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group selfie of the Global Impact Collective members in an elevator with green walls

Why a Collective?

We are multi-disciplinary experts in design, social impact, sustainability, and technology who look at problems from multiple angles. We deeply collaborate with clients and impacted communities to help solve hard problems in innovative ways.

About Us
About Us

Our Team

Our team has worked in more than 60 countries. We work collaboratively with you to co-create a common understanding to solve some of the "wicked" problems facing the world. 

  • PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

    Pact 

    Board of Directors

    (2010-2020) 

    Atlas Corps 

    Board of Directors

    (2023-present) 

    University of Washington

    Adjunct Faculty, Jackson School of Public Policy

    I’ve had a non-linear career, and that’s a good thing. After more than 30 years, I find myself constantly challenged, curious, and engaged. I started working in PR and marketing, first for agencies in Chicago, then for Microsoft, where I was an early member of the Xbox team, handling international PR.  

     

    I spent time growing up in Kenya and discovered that I wanted to reconnect my career with that part of my history. I eventually landed in Microsoft Education, where I ran a global program to help teachers use technology better in the classroom. We built partnerships with governments, foundations, donors, and multilateral organizations. I learned that collaboration was key to unlocking unified creativity.  

     

    Since leaving Microsoft, I’ve worked with a variety of clients – including Unilever, PepsiCo, Cargill, Microsoft, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the IKEA Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation – helping them build multistakeholder collaborations to drive social impact and sustainability.  

     

    Working in more than 50 countries, I’ve seen how frequently technology fails underrepresented communities. With the Global Impact Collective, I hope to change that, and therefore address some of the biggest challenges facing people and the planet. 

     

    I live in Seattle with my wife and three dogs.

    "Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care."

    —THEODORE ROOSEVELT

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    CEO & CO-FOUNDER 

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    COO & CO-FOUNDER

    "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better."

    —MAYA ANGELOU

    Like James I’ve had a nonlinear career. After graduating with a degree in physiology and working as a biochemistry researcher, my career took an interesting turn when I took what I thought would be a short-term position at Paul Allen’s Vulcan Inc. as I prepared for graduate school.  

    The short-term position turned into a sixteen-year career where I learned that there was a lot more to technology projects than just technology. I initiated program management and user centered design and built a robust program management and design department. I led the development of the Allen Brain Atlas and partnered to launch the Allen Institute for Brain Science.  

    I was promoted to Sr. Director of Technology Development managing everything from program management to software engineering. During this time, I also lead the Artificial Intelligence team and launched the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. I also strategically aligned technology with global impact initiatives across climate change, conservation, and ocean health, leading teams that launched Earth Ranger, Sky Light, and Smart Catch, among others. 

    Since leaving Vulcan I’ve been able to continue working on globally significant issues such as economic development with the Kauffman Foundation, female financial empowerment with FINCA Haiti, combating plastic pollution with the Lonely Whale Foundation and many more.  

    Maybe someday I’ll get that graduate degree. 

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    FOUNDING ADVISOR

    "It's never too late to have a happy childhood."

    —TOM ROBBINS

    I am a design leader driven by a deep curiosity about how people interact with products, their environments, and each other. This curiosity has guided me through designing mass-produced products, world-class cultural history museums, complex enterprise-wide design systems, and brands. 

     

    Over the last twenty years, I've spearheaded the creation of user experience organizations and directed product vision, strategy and delivery at Google and Microsoft to ensure that technologies are designed to enhance people's lives. I have delivered products that millions of people use daily: new technology enabled experiences ranging from social and collaboration platforms, video products to voice-powered assistants. 

     

    My philosophy is that successful projects begin with listening and observing, evolving from open and collaborative cultures unafraid to question assumptions, and most importantly, are measured in terms of human outcomes. 

     

    I passionately believe that design can be a meaningful catalyst for change in the face of seemingly insurmountable global challenges. As a Founding Advisor to the Global Impact Collective, I look forward to tackling significant global challenges by forging partnerships with organizations dedicated to fostering positive change. 

     

    Outside of work, I find joy in chasing my kids down mountains on skis or bikes, riding waves, or attending my daughter's musicals. 

  • PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

    American Institute of Graphic Artists 

    Board Member, Design for Good

    When I was five, my parents turned our kids’ playroom into a museum. You could add anything you wanted to the collection, but research had to be done and presented with your find – be that an eggshell, arrowhead, seashell, or a civil war era trinket. This was the beginning of my relentless inquiry of the world. 

     

    My strategy career, working mostly in agencies and consultancies, has been in the service of clients across broad industries. I have expertise in business, brand, market, and product strategy, having worked with Fortune 50 to startup companies and across the worlds of corporations, foundations, and nonprofits. 

     

    What sets my soul on fire is sustainability, social responsibility, and climate impact. These are not just buzz words for me; they are a personal passion and reflect my values. I have had the privilege of collaborating in this arena with The Nature Conservancy, Coca Cola, Target, Avery Dennison, Boeing, and Fare Start to name a few. 

