Jury Alumni

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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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  Carly Mick

  Director of Manufacturing Innovation, Skyscrape

  2022 Sports & Recreation Jury Member

  Carly Mick specializes in manufacturing innovation for soft-goods including on-demand manufacturing. Currently she is leading the fabric development team as the Director of Manufacturing innovation at Skyscrape, a company that created the first of its kind thermally adaptive insulation. Also, a textile addict who spends her free time dyeing yarn and weaving rugs.

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  Rachael Dietkus

  Founder, Social Workers Who Design

  2022 Health & Wellness Jury Member

  Rachael is the founder of Social Workers Who Design and speaks publicly about, educates on, and advocates for greater awareness to the value of social work in design, as well as responsible and respectful trauma responsive, healing focused, and care centered design practices and research. Her current work draws from north of 20 years of experience across serious and complex cause-driven social justice issues in health and human rights, student rights advocacy, housing and homelessness services, and teaching and program management at the intersection of social work, social impact, and design in higher education.

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  Ryan Swedenborg

  Artist and Designer, Spotify

  2022 Interaction Jury Member

  Ryan Swedenborg is an artist and designer based out of NYC, where she currently works for Spotify. Her work takes the form of visual identities, applications, apparel, reports, celebrations, prints, sculptures, and paintings. Being a WNBA fan, collecting Reba merch, and wandering around New York are her hobbies.

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  David Block

  Principal, Studio Redeye

  2022 Personal Accessory Jury Member

  After receiving his MID from Pratt Institute in 2005, David Block spent his early career at the well-known branding firm Desgrippes Gobe—now Brand Image—and other elite studios/brands. He founded Studio Redeye in 2013, with a focus on products in the juvenile, kitchen, and sports equipment categories. David specializes in designing products with and for innovative startups with whom he forms long-lasting relationships, helping these companies grow into leaders in their category.
  And now, you can understand Dave’s unique aesthetic. A rare mix of high-end craft with grounded sensibilities. He excels at making products that fit into your life, that you can connect with emotionally. His is a proven track record of award winning and exceptional design.

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  Doc Martens

  UX Designer, Teach for America

  2022 Speculative Design Jury Member

  Doc Martens is a designer, creative technologist, maker, teacher, lifelong student, and geek working to help people embrace the potential of speculative practice for building futures-agency, the ability to act upon our preferred futures in a complex world.
  
  They are a UX Designer at Teach For America by day and serve on the Design Futures Initiative Board by night. They also organize the Speculative Futures NYC meetup and publish SciFly, a newsletter connecting people to global events & resources related to speculative design, art, and technology. Most recently, they helped develop and teach a new speculative futures framework, Futures x Design.

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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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  Farrah Bostic

  Founder, The Difference Engine

  2022 Strategy & Research Jury Member

  Farrah Bostic is a champion of empathetic, co-creative, and collaborative strategy, design, and research. Her focus is on helping business leaders make big decisions, with research as an essential tool for facilitating decision-making, advocating for the customer, and delivering audience insight that field great storytelling.
  
  She was a Group Planning Director at Digitas, led the consumer immersion practice at Ipsos/OTX, led the innovation practice at Hall & Partners, and developed her skills as a strategist at Mad Dogs & Englishmen/Mad Logic and TBWA\Chiat\Day in Los Angeles.
  
  In 2011 she founded The Difference Engine, where she works with clients across business-to-business and business-to-consumer categories including JetBlue, HarperCollins, eBay, AARP, Google, the Financial Times, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, PRX, New York Public Media, The US Soccer Federation, IHG, Citibank, and Dow Jones Media Group. She is also an advisor to twofivesix, a content agency focused on gamers as customers and gaming as a channel, where she mentors and leads a team of strategists and researchers with clients including Intel, Sansar, Soundcloud, and others.

