The Design Of Business | The Business of Design

Ovetta Sampson is the Director of User Experience Machine Learning at Google. In December 2023, Business Insider named Ovetta to their AI 100 [https://www.businessinsider.com/the-ai-100-2023-the-people-who-make-ai-intelligent-2023-10], a list of the 100 most influential people working in artificial intelligence. Her inclusion on that list is a refreshing addition. Ovetta approaches her work with generative AI and machine learning as an activist, with a commitment to humanity and ethics.  In the final interview episode of the 11th season of DB|BD, Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt sit down with Ovetta to talk about why awareness of how AI is made is the first step towards holding it, and the people who make it, accountable. Ovetta also shares more about her mantra “Skynet not yet”, why we all should have an expectation that our data will be used responsibly and how her dad’s Commodore 64 launched her programming journey On this season of DB|BD, co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” [https://designobserver.com/dotwenty/2023/introduction/40662] — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for.  This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte.  Visit our BRAND NEW site [https://designobserver.com] for more on this episode and to view a transcript. Ovetta Sampson’s website [https://www.ovetta-sampson.com/]. Follow The Design of Business | The Business of Design on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/13AWtP7sNJ13Grdxx7w0el?si=eb3c31293f53491d], Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-design-of-business-the-business-of-design/id1165804333] or your favorite podcast app [https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2283636.rss].  Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.

Jorge Fontanez is the CEO of B Lab, a non-profit network that believes business can be a force for good. B Lab is best known for certifying B Corps, companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance and accountability. To become a B Corp, companies need to be transparently addressing things like DEI, their own climate footprint and labor conditions. There are currently just over 9,000 B Corps in 102 countries across 162 industries, including well known brands like Patagonia, Toms, and Ben & Jerry’s.  As the steward of B Lab’s rigorous certification process, Jorge believes that business can be more loving. To Jorge, this means building out corporate structures where every single person has access to opportunity and can benefit from a company’s growth. In this episode of DB|BD, hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt sit down with Jorge to discuss just what love really has to do with it (business). Jorge also offers his digestible wisdom on daunting topics like facing down the ESG backlash, corporate hubris, how to identify a new generation of justice minded CEOs and rethinking marketing as a tool for education. On this season of DB|BD, co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” [https://designobserver.com/dotwenty/2023/introduction/40662] — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for.  This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte.  Visit our site [https://designobserver.com/topic.php?id=1048] for more on this episode and to view a transcript. B Lab’s website [https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/]. Sarah Ganz Blythe Appointed as Director of Harvard Art Museums [https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2024/06/sarah-ganz-blythe-appointed-director-of-harvard-art-museums/] Follow The Design of Business | The Business of Design on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/13AWtP7sNJ13Grdxx7w0el?si=eb3c31293f53491d], Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-design-of-business-the-business-of-design/id1165804333] or your favorite podcast app [https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2283636.rss].  Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.

Tracy K. Smith is a Pulitzer prize winning poet, professor and librettist who served as the U.S. Poet Laureate from 2017-2019. She’s published five poetry collections, two librettos and one memoir-manifesto. She is also a Professor of English and African and African American Studies at Harvard. Her most recent Libretto for the opera The Righteous is currently running at the Santa Fe Opera house through August 13th. Pulsing through Tracy’s long list of accomplishments is her belief that language, and specifically poetry, is a pathway to the fullest versions of ourselves- selves that today’s world often doesn’t allow us to be. In this episode of DB|BD, hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt sit down with Tracy to talk through the writing process of two of her most recent works: the libretto for The Righteous [https://www.santafeopera.org/whats-on/the-righteous-2024/] and her 2024 memoir-manifesto To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/706866/to-free-the-captives-by-tracy-k-smith/]. Tracy also candidly engages in conversation about how she finds faith when you otherwise feel empty, how she uses history to inform her analysis of the current moment and how her employer and alma mater, Harvard, can emerge from this period of institutional struggle. And stick around to the end of the episode to hear Tracy read one of her poems live on air! On this season of DB|BD, co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” [https://designobserver.com/dotwenty/2023/introduction/40662] — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for.  This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte.  Visit our site [https://designobserver.com/topic.php?id=1048] for more on this episode and to view a transcript. Tracy K. Smith’s website [https://tracyksmithpoet.com/]. Full text of “An Old Story” [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/147456/an-old-story-5b58c2f3a01c7]. More on Nada Hafez Fencing While Pregnant [https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/olympics/nada-hafez-fencer-pregnant-olympics-rcna164441] Allyson Felix on Setting Up the First Olympic Nursery [https://www.vogue.fr/article/allyson-felix-nursery-olympic-village-paris-olympics-2024] Ilona Maher on TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@ilonamaher?lang=en] Follow The Design of Business | The Business of Design on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/13AWtP7sNJ13Grdxx7w0el?si=eb3c31293f53491d], Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-design-of-business-the-business-of-design/id1165804333] or your favorite podcast app [https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2283636.rss].  Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.

