Conscious Design 

We will consider how design complements or shapes culture in a conscious way. How might design “do no harm” as it seeks to serve people, not simply consumers? Beyond centering users at the heart of the process, what more needs to happen to make design more inclusive, more accountable, and just?

Please join us at the Conscious Design Event, where designers, educators, and innovative thinkers discuss creating meaningful change.

Jessica Corr

Jessica Corr is an Associate Professor of Design in the School of Design Strategies at Parsons and an award-winning product designer with experience in hospitality, retail design, and consumer goods. After many years consulting for international hospitality projects and teaching sustainable practices at Parsons, Jessica recently launched Plia, a collaborative initiative providing education, material research, and market-based solutions that foster regenerative and closed loop design for the home.

Irene Inouye

Irene Inouye is a UX Designer and educator who has created intuitive user experiences for notable clients such as Infosys and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Her career in art and design includes being a jewelry designer in corporate fashion and teaching design principles to high school students in the New York City public school system. She has had the privilege of teaching in the School of Design Strategies at Parsons School of Design.

Sara Cantor
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Greater Good Studio

Sara Cantor is a creative leader and human-centered designer focused on equity, inclusion and social innovation. After seven years using human-centered design to create new markets for corporate clients, she co-founded Greater Good Studio in 2011 to apply the process and
principles of design to the more pressing challenges of the social sector. Her team of “pissed-off optimists” has helped nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies to build internal capacity for social innovation, create and prototype new programs and services, and sustain and scale their impact.

Naika Colas
Founder, Jacques Louis; Faculty, BBA, Parsons School of Design

Naika Colas is a NYC-based Sustainable Design Strategist, Professor and founder of
Eco-Friendly Fashion brand; Jacques Louis, which focuses on creating trendy pieces for
consumers using natural fibers, dead-stock fabrics, rPET materials, and recycled textiles. She seeks to change the way disadvantaged communities perceive environmental sustainability and product design with the aim of  adopting lifestyles of health and sustainability. Naika teaches a Design of Business course at Parsons School of Design Strategies which introduces system dynamics in the context of sustainable design. She specializes in business strategy, environmental sustainability, social impact, community development, and fashion design. Apart from fashion design and education, she works full-time at NYC’s Bureau of Recycling and Sustainability as a corporate sustainability strategist.

Katie Edmonds
Studio Lead, RISD Center for Complexity

Katie Edmonds is a strategic designer specializing in the intersection of design and research. As Studio Lead, she develops and delivers programs that introduce and develop strategic design capabilities. Directly prior to joining RISD she worked in New York City at the intersection of nonprofit and government developing strategic interventions in economically vulnerable communities. This practice was based in placemaking and participatory design on topics including public safety and smart cities for clients including the NYC Mayor’s Office of Tech and Innovation and the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. Prior to her graduate studies she worked in Silicon Valley and New York City in a variety of startup contexts focusing on entertainment and technology. She holds a Masters degree in Media Studies and a Masters degree in
Transdisciplinary Design from Parsons School of Design, and an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Malaika Franks
Design Strategist, Doblin

Malaika Franks is a recent RISD Industrial Design graduate, and current strategy designer, who is passionate about design being used as a tool to make radical sustainable change in people’s lives.

She works to center her design practice in community engagement and social equity through thoughtful research methods and holistic design thinking. She believes our understanding of design is ever-evolving and it is our job to be conscious and do better.