Jury Alumni

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  Roshi Givechi

  Partner and Executive Design Director, IDEO

  2017 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Roshi Givechi is a Partner and Executive Design Director at IDEO, a global design consulting firm. Having called many of IDEO's US and Asia offices home, Roshi channels her global exposure to amplify creativity and culture – cultivating opportunities for designers, clients, and an extended creative network to inspire and challenge each other in service of making a difference in the world. This exposure also means she spots patterns and edges across region as well as industry, enabling her to help shape good design. As a designer inspired by choreography, Roshi loves dissecting the many parts that come together to make a greater whole—whether designing for cities, products, services, or shaping stories themselves. Her years at IDEO have given her an intimate view of the changing nature of design’s role, and what it means to envision and define products and systems that bring disproportionate impact to the world. Roshi’s clients include Anheuser-Busch InBev, Bank of America, the Kaufman Foundation, Medtronic, NASA, Nokia, Ritz-Carlton, Steelcase, Timberland, and YouTube.
  
  
  In her role at IDEO, Roshi regularly teaches design thinking through facilitated innovation workshops within organizations. She has also taught cross-disciplinary design at the California College of Arts and, most recently, Human Values in Design at Stanford In New York. She is a frequent collaborator of the Sundance Institute Theater Program, helping to host public conversations on topics that inform our daily lives through a forum coined Creative Tensions (creativetensions.com). Roshi holds an MFA from Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, a BS from University of California, Davis, and in January 2009, was profiled in I.D Magazine’s “I.D. 40” list as one of 40 leading design innovators. She’s keen to figure out what to show for it in 2049...

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  Srini Srinivasan

  President and CEO, Lumium, LUMIUM Design, Inc.

  2016 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Srini Srinivasan is a highly accomplished entrepreneur in creative design and technology development, with over 20 years of work experience in the Silicon Valley, United States. As a highly networked and connected person, Srini has developed business successfully across the globe for the past two decades with F-500 companies. Srini has successfully raised capital from leading VCs in the Silicon Valley and enjoys being in Start-ups with his broad set of skills & global customer experience.
  
  Srini is an avid global traveller and enjoys visiting various locations around the globe and meeting people. He loves to play golf and follows several major sports like Soccer, Golf, basketball & Cricket.

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  Mike Weikert

  Director & Founder, Center for Social Design, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)

  2015 Design Education Initiative Jury Captain

  Mike Weikert is founding director of the Center for Social Design and Master of Arts in Social Design at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). In 2008, he established MICA's Center for Design Practice, a multi-disciplinary, project-based studio bringing together students and outside partners to collaborate on innovative solutions to social problems. Previously, he served as co-chair of the graphic design department at MICA, partner/creative director at Atlanta-based Iconologic, and as a design consultant to the International Olympic Committee. In 2011, he was nominated for the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award and in 2014, received the Ashoka U-Cordes Innovation Award.

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  Jeremy Mende

  Founder, MendeDesign

  2017 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Jeremy Mende is a visual artist and designer from San Francisco, California. In 2000 he founded MendeDesign, a creative practice that balances commercial projects with strategic design work for socially oriented non-profits. The studio has been recognized internationally for its work and currently has pieces in several collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Jeremy is a professor of design at California College of the Arts.