In this episode of DB|BD Ellen McGirt and Jessica Helfand talk with two extraordinary women from two seemingly different corners of the design world: Dionna Dorsey and Olivia Peebles. We say “seemingly” because, while they occupy different design disciplines, they approach their work in similar ways. They are both multidisciplinary designers with the hearts and souls of artists whose visuals bring to life what they and their collaborators know to be true about the world. First up, we hear from Dionna Dorsey, who is running three design businesses at the same time! She has her own design firm called Dionna Dorsey Design [https://www.dionnadorsey.com/], where she designs imagery and apparel for powerhouse organizations like Planned Parenthood. She is also the founder of District of Clothing [https://districtofclothing.com/], which is probably best known for those ubiquitous “Trust Black Women” t-shirts. She is also the CEO of Creative Ladder [https://www.creativeladder.org/], an organization she co-founded with Ryan Reynolds and David Griner in 2022, that makes creative careers accessible to people from historically marginalized communities. Dionna shares why her values take front and center in her work, how she is making design careers accessible to everyone, and why eating cereal and watching Arthur is one of her favorite creative rituals. Next up, Ellen and Jessica talk with Production Designer Olivia Peebles [https://oliviapeebles.com/home.html]. Olivia has worked as a set decorator on some of the biggest films of the past few years, including Killers of the Flower Moon and Oppenheimer. Her first film as lead production designer, Exhibiting Forgiveness, premiered at Sundance this year. Exhibiting Forgiveness  [https://variety.com/2024/film/news/roadside-attractions-buys-titus-kaphar-drama-exhibiting-forgiveness-1235979372/]is written and directed by iconic American painter Titus Kaphar. [https://www.kapharstudio.com/] Olivia discusses how she, as a white woman, brings to life worlds and stories that are not her own. She also shares how her training as a painter meshes with her career as a production designer and the opportunities and limitations A.I. poses to artists. On this season of DB|BD, co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” [https://designobserver.com/dotwenty/2023/introduction/40662] — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for.  This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte.  Visit our site [https://designobserver.com/topic.php?id=1048] for more on this episode and to view a transcript. Titus Kaphar’s Ted Talk [https://www.ted.com/talks/titus_kaphar_can_art_amend_history?subtitle=en] Climate Central’s Urban Heat Hot Spots Study [https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/urban-heat-islands-2024] Follow The Design of Business | The Business of Design on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/13AWtP7sNJ13Grdxx7w0el?si=eb3c31293f53491d], Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-design-of-business-the-business-of-design/id1165804333] or your favorite podcast app [https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2283636.rss].  Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.

Twenty years ago, Shamina Singh took what might seem like an unlikely leap from a decade-long career as a labor and political organizer into an executive position at one of the world’s biggest financial institutions. To Singh, this leap was a logical next step in her fight for equity and inclusion. She is now the co-founder and president of Mastercard’s Center for Inclusive Growth. The Center, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this spring, is the credit card giant’s social impact hub that leverages Mastercard’s extensive business assets in service of people and the planet. As of 2023, the Center has brought 48 million small businesses worldwide into the digital economy, over half of which are led by women.  In this episode of DB|BD, hosts Ellen McGirt and Jessica Helfand sit down with Singh to discuss why the creation of an inclusive global economy is a redesign project that transcends sectors. Singh also talks about why supporting small businesses is essential to global financial inclusion and championing A.I. solutions that have some equity intention in mind. She also shares the advice she received from iconic Texas governor Ann Richards that changed her career trajectory forever.  On this season of DB|BD, co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” [https://designobserver.com/dotwenty/2023/introduction/40662] — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for.  This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte.  Visit our site [https://designobserver.com/topic.php?id=1048] for more on this episode and to view a transcript. To learn more about Mastercard’s Center for Inclusive Growth, visit their website. [https://www.mastercardcenter.org/] Click here [https://data.org/initiatives/challenges/artificial-intelligence-to-accelerate-inclusion-challenge/] to learn more about and to enter  the Center’s A.I. challenge, in partnership with data.org. For more information on What’s Around Design’s 2024 Conference in Portugal, click here [https://www.whatsarounddesign.ismat.pt/]. Watch [https://www.danielpaese.com/] Design Observer’s video editor Daniel Paese’s award winning short Spots. Follow The Design of Business | The Business of Design on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/13AWtP7sNJ13Grdxx7w0el?si=eb3c31293f53491d], Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-design-of-business-the-business-of-design/id1165804333] or your favorite podcast app [https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2283636.rss].  Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.