Statement

I am an innovator, a researcher, a designer, a strategist, but most importantly, I am forever a student of the world. I welcome any opportunity to learn from someone and to hear their story. The more we take in and the more we learn, the better context we can have with the world around us.

I believe our greatest strengths as design thinkers are to find ways to facilitate and collaborate with some of the brilliant minds out there. To date I have collaborated with entrepreneurs from INSEAD business school to develop a sound venture addressing toddler safety inside the home, I have teamed with engineers from Caltech to provide clean water to rural Guatemala, and I have partnered with socially minded individuals from the NGO, un Techo Para Chile, to reduce water related illness in the slums of Santiago, Chile.

It is no secret that my true passion lies within the realm of Social and Sustainable Design. Both being a paradox, and a mystery still. We are still trying to find ways to truly empower and tool communities in the developing world so that they can pull themselves out of poverty, without having to rely on charity. Sustainable design is just as challenging, as we are yet to find a system that is truly cradle to cradle. These are the challenges that keep me up at night, and keep me always thinking and always exploring.

I am against the notion that these concepts mean we must settle from 'granola' design or that we must sacrifice function and aesthetics. But there is a conscientious compromise that must take place, and as designers we are in the position to make these decisions for the rest of society.