Jury Alumni

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  Margaret Lee

  Leadership Coach, Design Dept.

  2023 Interaction Jury Captain

  Margaret Lee is a Leadership Coach helping Design and Product executives and practitioners to lead with authenticity and confidence. Prior to coaching with Design Dept., Margaret was a User Experience leader at Google, where she built and led teams in Chrome, Search, and Maps. She led Google Maps UX from its early days as a groundbreaking desktop experience, to an indispensable tool for navigation and local exploration. Margaret also served as Director of UX Community + Culture at Google, a program she founded to serve and empower the company’s global User Experience organization. Decades in the tech industry has shaped her current commitment: to create conditions for teams to flourish and individuals can uncover their unique potential and leadership style. Margaret speaks and writes about her personal journey as a leader, the importance of a healthy culture in the workplace, and our collective responsibility to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

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  Woojin Lee

  Senior Art Director, SapientRazorfish

  2017 Interaction Jury Member

  If Woojin Lee were not a designer she would be a private detective.
  
  She currently works as a Senior Art Director at SapientRazorfish, in New York. She has worked on some great projects, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Dove, JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and other fast pace pitches, that have utilized new technological trends such as apps, responsive platforms, touch screen, and social media. The sophisticated nature of these experiences along with her previous experience founding her own design boutique in Seoul have drawn her toward projects that focus on an entire and integrated brand experience.
  
  She has been named as the recipient The Red dot award, The Creativity Media & Interactive Awards, and The Creativity International Awards. Also her first responsive design project for Mercedes-Benz was selected as a 2015 Webby Awards Honoree in the Websites Best Practice category.
  
  She was a foreign correspondent the Korean design and culture publication, G colon. Her first book, 2587 days: A Record of Creative Encounters in New York, was published in 2014 in Korea and describes her experiences living, studying, and working in New York. Woojin has also taught as an adjunct faculty for FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology).
  
  Woojin received her BFA degree in Crafts from Kookmin University (Seoul) and her MS in Communications Design from Pratt Institute (New York).

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  Nik Lee

  Designer, 3D Print, HP

  2023 Gaming Accessories Jury Member, 2023 Gaming Accessories Jury Member

  Nik has a wealth of experience across corporate design teams at Philips Design, Microsoft, and HP, as well as growing several design-focused startups.
  Notably, he was part of the founding team at Razer, leading the design group to develop the design language and product portfolio. As well as growing the Razer brand, his design work has heavily influenced the gaming industry as a whole.
  Nik now specializes in computational design for 3D printing. He will be especially interested to see similar, new technology and innovation in the applicants this year.
  

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  Bryan Lee Jr.

  Founder, Colloqate

  2019 Design for Social Impact Jury Captain

  Bryan is an Architect, artist, designer, educator, and Design Justice Advocate. He is the founder/Design Director Colloqate Design in New Orleans LA, a nonprofit multidisciplinary design practice dedicated to expanding community access to design and creating spaces of racial, social and cultural equity.

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  Nicolas Lenotte

  Senior Designer, Ammunition LLC

  2022 Commerical & Industrial Equipment Jury Member

  Nicolas joined Ammunition in 2014. As a senior designer, he works closely with clients to help shape ideas into elegant, manufacturable solutions. Notable examples of his work include the UNICEF Kid Power Band, the Polaroid Hoop camera, and the Ammunition X Gantri Gio lighting collection.
  
  Originally from a small town in France, Nicolas grew up finding inspiration and beauty in ordinary objects which eventually led him to pursue a career in industrial design. Prior to joining Ammunition, he worked with companies including Decathalon, Electrolux, and frog design. Nicolas graduated with a master’s degree in industrial design from ISD in France. His work has been featured in TIME magazine and was recognized by IDEA, Fast Company, Core77 and the Halo design awards.

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  Sloan Leo

  Founder/CEO, Flox Studio

  2021 Design for Social Impact Jury Captain

  Sloan Leo (they/them) is an artist and the Founder/CEO of FLOX Studio Inc. FLOX Studio is a community design and strategy studio that works with curious optimists who are committed to getting things done. FLOX is on a mission to increase the community design capacity of mission-driven enterprises so that the entire ecosystem is more brave, creative and resilient. Prior to founding FLOX Studio, Sloan Leo spent 15 years leading non-profit staff and volunteer teams at the Environmental Defense Fund, The Trust for Public Land, and other organizations at the intersection of community, justice, and design.

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  Adam Leonards

  Principal Designer, Matter

  2015 Consumer Product Jury Member

  Adam is a Principal Designer at MatterÖ, where he leads creative teams from concept creation to product delivery. His expertise and passion is in the integration of hardware and digital design.Before joining MatterÖ in 2013, Adam was a Principal Designer at frog and an Industrial Designer at fuseproject.

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  Michal Levin

  VP of Product, Hero

  2021 Strategy & Research Jury Member

  Michal is the VP of Product at Hero, aiming to help people manage their health better, and live their lives to the fullest. She is passionate about solving hard problems that make a difference in people’s lives, and in a career of over 15 years, led UX and product across Google, Verily Life Sciences, Zoox, modu and more. She authored the book "Designing Multi-Device Experiences" (O'Reilly Media) and several other publications, mentored dozens of startups, and spoke at local and global conferences. Also the mom of two toddlers, an avid audible listener and a big fan of live music shows.