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  Becky Slogeris

  Associate Director, MICA Center for Social Design

  2015 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

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  Pradyumna Vyas

  Director, National Institute of Design

  2016 Design Education Initiative Jury Captain

  Pradyumna Vyas acquired a Masters in Industrial Design from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. In June 2010, Vyas was conferred with an honorary Master of Arts degree from the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, United Kingdom in recognition of his contributions to design education and design promotion. Vyas has more than 30 years of professional and teaching experience in different spheres of design. Since the last 25 years, he has been associated with the National Institute of Design (NID) as a faculty in the Industrial Design discipline. In April 2009, he was appointed as the Director of the National Institute of Design.
  Prior to joining NID, Vyas acquired three years overseas experience at the Kilkenny Design Centre, Republic of Ireland.
  In July 2011, Vyas was given the award for his outstanding contribution to design education at the second edition of Asia’s Best B School Award that was held at Singapore. Vyas was invited as the jury member for the special awards screening panel at Good Design Award (G-Mark) by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion, Japan consequently in 2012, 2013 and 2014.He has been at the helm of design promotion events in India and has represented NID in various international and national events. He was elected as an ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) Executive Board Member for 2009–11.
  In pursuance of the National Design Policy approved by the Cabinet in February 2007, an India Design Council was constituted in March 2009 and Mr Vyas has been nominated as its Member Secretary by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. In July 2015, World Education Congress, 2015 conferred the award for Outstanding Contribution to Education to Mr. Vyas.

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  Shashank Mehta

  Activity Chairperson, National Institute of Design

  2016 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Shashank Mehta is a principal faculty of Industrial Design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Currently, he is the Activity Chairperson of the Institute’s Professional Education Programme.
  
  Over the last five and half years, Shashank also served as the project head of the Design Clinic Scheme for MSMEs, a unique and ambitious design intervention scheme for the country’s large MSME sector. Supported by the Ministry of MSMEs, Government of India, the scheme reached out to over 200 MSME clusters through organization of Design Sensitization Seminars, Design Awareness Programmes and Design Projects.
  
  Over the years Shashank has taught at the Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels, spanning various design disciplines. Shashank has spearheaded the introduction of new course modules 'Design Process', ‘Indigenous Innovations’, ‘Service Design’, ‘Design Audit’, and ‘Introduction to Experience Design’, that are in sync with the rapidly changing demands and aspirations of the industry and economy in general. He also anchored and conducted several workshops on these topics for the participants from various sectors of industries. In 2007, he developed the vision report and the curriculum for the four year undergraduate programme in Product Design. Shashank also developed curriculum for the Postgraduate Programme in Product Design Engineering.

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  Ramon Tejada

  Independent Designer & Assistant Professor, Rhode Island School of Design

  2019 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Ramon Tejada is an independent Dominican/American designer and teacher based in Providence. He works in a hybrid design/teaching practice that focuses on collaborative design practices. His recent design research interest lies in the areas of disruption of the Design Canon, inclusivity, diversity, collaboration and the expansion and openings of design narratives and languages beyond the “traditional” Westernized paradigm of design. He received an MFA in Graphic Design from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, and an MFA in Performance Arts from Bennington College.

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  Danielle Chen

  Staff Product Designer, Ro

  2021 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Danielle is a full-stack and mission-driven product designer passionate about creating products that are inclusive and accessible for all. As a recognized thought leader, she has spoken at a number of distinguished conferences including SXSW, Interaction Design Conference and International Design Conference, covering topics from design, cultures, technology and anything in between. She writes a newsletter called "Designing Culture“ dissecting how technology has changed our human cultures. She holds a Master’s in Integrated Product Design from University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s in Product Design from Drexel University.
  
  When she’s not doing design-related work (which is rare), you can find her leveling up her improv skills, going for hikes and making her next sourdough bread.

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  Alex Lobos

  Graduate Director, Industrial Design, Rochester Institute of Technology

  2021 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Alex explores design, technology, sustainability and emotional attachment as means to elevate quality of life. He is Professor and Graduate Director of Industrial Design at Rochester Institute of Technology, and Research Fellow Emeritus at Autodesk. At RIT, Alex leads a top-ranking program focused in interdisciplinary collaboration, accessible technology and applied design research. Alex and his students have partnered with Autodesk, AT&T, Colgate-Palmolive, General Electric, Makerbot, Stryker, Staples and Unilever, in projects covering digital fabrication, sustainable behaviors, learning futures, generative design, and everyday living. Alex holds a MFA from University of Notre Dame and a BID from Universidad Rafael Landivar.

