Our Mentors

Gary Cribb

User Experience Design at Zinio Systems

• Art Direction
• Creative Direction
• Typography
• User Experience

Hello! I'm an accomplished design leader with 20+ years experience inspiring, building and leading teams 
focused on aligning customer needs with business strategies through user experience design and research. I've always been driven by a passion to make things and to create positive impact on people’s lives through design. I spent many years in print and love to talk about design regardless of medium so feel free to reach out and let me know how I can help. Thanks! Accomplished design leader with 25+ years experience inspiring, building and leading teams. Focused on aligning customer needs and business strategies through User Experience (UX) design and research. Resourceful and creative problem solver, driven passion to lead and mentor designers. Proven ability to balance business goals, customer intent and design integrity to craft effective user experiences. Specialties include: Creative Direction, User Experience, Design Leadership, Design Strategy, Design Thinking, Enterprise Transformation, SaaS & PaaS, Service Design, Interaction Design, Product Design, User Centered Design, Digital Strategy, Information Architecture, User Research, Cross-Functional Team Leadership, Facilitation, and Team Building

Natalia Arias

Creative Lead, Design at Ghost Note Agency

• Art Direction
• Branding & Identity
• Career Advice
• Portfolio Review

Natalia Celine Arias is a multidisciplinary creative based in Baltimore, MD, with roots in Miami, FL. A MICA BFA graduate, she works across graphic design, fine art, illustration, sound, and film. Natalia mentors emerging designers through organizations including MICA, the T. Howard Foundation, AIGA, NEW INC, and AMA Baltimore. As a creative at Ghost Note Agency and founder of Play By Celine LLC, she champions mission-driven work and uplifting gender-diverse, queer, and BIPOC stories.

Dinesh Doddaga

Senior Product Designer at Brilyant IT Solutions

• Product Design
• Product Management
• User Experience
• User Interface

Experienced Product Designer and Product Management professional teaching UX, UI, research, prototyping, and SaaS product strategy with a strong focus on building user-centred, intuitive, and scalable

Brenda Castro

Strategic Digital Design Consultant at Pinkhoof Design Solutions

• Design Strategy
• Interaction Design
• Product Design

I have worked as a Digital Product / UX / UI / Ix Designer for 15+ years in large, medium, and small organizations; designing experiences through concepts, interfaces, and interactions with products that range from education to B2B. I love designing experiences that help people improve their lives and contributing to teams that make our world a better place! I appreciate and commit myself to great teamwork and constant feedback, as well as to align every decision with my values and with the long-term benefit of people using the products I help create.

Prashanth Shanmugasundaram

Design Lead, Google Search at Google

• Design Systems
• Human Computer Interaction
• Interaction Design
• Product Design

I have been designing digital products for over 7 years across various domains like Investment Banking, Telecommunication, SaaS and B2B applications. I have worked on a wide range of products from B2B to B2C, web-based to native mobile apps, concept designs to scaled-up products, iPad apps to Kiosk interfaces and with startups to large organizations. I have worn a lot of hats during this journey from being an interaction designer focusing on modules of an application to a product designer focusing on design, strategy & vision of the entire product. I'm also a design mentor at non-profit organizations like adplist.org and designed.org where I mentor, help and guide designers with their career journey.

Danny Shin

QA at XL8.ai

• Illustration
• Interaction Design
• Mobile Development
• Product Design

As a product manager & designer, I believe that success is found in meeting people at their greatest point of need through intuitive, smart, and visually beautiful products. I’m passionate about creating, building, and envisioning products that genuinely connect with and empower people.

Sarah Egwu

Product Designer at Sendy

• Design Thinking
• Figma
• User Experience
• User Interface

I’m passionate about creating usable digital products. I have worked with incredibly talented people across different companies and have challenged myself to pick up several skills and knowledge in the field of design. I am mostly interested in health tech products I’m passionate about creating usable digital products. I have worked with incredibly talented people across different companies and have challenged myself to pick up several skills and knowledge in the field of design. I have experience working as a product, user experience and interface designer. I also have skills in rapid prototyping, HTML, CSS & Javascript. I’m available to work closely with your team, your customers and your stakeholders to make sure that we deliver exactly what is needed while keeping an eye on your business goals & objectives.

