DesignOps Global Conference 2022

Presenter Profile: Steven Wakabayashi is the founder and president of QTBIPOC Design – an organization that provides free and accessible design education, mentorship, and networking opportunities to LGBTQ+ designers of color. After leading creative teams on some of the biggest brands including Apple, Salesforce, Sephora, