Designer Antionette Carroll, born, raised, and based in St. Louis, Missouri, is a natural born leader who has been on a mission since day one. She’s the founder of Creative Reaction Lab, a nonprofit educating and deploying youth to challenge racial and health inequities impacting Black and Latinx populations. Antionette co-pioneered an award-winning form of creative problem solving called Equity-Centered Community Design and in doing so has received several recognitions and awards including being named an ADL and Aspen Institute Civil Society Fellow, TED Fellow, SXSW Community Service Honoree, and Essence Magazine Woke 100, among many others. She’s also a classic Taurus, the mother of twins, a fan of Mexican food, and a proud granddaughter!

Dr. Natalie Nixon grew up in Philadelphia playing double dutch and hopscotch on the street. Listening to jazz with her dad and exploring art with her mother taught her the value of improvisation and emotional resonance. Flexing her academic excellence while also being subjected to racial bigotry and red lining helped to hone her ability to see systems and span boundaries. Her experiences are vast and varied, from running a hat business in New York city to earning her PhD in Design Management in London. Today she's the president of Figure 8 Thinking, a Creative Strategy & Design Research consultancy that helps leaders apply creativity & foresight to achieve transformative business results, and the author of The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation, and Intuition at Work.

Robyn Kanner’s personal story is twisty and beautifully American. Largely self-taught, She fought hard to find her voice, and has battled bullies, addiction and self-doubt on her path to purpose. She, alongside Carahna Magwood, led a design team that effectively imbued the Biden Harris ticket with an uplifting, hopefulness that stressed reliability, inclusive values and unification. From the hot pink Biden & Lady Gaga promos, to unifying red-blue gradients. Robyn’s is a story of acceptance, healing, hard work, creativity and community - and feels as bright and hopeful as a victory gradient.

This week Amy speaks with award-winning architect, and current Head of Global Design and Innovation for Gensler, Jordan Goldstein. Born in Rockville Maryland, Jordan discovered his passion for architecture visiting construction sites with his mother at age 5. Today he’s an educator and sought-after spokesperson on the future of design both domestically and globally, but what distinguishes Jordan is his interdisciplinary, cosmopolitan, approach to architecture with a focus on elevating the human experience.

Creative strategist, visionary, and design podcaster Maurice Cherry was born in Selma, Alabama where it quickly became apparent he was going to take the world by storm. Immensely talented on all fronts, Maurice has dedicated his career to recognizing and celebrating the power of Black design and creativity online. These days, Maurice is perhaps most well-known for his award-winning podcast Revision Path, which showcases Black designers, and as of 2019 is the FIRST podcast to be acquired by the Smithsonian.

Branding & design strategist Jessie McGuire was born in El Salvador and adopted by a “wholehearted feminist” single mother. She grew up exploring her creativity and getting encouragement to go to art school. After a few degrees and a slew of work experience she’s now the managing director of ThoughtMatter, where she’s fostering a culture of work worth doing, building a justifiable case for creativity and spreading the gospel of curiosity, thoughtfulness and generosity. And redesigning the constitution, nbd.

Industrial designer Catherine Bailey grew up playing with the old school computer punch cards that were the technological accoutrements of nearby Bell Labs. A public school art teacher gave her the push she needed to find her way to industrial design. After stints designing sneakers and snowboard boots, she and her husband Robin embarked on a creative adventure together stewarding the beloved and iconic Heath Ceramics brand back to health and into modern times. Also, she’s a fan of a good road trip.

Design impresario Murray Moss grew up in a house his father engineered with a drinking fountain in the dining room. At 5, he redecorated his farmhouse bedroom with a Chinese motif. In college, after accidentally burning down his apartment with a fondue pot, he found his love of theatre. The ‘90s were all about MOSS, his Soho New York boutique that lit up the global high-design scene and paved the way for a new era of design as art. Cut to today: he’s a pedagogue, a retail consultant and as fabulous as ever.

In this special Clever Extra, we’re sharing a rebroadcast of another podcast 2VDE Media produces for Neocon called NeoConversations. What does it take to effectively design brand character into a space? How can brand values and purpose be communicated through materiality, visual language, ambiance and experience? What’s in the tool kit needed to implement a design program company-wide? Amy Devers explores these questions with Renee Hytry Derrington, International Design Lead for Formica Group, and Abbott Miller, a partner at world-renowned design studio, Pentagram.

Graphic designer, illustrator and lettering artist, Jessica Hische forged her fierce independence during a tough chapter in childhood. She knew from a young age that she wanted to be an artist, but it necessitated a school transfer to pursue that dream. With candor and self-awareness, she’s forthcoming about the challenging aspects of her work, as well as the triumphs. Her new children’s book is a sweet and encouraging embrace of bravery.