Amanda Ramos will discuss her path from the field of architecture to working as a design-based consultant. Learn about how a typical (and not so typical) day entails user research, innovation facilitation, brand storytelling, big idea creation and ultimately strategy development for some of the world’s most well-known companies.  Amanda’s presentation of ‘questions and answers’ will illustrate ways design is creating new value and competitive advantage across many different industries today.

Amanda Ramos is a leader in Strategy and Innovation with the major consultancy firm, Gensler. Her highly collaborative and creative process stems from her education as an architect; and her experience working with interdisciplinary teams of interior, industrial and graphic designers at Bruce Mau Design. She has taken on many roles from visioning to design thinking; from ideating to storytelling; from researching to innovating. These processes have led to the strategic development of exhibitions for signature architects such as Frank Gehry; change communications for brands such as Johnson & Johnson; workplace prototypes for corporations such as HP and IBM; campus master plans for global companies such as Novartis; and creative programs for agencies such as Ogilvy. Currently, she is leading a research project about change management and co-writing a book about design strategy.