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  Jon Levy

  SVP M&A & Venture, Spin Master

  2024 Toys & Play Jury Member

  Jon Levy joined the Spin Master Ventures team in 2021. A passionate entrepreneur in the children’s entertainment industry, Jon co-founded Mastermind Toys, a highly successful Canadian retail toy chain, in 1984. From a niche beginning selling educational computer games for children, Jon’s vision grew into a passion to find the very best of everything kids would be excited to play with and learn from. During his career, he developed a unique expertise for curation, presentation, and marketing toys, defining the Mastermind Toys experience
  
  He now brings his experience cultivating life-long partnerships with toy inventors and creators from around the world and decades of business development acumen to Spin Master Ventures. Jon is continuing his life’s passion to find the most talented entrepreneurs; unique start ups and creative inventors by traveling the world and engaging with disrupters in the industry. At Spin Master Ventures, he is focused on finding the right opportunities to invest in the future of play and accelerate growth through partnering with the aspiring toy business leaders of tomorrow.

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  Min Lew

  Partner, Base Design

  2018 Visual Communication Jury Member

  As Partner of Base, an international branding studio with a presence in New York, Brussels, and Geneva, Min spans the spectrum between design, strategy, and management. She has helped to build personality-driven brands for an eclectic range of clients that include MoMA, The New York Times, JFK Terminal 4, Meatpacking District, Neuehouse, Kiki de Montparnasse, Coca-Cola, Gagosian Gallery, Puma, Milk, Museum of Sex, L'Oreal, Le Pain Quotidien, Pantone, Wellesley College, Kanye West, and more.
  
  A graduate of Yale University's MFA program, Min is an adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts and a guest critic at Parsons School of Design. Next to passionately building brands and building Base, she is an adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts, guest critic at Parsons The New School for Design, served as a board member of the AIGA/NY and served on the steering committee of NYCxDESIGN and is a regular speaker at design conferences.
  
  Her work has been featured in and has contributed her thoughts on design and branding to publications that include The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Wall Street Journal, Adweek, Creativity, Creative Review, Surface, Fast Company, and others.

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  Sheryl Leysner

  Founder, Sherylleysner Interior Architecture & Project Management

  2022 Built Environment Jury Member

  Sheryl Leysner holds a bachelor degree in interior architecture from the Willem de Kooning Acadamy in Rotterdam. She founded her own design and project management studio in 2011 after working for several leading interior design companies. Sheryl’s 22 years of experience, her professionalism and enthusiasm have led to many successful projects in the areas of Dynamic Office Design, Hospitality, Retail, Health Care Facilities and Private Houses. Her goal is to design functional spaces with a pleasant atmosphere that positively affect the mood and performance of the user, and uses recycled, bio based materials whenever possible. 
  
  Sheryl also founded her own label “Ruwe Bolster” for unique custom made artlights and furniture so she can offer her clients more creative solutions. 
  www.sherylleysner.com / www.ruwebolster.nu

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  Chris Lezama

  Experience Researcher, Adobe

  2022 Service Design Jury Member

  Chris Lezama is an experience researcher and former non-profit administrator with a deep interest/background in design research and social impact strategies.

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  Oscar Lhermitte

  Co-founder & Director, Sidekick Creatives

  2019 Crowdfunding Jury Captain

  Oscar Lhermitte is a French product designer, entrepreneur and public speaker. Having graduated from Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art, he now runs his own studio in London. His process questions the role of products in everyday life and results in multidisciplinary outcomes such as product design, consulting, photography, video, exhibition curation, set design and art direction. His work has been exhibited and sold in institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art New York, the Design Museum London, the Conran Shop and the Cité du Design Saint-Etienne.
  Since 2012, he is the co-founder and director of Sidekick Creatives LTD, a London-Berlin-Paris based creative agency providing the tools and expertise required to launch Kickstarter campaigns. Sidekick has been nominated Design Of The Year 2014 by the Design Museum London. In 2017, Oscar was appointed Kickstarter Thought Leader amongst 6 other creatives.
  
  He is a visiting tutor at the HEAD Geneva in MA Space and Communication and has previously taught at the Royal College of Art in MA Product Design.

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  Qin Li

  Vice President of Design, Fuseproject

  2024 A/V & Photography Equipment Jury Captain, 2024 Consumer Technology Jury Captain

  As the Vice President of Design at fuseproject, Qin Li leads the creative team, overseeing Industrial Design, Experience Design, Environments, Visual Design, and CMF. Harnessing her creativity and leadership, she takes a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to the team and design, and engaging all the disciplines within a fully informed, thorough, and integrated process.
  
  Qin's philosophy is rooted in a human-centered approach. She firmly believes that designers have the power to drive cultural change, enhance the quality of life, and address some of the world's most pressing issues. In her time at fuseproject, she has played a pivotal role in guiding designs to market for a diverse range of clients, spanning Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, non-profits, and entrepreneurs. These designs have encompassed various categories, including AI & robotics, health & wellness, wearable tech, consumer electronics, furniture, retail & exhibition, packaging & soft goods, among others.
  
  Qin’s work has been honored with global recognition and numerous awards, including Gold and a Special Award from IDEA for the Snoo bassinet and Ori Living, 100 Best Inventions of 2020 from TIME Magazine for a smart bot, Moxie, designed for Embodied, and 2023 Design Project of The Year Award from Dezeen for the Cionic Neural Sleeve. Qin is also the recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Academy of Art University.