     

    It’s not just about business for me; it’s about having a positive impact on the world. My personal tagline is “I like a good knot to unravel” — To tease apart a problem, ask thoughtful questions, listen deeply, and collaborate to find the right solution.

    "Things do not change; we change."

    —HENRY DAVID THOREAU

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    PRINCIPAL STRATEGIST

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    VP, PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

    "If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it."

    —ALBERT EINSTEIN

    Traveling to Costa Rica to study sustainable development during undergrad became the North Star for my career. I learned that to protect the planet, economic, ecological, and social forces all needed to prosper. I began working in nonprofit space but quickly realized that I needed tools to harness the scale of the private sector. 

     

    At the University of Michigan Business School, I worked in the slums of Nairobi, the rainforests of Peru, the auto industry of Detroit, all of which shaped my global perspective on the complexity of the problems and the elegance of creative solutions.  

     

    After getting my MBA, I landed my first dream job at DuPont, where I saw how setting smart targets had far reaching impacts in carbon and greenbuilding strategy. I amplified that experience at PwC by helping companies across numerous sectors. I pulled all of learning together at World Wildlife Fund leading global partnerships with The Coca-Cola Company, Walmart, Starbucks, and Nike, helping the largest brands address hotspots throughout their supply chain. I have seen first-hand that the best solutions can only be achieved when governments, nonprofits, foundations and companies come together.  

     

    I live in Portland, OR with my family and spend as much time as possible on the tennis court, in the forest or on the coast.   

  • PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

    Industrial Designers Society of America 

    Academy of Fellows (FIDSA), Lifetime Member

    As a seasoned product design executive, my career has been dedicated to leading across the physical and digital domains driven by the belief that the most valuable skill is being a perpetual student of people to amplify what they value most, regardless of technology.

    Since departing Microsoft in 2019, I've shared my expertise as an Advisor at Kaneko Design Group, LLC, collaborating with corporate leaders to establish experience design systems, capabilities, and cultures crucial for leveraging design's strategic role in our new technology era.

    Having navigated the waves of computing from the PC to AI and connected devices, my background as an Industrial Designer expanded to encompass deep understandings in ergonomics, design research, branding, human interaction, and corporate-wide experience design storytelling and orchestration.

    As a founding Advisor to the Global Impact Collective, I aspire to address large, complex challenges by partnering with organizations for positive change, particularly for the underrepresented, using universal product design practices.

    Moved by personal experiences with aging loved ones, I am especially dedicated to enabling dignified and empowered living in the last trimester of life through well-considered products, services, and technology applications. 

    I live in the Seattle, Washington area, with my family, where you can typically find me with mud on my shoes, having just spent time onsite for a home remodel or in a studio, making things.

    “The true awareness of beauty is to be found when beauty watches beauty, not where I watch, it.”

    —SHOETSU YANAGI

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    FOUNDING ADVISOR

  • PROGRAM MANAGER

    "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

    —MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

    For over 20 years, I’ve been drawn to mission-driven roles that work to advance human rights and dignity, protect the environment, and make a positive impact on an international scale. I’m passionate about innovative, cross-sectoral partnerships that bring different voices to the table and take bold action to address global challenges.  

      

    My social impact expertise has roots in global development policy, trade, and business with experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. My journey began as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan and Ukraine, working in the countries’ burgeoning NGO sectors. I continued my path in global development, first as a project manager in the USAID consulting realm, and later as a Presidential Management Fellow with USAID’s Europe and Eurasia bureau and the State Department’s Office of Global Partnerships.  

      

    I’ve also held roles at Weber Shandwick, a global PR agency supporting the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Health team; assisted small- and medium-sized exporters at the Export Finance Assistance Center of Washington (EFACW); and helped ensure that Microsoft products were locally relevant and culturally appropriate with its Global Readiness team.  

      

    Today, I offer research, analysis, program management, project design, and operational support to the Global Impact Collective. 

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    PRINCIPAL STRATEGIST

    “Don’t fidget. Get moving.”

    —ROBERT CAPA

    I began my foray into a career in social impact communications as an Anthropology major studying media and mass movements at the University of Chicago. I packed my bags and moved to Washington, DC to work in government affairs, monitoring global news in 24-hour shifts and helping clients respond to a constantly changing news environment. I packed my bags once more to join the Peace Corps in Senegal, where I worked with a USAID water and sanitation project to build latrines in my community in addition to several other projects.  

    I later returned to Washington, DC to continue my work in social impact communications with clients such as the USAID U.S. Global Development Lab, making sure stories of innovation in international development were being told around the world. I went on to work with federal clients at numerous agencies on major communications and change management strategies.  

    In 2021, I got married and moved to Seattle with my husband and Swiss mountain pup for a new adventure in the great American Pacific Northwest. A glutton for punishment, I had a daughter and finished a Master’s in Business Administration at the University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign. When I returned to the workforce, I decided to re-center my work on the environment because there is no more important work today. That is how I found myself at the Global Impact Collective. 