Renato Veneziani

• Career Transitions
• Design Critique
• Design Leadership
• Design Strategy

I’m a UX Lead and Product Designer with 9+ years of experience designing digital products and experiences across different industries. I spent over six years at Globo, working on Globoplay and leading complex UX initiatives across product, growth, and sales experiences. Throughout my career, I’ve also mentored designers, helping them develop their product thinking, design skills, communication, and career direction. I’m passionate about sharing practical experiences, challenging assumptions, and helping designers grow with more confidence and clarity.

Stephanie Oparaku

Lead Product Designer at Nestcoin

• User Experience
• User Research
• User Testing

I’m a product designer with 3+ years of experience who has a great understanding of product specifications and the ability to take product ideas from concept, wireframes, prototypes to final execution. I currently lead Product design on "Nubian Finance" - a product of Nestcoin. In addition to my day job, I find time to provide support and mentorship to young designers. I would love to share my knowledge to other designers, to assist them in areas where they need help or general guidance. Areas in design I am particularly passionate about are UI design and User experience. It would be an honor to mentor these designers, and show them how good design can change the world.

Michael Calin

Sr UX Designer/ Design Lead at Exelon

• Adobe
• Graphic Design
• User Centered Design
• User Experience

Hi, My name is Michael Im a product designer that loves creating delightful user centered experiences. For the last 10 years, I have worked across various aspects of design from branding, to marketing, to UX design. I am always looking to learn more & happy to pass along any insights i can! I’ve spent the past 7+ years creating useful and engaging experiences for complex digital products across the health care and energy sectors. I am passionate about leading teams that inspire the best in people and creating meaningful world class product experiences through design. I have experience leading design within fast-paced multi-disciplinary agile teams, and experience building products from discovery through to completion.

Drew Albinson

Senior Art Director at Sawyer

• Art Direction
• Creative Direction
• Graphic Design
• Illustration

I'm an Art Director and Illustrator based in Brooklyn, NY

Anina Lambrechts

Design & Remote working Coach at Allora Collective

• Design Thinking
• User Experience
• User Interface
• User Research

I’m a remote experience designer, usability researcher, storyteller, and mentor working from anywhere making technology human friendly for anyone. If you don't find me with a sharpie or at my Mac I'm most likely practicing yoga, rollerblading, hiking, or reading. 🚀 I help Startups launch their product for users. I work with founders that are building complex software and breaking it down into simple usable experiences for people. #onboardingdesign #softwaredesign #dashboarddesign 👩🏻‍💻 I enjoy building relationships with startups, understanding the vision and making products for people. I pursue ideas that empower education and growth. #edTech #finTech #environment #productivity #careerdevelopment 🎥 I believe knowledge and experiences should be shared. I mentor, coach, teach and educate designers from the USA, Europe, India and Africa. 🌍 I'm a minimalist, deep worker and slow traveller. I work when I'm productive, I'm focused when I'm not distracted and I'm inspired when I experience life. Portfolio - https://anina-design.squarespace.com/

Osama Nadeem

Product Designer at mobileLIVE Inc

• Career Advice
• User Experience
• User Interface

Hi, I'm Osama Nadeem and I design digital products combining a user-centered approach aligned with a solid product strategy. Currently designing great experiences @MobileLIVE

Stuti Mehta

Sr. Manager- Graphic Design at inFeedo

• Adobe
• Design Process
• Graphic Design
• Marketing Design

As an experienced and passionate graphic designer, I bring 8+ years of industry experience to the table. My diverse background includes working with new age startups in a variety of industries such as Advertising, Fashion, Lifestyle, Beauty, Skincare, Travel, Hospitality, Food, Finance, Hospital, SaaS, Education and Services. In my current role as a Sr. Design Manager, as well as through my extensive freelancing experience, I have honed my skills in creating visually appealing, innovative and meaningful designs. I help brands to build a visual presence and communicate better with their audiences. I believe that design creates the longest shadow! I am always hungry for inspiration and a lot of my knowledge is derived from the works of eminent personalities in the field of design. When I am not working, you can find me thrift shopping, listening to old classical music, or with my eyes glued to Netflix. :D

Nuwan Withanage

Senior UX Designer at Spryker

• Career Advice
• Design Leadership
• Diversity & Inclusion
• User Research

I'm a self-starter who likes to take on complex challenges. I focus on the holistic view of product design. I'm passionate about working with tech, financial and lifestyle products. I love to share my experience and what to expect from early-stage & scaling startups to enterprise companies. I can give UX career advice, job search tips and portfolio reviews.