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  Holly Friend

  Deputy Foresight Editor, The Future Laboratory

  2022 Speculative Design Jury Member

  Holly Friend is a trend forecaster and futurist obsessed with consumer behaviour. As The Future Laboratory’s deputy foresight editor and in-house Generation Z expert, her work shapes the trends intelligence platform LS:N Global, including micro and macro trend reports, renowned Trend Briefing events and Futures Forums. As well as being quoted by The Guardian, The Times and Dazed, Holly also consults on projects for some of the world’s leading brands and presents insight-packed keynotes at industry events around the world.

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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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  Janet Lieberman-Lu

  Founder, TINKR

  2022 Personal Accessory Jury Captain

  Janet Lieberman-Lu has more than a decade of experience bringing products to market. As an MIT-educated mechanical engineer and entrepreneur, she's worked on everything from dustpans to 3D printers to bathmats. As the co-founder of Dame Products, she's been a key figure in originating the sextech industry, growing the company into an industry leader while managing the design, engineering, and manufacturing of their products. Her current project, TINKR, is still pre-launch.

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  Frank Tjepkema

  Founder, Tjep

  2022 Built Environment Jury Captain

  Frank Tjepkema (born 1970) is a Dutch designer based in Amsterdam. He started his award-winning design agency Tjep. in 2001 and works in a broad variety of disciplines including sculpture, architecture, interior design, product design and jewellery. He has provoked audiences worldwide through his art and exhibition pieces, such as the Bronze Age Furniture, Recession Chair, Bling Bling and Oogst. Frank is an early collaborator of Droog and his work is part of the permanent collection of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Cooper Hewitt in New-York. Recently Tjep. has delivered a variety of major sculptural projects in public space such as Zwerm in Eindhoven and Air Cells in Amsterdam.

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  Frank Tjepkema

  Founder and owner, Tjep.

  2022 Built Environment Jury Captain

  Frank Tjepkema (born 1970) is a Dutch designer based in Amsterdam. He started his award-winning design agency Tjep. in 2001 and works in a broad variety of disciplines including sculpture, architecture, interior design, product design and jewellery.

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  Antonio García

  Head of Design, TXI

  2022 Visual Communication Jury Member

  Antonio García is Head of Design at TXI, and also the founder of Dadwell & Co. He serves as a Board Advisor to AIGA Chicago.
  
  In addition to design leadership, Antonio is a mentor, educator, and lecturer.
  
  If he’s not hard at work, Antonio is most likely DJing, drawing, or training for his next marathon.

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  John Acevedo

  Principal: Design Ambassador & Creative Director: Innovation, Under Armour

  2022 Sports & Recreation Jury Member

  As Principal: Design Ambassador, John is the face and voice of design for footwear, apparel, and innovation at Under Armour (UA), focusing on recruitment, internal engagement, and cultivation of design culture. In his work, John is defining the next ten years of UA’s creative class; establishing a diverse and inclusive community that empowers individuals to reach their highest potential. As a Creative Director: Innovation, John provides strategic oversight in design, strategy, and development of footwear technologies & apparel innovation at UA with a focus on domestic manufacturing, digital experiences, automation, and wearable technology - working in categories such as running, cross-training, basketball, boxing, and space travel. John is a graduate Roger Williams University, where he received a Bachelor of Architecture.

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  Susan L. Sokolowski, Ph.D.

  Founding Director and Professor of Sports Product Design, University of Oregon

  2022 Sports & Recreation Jury Captain

  Susan L. Sokolowski, PhD is the Founding Director and Professor of the Sports Product Design Graduate Program, at the University of Oregon. She has over 25 years of performance footwear, apparel, and equipment design experience; working at Nike, Burton Snowboards, Fila, the US Department of Defense, and tech start-ups prior to coming back to academia in 2016. Her work is holistic in nature, where consideration of the user’s body shape/dimensions, performance, sport, materials, and styling are addressed to develop innovative solutions. She is specifically focused on issues surrounding design of products for underserved populations, including women and adaptive athletes. Susan has been recognized internationally for her achievements in design and innovation, including 40+ utility and design patents, awards from the United States Olympic Committee, Nike and Volvo, and featured product at the Design Museum London.