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    DIRECTOR, STRATEGY AND USER EXPERIENCE

    My passion for human-centered design was sparked early in my career, when working in community development in rural Zambia. While navigating cultural complexities and language barriers, I learned that to truly understand the wants and needs of another individual or community, you must lead with empathy. This experience shaped the direction of my career and motivated me to always serve as the voice of the customer/end-user. 

     

    As someone who finds excitement in ambiguity, I soon pivoted into the world of impact-focused tech startups, where I spent the next several years honing my design thinking skills to help create culturally relevant products and services, which ranged from digital healthcare systems in Niger to EdTech solutions in the US. After a short stint of independent consulting, I went back to school and received my MBA and MS in Design Innovation from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. 

     

    Over the course of my career, I’ve led projects in 20+ countries, held roles across business strategy, product, UX research, and customer success, and supported clients including Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, governments, and multilateral organizations. Through these experiences I’ve learned the importance of collaborating with diverse teams, taking a systems thinking approach, and using analogous inspiration to design more sustainable solutions to complex problems. 

      

    My partner and I moved to Seattle in 2024 and are excited to continue exploring the beautiful PNW through our love of the outdoors. 

    “The greatest danger to our future is apathy.”

    - JANE GOODALL

  • PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

    Lummi Island Heritage Land Trust

    Board

    Foundation for International Understanding Through Students

    Host

    Salish Center for Sustainable Fishing

    Volunteer

    John Stanford International School

    Volunteer

    I love diving into ambiguity to create solutions combining human-centered design, impact and creative tech. From urban planning, I shifted into technology as a way to change the world.  I’ve defined and delivered projects ranging from mapping gene expression to avatar telepresence and data visualization.  Early on, I discovered the power of a human-centered design process, shaping my approach to program and product management. 

      

    At Tableau and Salesforce, as a senior director of product management, I led cross-functional teams in delivering next-generation analytical products to help people discover and share insights, working with small nonprofits to Fortune 500 companies.  At Microsoft, I worked on innovative projects that brought to life examples of future technology, collaborating closely with internal and external teams on the Envisioning Center, prototypes and products.  I have also led interdisciplinary teams at startups to develop products and improve internal processes and worked as an engineer and interaction designer.  

     

    I hold degrees from Rice and the University of Washington and have completed graduate coursework at MIT.  You can often find me outdoors with my family, bicycling, hiking, SUPing, or cross-country skiing.  

    “The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed.”

    —WILLIAM GIBSON

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    PRINCIPAL STRATEGIST

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    PARTNER

    I'm a recovering engineer, now leadership coach and change management expert with over 20 years of experience transforming organizations from startups to global enterprises. My career spans leadership roles at Microsoft, Tableau, and consulting, where I've specialized in guiding teams through major transitions, and building scalable business operations. 

    Despite a variety of roles and companies, the thread through my career is driving organizational transformations. At Tableau, I led the implementation of the company's first strategic planning process and roadmap tool roll-out to successfully align a 1,200-person product development organization. Earlier, as Chief Operating Officer at a boutique consulting firm, I led sales and leadership transformations with client engagements across 30 countries. 

    What excites me most is helping leaders navigate complex transformations while building inclusive, high-performing teams. Through my coaching practice, I've worked with over 100 clients ranging from executives to emerging leaders. I'm particularly proud of the women's leadership program I developed, which has empowered more than 120 women to play bigger in their careers and lives.   

     

    Based in Seattle, I combine my engineering background, extensive operational experience, and ICF-certified coaching expertise to help organizations and leaders grow and thrive. Whether it's implementing new processes, scaling teams, or developing leaders, I'm passionate about making transformation sustainable and inclusive. 

    “If you want to lift up humanity, empower women. It is the most comprehensive, pervasive, high-leverage investment you can make in human beings.”

    - MELINDA FRENCH GATES

Our Network

Our curated a global network of experts have deep experience in

a variety of industry sectors, capabilities, and disciplines.

Software and Services

Hardware

Food and Beverage

Textiles

Healthcare

Retail

Education

Public Sector

Non-profit/NGO
 

Industries

Communications and PR

Thought leadership

UX/UI design

Visual and information architecture

Industrial design 

Graphic design

Brand, messaging, and storytelling

Ethnographic research

Capabilities
Disciplines

Circular economy

Food waste

Global health

Land rights

Sustainable agriculture

Ocean conservation

Wildlife conservation

Biodiversity
 

By prioritizing human experience and design-thinking principles, we guide individuals and organizations to consider broader systems to reframe solutions. Our global experience, combined with local wisdom, can bridge cultural divides and inspire design thinkers.

People Driven

Working closely with local groups, we use the principles of design thinking to create innovative and sustainable solutions to complex social and environmental challenges. Our goal is to empower individuals and organizations to develop effective, impactful solutions of their own.

Locally Engaged

Our team includes internationally recognized design, technology, and sustainability leaders. The strength of our combined network enables us to tap into multifaceted expertise from around the world.

Globally Informed

We approach every challenge with cultural sensitivity and human centricity. We don’t believe any single person or organization has the answers. Only after unlocking true, authentic collaboration, can we apply appropriate solutions to global challenges facing the world.  

Our Philosophy
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