Social Innovation through Design Thinking
In this first conversation, Shalu interviews Jocelyn Wyatt, co-founder & CEO of IDEO.org, the nonprofit design organization that she co-founded in 2011 after leading IDEO’s social innovation practice.
Building a Career in “Design”
In our second interview, we are joined by Adithya Narayanan & Shesley Crustna, two designers at IDEO.org to talk about their entry into and work in design.
Digital Literacy for Rural users
In our final conversation of the series, Shalu speaks with Rikin Gandhi, co-founder and Executive Director of Digital Green, joining us in a conversation focused on building digital confidence for rural users!
About our Experts
Jocelyn Wyatt
As CEO, Jocelyn spends her time sorting out the vision, strategy, funding, and growth plans for IDEO.org. She heads up partner development with foundations, nonprofits, and social enterprises; builds networks by speaking widely on how design is changing the social sector. Prior to joining IDEO in 2007, Jocelyn worked in Kenya as an Acumen fellow. She also served as VisionSpring’s interim country director in India, where she helped increase awareness about eye care. Jocelyn was selected as an Aspen Institute First Movers fellow, was named a Top 100 Global Thinker by Foreign Policy Magazine, was a program advisor to the Clinton Global Initiative, and serves as an advisory board member to Marketplace the Druker Institute.
Adithya Narayana & Shesley Crustna
Adithya is a Business Design Lead at IDEO.org, in this role he works alongside organizations to build more feasible and viable ventures, products, and services in emerging markets. Previously, he was previously a Senior Investment Associate at Draper Richards Kaplan, and prior to that he helped lead strategy and innovation at Teach For India and worked at the Malala Fund, the Queen Rania Foundation, and The Education Alliance. His ideal weekend consists of going for a run in the woods and watching repeat episodes of Parks and Recreation.
Shesley is an Interaction Design Lead at IDEO.org, in this role he leverages play, immersive experiences, and co-creation methods to bring partners and users into the design process as collaborators. Prior to IDEO.org, Shesley was the lead UX designer and product manager for ALX, a network of schools in Rwanda and Kenya, and before that, he was a senior communication designer at the Vaughan Oliver studios in London. Shesley loves the outdoors, his (1960's) pick up truck and Canary VW Beetle, and can be found constantly looking for exciting new hobbies and experiences to try out.
Rikin Gandhi
Rikin has a bachelor’s in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University, a master’s in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from MIT, and is a licensed private pilot. He began his career at Oracle, where he received patents for linguistic search algorithms that he helped develop. Later he joined Microsoft Research's Technology for Emerging Markets team in India, where he researched ways to amplify the effectiveness of agricultural development globally, which led him to found Digital Green in 2008. Digital Green is a global development organization that empowers smallholder farmers to lift themselves out of poverty by harnessing the collective power of digital technology and grassroots-level partnerships.
