Learn with TOP: A Master Class on Human Centered Design for Public Servants (of any kind!)

Washington, D.C.-based photographer and graphic designer Susan Taylor founded her studio in 2016. In a previous life she was a company cog for the Department of Defense, working as a photographer and designer by night (like reverse Batman). She now works at the Library of Congress as a Graphic Designer and dedicates all of her time to graphic design projects and photography. You can often find her aiming her camera toward points of interest while walking her small herd of dogs around Capitol Hill. Don’t hesitate to stop her on the street (or at the cheese stand in Eastern Market) to discuss history, camera gear, or font choices. She is also the Chair for DotGovDesign, a program of AIGA DC focused on supporting designers working in government and civic tech.

Margeaux Akazawa, MPH is a Human-Centered Designer and Innovation Strategist at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where she focuses on building impressive healthcare experiences for patients and families.  Prior to Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Margeaux served for 5 years in federal government, most recently as the Director of Internal Innovation Programs at the US Department of Health and Human Services. 

Scott feels passionately about creating disproportionate positive impact and equity in society. The last 10 years of his work reflects that philosophy. He most recently co-led a social innovation and design consulting agency based in New York called Community by Design, that delivered human-centric concepts at the intersection of design thinking, civic innovation practices, and community organizing. Some of these projects included co-creating an interfaith institute at Harvard University focused on improving the public education system, devising a strategic plan with the City of New York that bridged the technology industry with underserved communities, and developing strategic programming within the United Nations on sustainable tourism practices.

Prior to that, Scott worked at the award-winning design agency IDEO as an organizational and experience designer. This work focused on helping organizations of all shapes, sizes and industries transform themselves into more human-centered, and design-led organizations. In addition, Scott collaborated with senior IDEO leadership on cross-industry, systems-level work that re-imagined aging, dying, and modern religion in American society.

In his spare time, Scott guest lectures at NYU and Parsons on topics such as: Design Thinking for Social Impact, Design Research, and Storytelling.