Although I haven’t always used the words “innovation” or “design,” I have been designing experiences for humans at innovation-based organizations for almost a decade. I began my career as an Americorps member in San Francisco where I built an outdoor science program for 500 students at a public elementary school. Since then, I’ve worked at organizations that are pursuing innovative approaches to desegregating the education system, fostering empowerment through outdoor adventure and promoting self-compassionate approaches to productivity. In my roles as a teacher, coach and program manager, I learned how to work with a variety of stakeholders, design universally accessible experiences and facilitate spaces for transformation.

I became interested in formal design while pursuing my Masters of Education at Stanford, where I was lucky enough to participate in several design thinking workshops at the d.school. This ignited my interest in designing not just for individuals but also systems, which led me to the Institute of Design (ID) where I spent 2.5 years pursuing a Masters of Design, which involved partnering with clients in the healthcare, civic and nonprofit sectors to design human-centered solutions to complex challenges. Currently, I work as a design strategist at Booz Allen Hamilton where I have the privilege of working collaboratively with clients, colleagues and customers to design human-centered solutions to some of the federal government’s most pressing challenges.