DESIGN LEADERSHIP WITH HEART, MIND, AND OPTIMISM
For 30 years, I have created successful relationships by connecting entrepreneurship, design education, and designers. My purpose is to help others discover their purpose, and to connect people with opportunity.
As Founder & CEO of PeopleWork Partners, I’m bringing a humane design lens to recruiting and leadership coaching. I’ve placed emerging leaders in roles at Target, Cisco, Netflix, OpenAI, and more. I consult with design teams on critique, culture, and design operations practices — including early teams inside Sequoia Design Lab and Sutter Hill Ventures.
Previously, I was Chair of the Master of Interaction Design (MDes) program at California College of the Arts. I’ve held fractional leadership roles while recruiting for Bunsen Studio, and leading an integrated design team at MeetingPulse. I have taught, held workshops, given talks, and guest critiqued around the globe for the past 25 years. I’ve served in many roles while connecting, inspiring, educating, managing, and evangelizing design and designers, while leading a few chapters of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), one of the oldest & largest networks in design. In 1997, I founded Schwadesign, a lean, holacratic design business, where I curated and led diverse teams for nearly 20 years. Together, our work was recognized by The Wall Street Journal, Rebrand.com, The Boston Globe, and other respected institutions.
My clients have included startups (iRobot, Regrello, Blend, Trinity Pharma), educational institutions (NYU, MIT, Harvard Medical School, Brown University), global enterprise (IBM, Salesforce, UBS, Wells Fargo, Accenture), cities (Providence, RI, and Bethesda, MD), non-profits (American Heart Association, Friends of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), and many more.
I remain curious about patterns of decision making and the shapes of teams. On the daily, I am driven by great pairings, trusting relationships, harmonious intersectionality, and very long bike rides.
Photo by Nick Bruno