Rana Hammad

Senior UI/UX Designer at DubiCars.com

• Design Thinking
• Product Design
• Product Management
• User Experience

Hello, and welcome to my profile! I'm Hammad, an experienced UI/UX designer specializing in creating visually captivating and user-friendly digital experiences. My approach is centered around user-centric design principles, where I meticulously focused on user behaviors, preferences, and pain points to inform every design decision. By conducting thorough user research, I gain valuable insights that shape wireframes and prototypes aimed at optimizing user flows and enhancing overall usability. Throughout my journey at DubiCars, I have been entrusted with the responsibility. To ensure that your product stands out in a competitive market, I conduct in-depth competitor analysis, identifying industry trends and incorporating innovative design elements that elevate your user experience above the rest. My skills include: - User Research: Leveraging user insights to inform design decisions and create intuitive experiences. - Wireframing: Crafting clear and logical wireframes that effectively communicate the product's structure and layout. - Prototyping: Developing interactive prototypes to simulate user interactions and validate design concepts. - High-Fidelity Designs: Transforming wireframes into visually stunning, pixel-perfect designs that resonate with your target audience. - Usability Testing: Conducting tests and gathering user feedback to refine designs and optimize user satisfaction. - Responsive Design: Ensuring seamless experiences across various devices & screen sizes.

Clay Pruzinsky

Partner - Marketing Manager at BluClay

• Branding & Identity
• Design Management
• Graphic Design
• Growth Marketing

As a graphic and web designer, I founded my own start-up company in 2009 called BluClay. We specialized in Graphic and Web Design for start-up companies, Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click campaigns, Social Media Management, and much more. After almost 10 years with my own company, I was asked to join SimulTV as their new CMO and I accepted the position with much excitement and anticipation for my new adventure with this company. With that new position, I brought the best of our branding, marketing, and advertising to the world so everyone can experience SimulTV in their own way. After 8 years with SimulTV I parted ways and went back to my own business whilst seeking my next opportunity to take all of my skills and years of experience to lead another company. My end goal is to let my own company go and work full time as I did for SimulTV with another company that I can call home and stay with for the rest of my career.

Devon Chey

Product Designer at Meta (Via Teksystems) at Meta

• Career Advice
• Portfolio Review
• Product Design

Hello! I'm Devon Chey, a Product Designer based out of NYC. I’m a problem solver who cares about crafting valuable, elegant, and effective digital experiences. I have experience working on desktop, mobile, and tablet alongside product managers, software developers, researchers, and other designers.

Luiz Otavio Moreira Abreu

Innovation Manager at Moleskine

• 3D
• Industrial Design
• Product Design
• Sketch

Hi, my name is Luiz Otavio and I am a design strategist with over 9 years of experience. I’ve helped a varied range of companies in designing products that would work as a pathway towards a strategic vision, from white goods to furniture and electric appliances. ● Professional with over 12 years of experience, the last 10 dedicated to the Strategic Industrial Design field, acting with companies from Brazil, Italy, and China, through either consultancy or internally. ● Experience in strategic planning and development, towards products and services from various markets and segments, such as automotive, white goods, home appliances, and beauty. ● Experience in managing all the phases of the design process, from research (user, market, trends and brand), to identifying opportunity scenarios translated in frameworks, to designing products and services coherent with the foundational insights, to finally the deployment of such artefacts. ● Management of junior staff, supporting in the projects, performance assessments and career development and guidance in both 'everyday work' and 'personal roadmaps'. ● Design Language/Semantics specialisation: through market/competititon assessment, values are identified and opportunities areas are exploited for future products. ● Experience in primary and secondary research set-up and execution, in order to understand opportunities, gaps, advantages values and obstacles towards the development of products, services, and strategic actions for the companies: identification of possible roadmaps and the tangibility of such roads (i.e. the shape, dimensions, colours, technical features, portfolio expansion, new business models, ...)

