems. We help people and organizations navigate complexity, expand what’s possible, and build futures rooted in clarity, creativity, conscious belonging, and collective agency.

Explore my work

What futures have we yet to imagine?

What is Conscious Futures?

Conscious Futures is a collaborative home for imagination at work — where attention and intention meet to design futures of possibility and care.

At Conscious Futures, I design with complexity and care in mind.

I partner with organizations, educators, and civic innovators to translate bold ideas into participatory frameworks, learning ecosystems, and narrative strategies. My practice is grounded in intergenerational wisdom, systems thinking, and a belief in futures shaped through relational work.

Core Threads of My Practice:

Strategic Foresight & Research

Mapping emerging signals, surfacing insights, & imagining long-term possibilities.

Learning Design & Facilitation
Co-creating transformative experiences rooted in curiosity, reflection, & collective agency.

Narrative Strategy & Systems Weaving
Crafting stories and frameworks that bridge people, movements, & structural change.

See this in action ↓

Snapshots of Change

Journey Framework

A tool for tackling complex problems and model for transforming intergenerational trauma into collective wellbeing
Ecological Belonging

Reweaving people, planet, and purpose through storytelling and systems thinking
Inclusive Sex Ed Curriculum

Co-designing healthy relationships education through youth-led research and participatory design.
Leadership Equity Brief

Understanding leadership equity gaps in early childhood education.
Futures of Democracy

Exploring civic imagination and coalition-building through strategic foresight and intergenerational dialogue.
Youth Innovators Fellowship

Cultivating civic imagination and systems thinking with next-gen changemakers.
Civic Imagination in Action

Bridging generations through digital storytelling and live programming at the Smithsonian to reimagine past, present, and future of United States.
Intergenerational Dialogue Design

Facilitating cross-age workshops to deepen trust, belonging, and connection in a digital world
Social-Ecological Systems Resilience Framework

Translating complexity into actionable tools for public systems transformation and policy design.
Global Learning Tools Collaboration

Creating culturally grounded wellbeing and employability resources with Rwandan educators.
Trauma-Informed Youth Research

Exploring how Gen Z changemakers activate healing, agency, and social transformation online
Student Wellbeing Advocacy

Amplifying underrepresented voices and mobilizing funding for campus mental health and care infrastructure
Healing Higher Education

Translating research into frameworks for trauma-informed, intergenerational systems change in education
Narratives of Connection

Exploring how collective storytelling can rekindle social bonds and civic hope in a time of disconnection.
Gen Z Insights & Strategy

Conducting cultural insights research and strategy for mission-driven organizations, translating Gen Z values and behaviors into actionable, future-focused approaches.
Storytelling for Social Change

Designing and leading narrative strategies that amplify the impact of school-based mental health programs, centering decolonial approaches, community voices, and lived experience to inspire action.