Social impact design — the practice of designing for public benefit, especially in disadvantaged communities — has been garnering more attention from both professional and aspiring designers in a variety of disciplines. The National Endowment for the Arts has long supported design across these disciplines, from graphic to landscape design and architecture to product design. The white paper, Design and Social Impact: A cross-sectoral agenda for design education, research and practice (pdf), is a result of the Social Impact Design Summit that was hosted by Cooper-Hewitt, the Lemelson Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts in February 2012.