September observances include Suicide Prevention, National Recovery, and Pain Awareness. One is about crises. One is about healing and recovery from mental health and substance abuse. One is about chronic physical pain. There is a single thread that emerges among these three observances — a deep, human need for a felt sense of belonging.

The hardest problems aren’t always technical, but they are relational, ethical, and political. Social workers are essential partners in systems improvement, civic tech, and service design. This piece explore why social workers and other systems thinkers can support an upstream approach to transformational changes and inform potential futures in design, innovation, and policy.