Science is a human endeavor; the way it is taught, applied, and in some cases exclude populations from having access to it, may affect people for generations (NGSS Lead States 2013). Science education continues to be a complex civil rights issue (Tate 2001), but there is hope. Movements to promote just, equitable, and inclusive opportunities to learn within the context of community, identity, and action are being developed and implemented in classrooms across the country. This article describes lessons planned with a lens on gender equity, community needs, and engineering for a diverse population. It sits within a larger framework of physics knowledge for social justice and community applications. Before beginning a modeling, design, and construction project, students at an urban high school in southern California considered the implications of who participates on the design team for a science project. The following questions framed the exploration: (1) How does the perspective of the design team affect the product outcome?; (2) Who should be selected for a design team?; and (3) How to communicate the need for a diverse design team to the larger community? The focus of this article is on the ways in which the authors helped their diverse population of students feel capable and welcome, and to understand why they belong in physics when traditionally there have been so few physicists to whom they can relate.