What do you want to do before you die? It's a question that TED Fellow Candy Chang has brilliantly brought to life in her interactive "Before I Die" installation. The project was so popular, in fact, that people across the nation have been recreating it—most recently, in Denver, Colorado. The team who brought the installation to Colorado even filmed the process to document how the project brings community members together in a unique and deeply personal way. Making communities more comfortable and bringing citizens together is something that Chang aims to do not just in this project, but in all of her work.

"Before I Die", which started on the wall of an abandoned building in Chang's old neighborhood, is a giant chalkboard where passersby write down their hopes, dreams, and fears and read those of others. Chang's work focuses on the way that public spaces have the potential to unite communities when utilized the right way. Using simple, everyday objects, Chang provides low-cost, high-value design projects that enliven neighborhoods. Drawing from her design work, her powerful talks explore the introspective quality that can be harnessed in a positive and meaningful way when civic planning is done correctly. She asks us to imagine what we are capable of accomplishing if we can continually harness the power of our collective wisdom—and stresses the importance of collaboration in the places we live.