Bio

My grandmother taught me everything I know about inclusive design. She was a furniture designer who made it her mission to consider the needs of people of all abilities. As seen in the photo, she considered every interaction a person might have down to the birthday candles and did everything to ensure accessibility. This transcended into the work that I did as the Vice President of Accessibility Research at JP Morgan Chase and a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow.

I have a master’s degree in Interactive Telecommunications from New York University. I studied the intersections of design, research, engineering, and computer science. My thesis on emerging technologies for emergency response and disaster management became a startup, Lifeline Drones, that received pre-seed funding from New York University and UNICEF Innovation. During my time as a Visiting Researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I got to explore design-thinking and participatory research methods in-depth. I completed additional coursework in Venture Capital from the University of California Berkeley Law and Harvard. I have a certificate in Strengths-Based Management from Stanford.

Achievements
2023 NVCA / Venture Forward Fellow, 2021 Somos VC Fellow, 2017 IDEO CoLab Fellow, 2017 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Fellow, 2013 NYU Prototyping Fund, 2012 Warby Parker Hackathon Winner, 2011 AT&T Action Scholar, 2009 Do Something Awards Finalist, 2007 Reach Film Fellow, and 2006 American Eagle Live Your Life Awards Honoree.