Alejandro Velasco

Senior Product Designer at New Relic, Inc.

• Design Systems
• Industrial Design
• Interaction Design
• Product Design

I've been working in the user interface field for more than eight years—specializing in working with teams to create visual and interaction languages. Nowadays, I help startups build their identities through their interfaces. Alejandro is a passionate designer—a former industrial designer turned digital over the years—taking advantage of the skills earned on user center design and due to its interests in technology and digital image rendering. He has been working in the user interface field for +9 years—specializing in working with teams to create visual and interaction languages.

Prashant Pandey

Community Lead at Lottie Hyderabad

• Product Design
• User Experience
• User Interface

Prashant is a UX Designer, who combines his creativity and design-thinking mindset to solve real-world problems. His journey to UX Design began with self-learning while in university, followed by community support and skill-based assessment which helped him to land into the design industry. As a community enthusiast, he is closely involved with organizations such as but not limited to Figma, LottieFiles, Slack, ADPList, and Divami. Developing a leadership mindset, his aim is to mentor and help every aspiring and active designer and help the community grow together.

Zohaib Jafri

Product Designer (B2B SaaS & B2C) at PDFTron Systems

• Graphic Design
• Product Design
• User Experience

Hello there! 👋 I’m Zohaib, and I am a firm believer in creating inclusive products that foster enablement and widespread opportunity. I'm currently crafting thoughtful experiences for B2B SaaS products at PDFTron Systems. Working specifically on PDF Online and Xodo for Android. I’m fascinated by how technology continues to become a ubiquitous presence in everyday interactions. I believe that a thorough consideration of the ethics and impact of design on users is a necessary part of creating design that works well and does good. My curiosity keeps me motivated for new challenges and opportunities that can help me continue to develop and grow as a designer. I am always looking to work with some amazing humans on an impactful project. Questions? Want to chat? Feel free to drop me a line!

Henrique Barros Rêgo

DesignOps at Vivo (Telefônica Brasil)

• Design Thinking
• Interaction Design
• User Experience
• User Interface

Henrique Rêgo is an award-winning Brazilian designer, working in the intersection of digital product design and brand identity for companies that handle products and brands used by millions of people. Today he works as Design Ops Lead at Vivo, the largest telco in Brazil, owned by Telefónica. • Experiência de mais de 10 anos nas áreas de User Experience, Web, Criação e Marketing, atuando em agências e empresas multinacionais e de grande porte como Grupo Netshoes, Edelman Significa, Havas Worldwide, Wunderman, entre outras. • Conhecimentos em Design, UX e UI, com foco na concepção de interfaces visando uma melhor usabilidade e experiência do usuário. • Criação de interfaces para Web (Desktop/Mobile) e para aplicações (Android/iOS). • Profundos conhecimentos de Direção de Arte, Processos, Serviços e Produtos relacionados às áreas de Publicidade, Criação e Design, com foco em canais digitais. • Gestão de projetos para web e entregáveis. • Experiência em negociação com clientes e fornecedores, além de relacionamento estabelecido com outras áreas de negócios. • Sólida formação acadêmica, com destaque para MBA/Master em Marketing na ESPM e Bacharelado em Design Digital na Universidade Anhembi Morumbi complementam o meu perfil.

Amelie Beurrier

Fractional Head of Product at Self-employed

• AI (Artificial Intelligence)
• Development
• ML (Machine Learning)
• Product Management

Product management leader with 15 years of experience, specializing in zero-to-one product development and AI/ML applications (since 2015), in startups (3x first product hire) and Fortune 500 (ex-Amazon).

Iñaki Serna

Senior Product Designer - Omnichannel at SCRM Lidl

• Design Critique
• Design Process
• Design Strategy
• Design Thinking

Hi! I am a product designer focused on designing intuitive experiences from research to implementation across multiple platforms like apps, websites and saas services.