Jury Alumni

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  Emily Privot McNamara

  Senior Researcher, Industrial Design, Amazon

  2021 Strategy & Research Jury Captain

  Emily Privot McNamara is a Senior Researcher on the hardware (ID) research team at Amazon, where she works on evaluating existing products and framing challenges around people’s behaviors and interests to identify new opportunities. Prior to Amazon, Emily's career began as an architectural designer working on projects ranging from high-end retail environments to local non-profit urban streetscape improvements. From there she pivoted into design strategy to create things on a faster timeline, and focus on work that applied user needs with business goals and the application of thoughtful design. She began her strategy career as an intern at fuseproject and graduated to hold the position of design strategist at Native Design and VBP Orange.
  
  Recently, Emily has been learning a lot about anthropometry and is applying her passion and specific interests in health/wellness and the older adult population to her work at Amazon.

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  Charles Erdman

  Head of Product Design, Small Planet

  2021 Strategy & Research Jury Member

  Charley is a creative executive building value at the intersection of human behavior and technology. He sees his job as helping energize digital teams to imagine strategically; think laterally; and create efficiently. Charley has led cross-functional teams building digital products and communications for Fortune 500 clients such as Adobe, Microsoft, Charles Schwab, Comcast, Disney, Lucas Film, and Intuit. He learned his craft at world-class agencies like Ogilvy, Razorfish, the Amp Agency, CP+B, and now Brooklyn-based, Small Planet.

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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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  Karina Totah

  Chief of Staff to the President & CMO, Thyme Care

  2021 Strategy & Research Jury Member

  Karina Totah works to achieve greater equity in our cities and our healthcare system. Currently, she is Chief of Staff at Thyme Care, a startup that guides cancer patients through the complex healthcare system by providing personalized support, quality resources & quick access to high-value care. Prior, she was head of strategy for New York City Public Housing, the largest residential landlord in North America. Karina also practices as an end-of-life doula through her company, Nevit (www.nevit.net).

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  Parul Vora

  Designer, Researcher, Technologist, User Experience Specialist, IDEO

  2021 Strategy & Research Jury Member