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  Allan Chochinov

  Partner, Core77 | Chair, MFA Products of Design, School of Visual Arts

  2020 Design Education Initiative Jury Captain

  Allan Chochinov is a partner of Core77, a New York-based design network serving a global community of designers and design enthusiasts, and Chair of the new MFA in Products of Design graduate program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Allan lectures around the world and at professional conferences including IDSA, AIGA and IxDA, has been a guest critic at various design schools in including Yale University, IIT, Carnegie Mellon, Ravensbourne, RMIT, University of Minnesota, Emily Carr, and RISD. He has moderated and led workshops and symposia at the Aspen Design Conference, the Rockefeller Center at Bellagio, Compost Modern, and Winterhouse, and is a frequent design competition juror. Prior to Core77, his work in product design focused on the medical, surgical, and diagnostic fields, as well as on consumer products and workplace systems. He has been named on numerous design and utility patents and has received awards from The Art Directors Club, I.D. Magazine, Communication Arts, and The One Club.

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  Liz Ogbu

  Founder and Principal, Studio O

  2020 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Liz Ogbu is an American architect, designer and urbanist whose work focuses on issues related to community building and spatial justice. She is the founder and principal of the design consulting firm Studio O.

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  Omari Souza

  Assistant Professor, Communication Design, Texas State University

  2022 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Omari Souza is an assistant professor in the Communication Design program at Texas State University. He is the organizer of the State of Black Design Conference (online, April 2021). He previously organized and hosted a multipanel event titled "The State of Black Design" (online, Sept. 2020), which drew a live audience of 2,071 — the second-largest Livestream audience for an educational event in Texas State's history.
  
  Omari is a first-generation American of Jamaican descent, raised in the Bronx, New York. Before arriving at Texas State, he gained work experience with companies and institutions such asVIBEmagazine, the buffalo News, CBS Radio, and Case Western Reserve University. He earned a BFA in Digital Media from Cleveland Institute of Art and an MFA in Design from Kent State University. Omari's research explores the idea of perceptions and how visual narratives influence culture — how we view ourselves and others around us.

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  Kareem Collie

  Director of Design and Creativity, The Rick and Susan Sontag Center for Collaborative Creativity, The Hive (at the Claremont Colleges)

  2018 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Kareem Collie is a designer, systems thinker and educator. Currently, he is the Director of Design and Creativity at the Rick and Susan Sontag Center for Collaborative Creativity at the Claremont Colleges and Clinical Professor of Visual Communication at Harvey Mudd College. He is a former Teaching Fellow at Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (a.k.a the d.school) where he developed workshops and courses in human-centered design. His research focus is the intersection of design, visual communication, and critical thinking. He spent the first half of his career in branding and creative strategy. He received his MA in Media and Cultural Studies from NYU in 2016 and his BFA in Communication Design from Pratt Institute in 2001.

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  Pierce Otlhogile-Gordon, Ph.D.

  Equity Innovation Studio Director, Think Rubix

  2022 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Dr. Pierce Otlhogile-Gordon is an innovation catalyst, researcher, facilitator, and evaluator, impassioned by the space between transformation and liberation.
  
  As the Director of the Equity Innovation studio at Think Rubix, a Black-led social innovation consultancy. Dr. Gordon serves as a shepherd for Equity Innovation to shape our collective future.
  
  He’s taught courses in design, evaluation, international development, and equity across four continents, co-designed partnerships, products, and services with local and international changemakers to support social change, and researched the complexity, evaluation, and emergence of design and innovation across the world.
  
  What can we build together?

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  Sarah Hemminger

  Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Thread

  2015 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Sarah Hemminger co-founded Thread with her husband Ryan Hemminger in 2004. She has eleven years of experience in nonprofit management and expertise in the development, expansion, and replication of innovative, paradigm shifting models of mentoring. Sarah has a deep understanding of the challenges that face students in successfully completing high school and accessing higher education, as well as the potential for students and volunteers to change not only their own lives but also create a positive and lasting impact on those around them. Sarah was awarded fellowships from Ashoka, Echoing Green Foundation, Open Society Institute, and the Albert Schweitzer Fellows Program, which support social entrepreneurs with innovative ideas. In 2010, Sarah received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University for her work on the role of the cerebellum and the primary motor cortex on the time scales of consolidation of motor memory.