IA Collaborative CEO and leadership

Founder, Chief Design Officer and driver of growth over the past 19 years at IA Collaborative, a global design and innovation consultancy with offices in Chicago and Los Angeles Counselor to the C-Suite and executive leadership at clients Nike, Airbnb, FedEx, Audi, Samsung, and other leading companies Master innovator, award-winning designer and business leader Sought-after storyteller drawing from a diverse range of case studies and firsthand experience – everything from designing a new business model and digital ecosystem for Nike’s Team business; to transforming Allstate into a digital product company; to creating the future strategy and product roadmap for Airbnb for Work Creator of the 7 Elements of Design Innovation™, a proven tool to drive systemic innovation and business breakthroughs for the world’s leading organizations Winner of top design awards including the SXSW Business Design Award; IDSA Gold and Silver Awards for digital and product innovation; Red Dot International Design Awards, GOOD Design Awards and winner of the “ROI of Human-Centered Design” Award at the 2019 Design Thinking Conference

- Selected by Fast Company as a Master of Design and one of 50 Most Influential Designers, Kathleen Brandenburg is an internationally recognized founder, thought leader, educator and speaker on the global stage, from Delhi to Hong Kong to the Mayo Clinic.

- Named a “Creative Maverick,” Kathleen has devoted her career to elevating design as a strategic value for business, organizations and society. An early pioneer and advocate of human-centered design, she was one of the first to link design, business strategy and innovation when she co-founded IA Collaborative, the global design and innovation consultancy, in 2000.

- Today, Kathleen is leading the conversation to elevate design’s impact even further, championing it as the way solve our world’s most urgent problems. A visiting Harvard professor of Design for Social Innovation, she is at the forefront of a movement to change the way healthcare understands and applies design, and is recent author of Design for Health: the beginning of a new dialogue between design and public health.

- Kathleen leads work at the forefront of design and business strategy at IA Collaborative. An expert in cross-pollination, she draws from the varied industries IA serves to uncover unexpected connections and opportunities for innovation. She co-developed the company's 7 Elements of Design Innovation™ process that has driven record success for the world’s largest brands, including Nike, Airbnb, Johnson & Johnson, Lilly, Audi, Charles Schwab, Samsung, and FedEx.

- Whether scrubbing in for surgery as a means to reinvent Johnson & Johnson’s patient experience, or running with athletes to uncover opportunities for Nike wearables, Kathleen believes that true innovation starts with “living the problem to design the solution.”

- She is a Visiting Professor of Design for Social Innovation at Harvard, serves on the Innovation Council at Northwestern University and is on the Board of Directors at the Institute of Design, IIT.

Founder, Chief Design Officer and driver of growth over the past 19 years at IA Collaborative, a global design and innovation consultancy with offices in Chicago and Los Angeles Counselor to the C-Suite and executive leadership at clients Nike, Airbnb, FedEx, Audi, Samsung, and other leading companies Master innovator, award-winning designer and business leader Sought-after storyteller drawing from a diverse range of case studies and firsthand experience – everything from designing a new business model and digital ecosystem for Nike’s Team business; to transforming Allstate into a digital product company; to creating the future strategy and product roadmap for Airbnb for Work Creator of the 7 Elements of Design Innovation™, a proven tool to drive systemic innovation and business breakthroughs for the world’s leading organizations Winner of top design awards including the SXSW Business Design Award; IDSA Gold and Silver Awards for digital and product innovation; Red Dot International Design Awards, GOOD Design Awards and winner of the “ROI of Human-Centered Design” Award at the 2019 Design Thinking Conference

- Selected by Fast Company as a Master of Design and one of 50 Most Influential Designers, Kathleen Brandenburg is an internationally recognized founder, thought leader, educator and speaker on the global stage, from Delhi to Hong Kong to the Mayo Clinic.

- Named a “Creative Maverick,” Kathleen has devoted her career to elevating design as a strategic value for business, organizations and society. An early pioneer and advocate of human-centered design, she was one of the first to link design, business strategy and innovation when she co-founded IA Collaborative, the global design and innovation consultancy, in 2000.

- Today, Kathleen is leading the conversation to elevate design’s impact even further, championing it as the way solve our world’s most urgent problems. A visiting Harvard professor of Design for Social Innovation, she is at the forefront of a movement to change the way healthcare understands and applies design, and is recent author of Design for Health: the beginning of a new dialogue between design and public health.

- Kathleen leads work at the forefront of design and business strategy at IA Collaborative. An expert in cross-pollination, she draws from the varied industries IA serves to uncover unexpected connections and opportunities for innovation. She co-developed the company's 7 Elements of Design Innovation™ process that has driven record success for the world’s largest brands, including Nike, Airbnb, Johnson & Johnson, Lilly, Audi, Charles Schwab, Samsung, and FedEx.

- Whether scrubbing in for surgery as a means to reinvent Johnson & Johnson’s patient experience, or running with athletes to uncover opportunities for Nike wearables, Kathleen believes that true innovation starts with “living the problem to design the solution.”

- She is a Visiting Professor of Design for Social Innovation at Harvard, serves on the Innovation Council at Northwestern University and is on the Board of Directors at the Institute of Design, IIT.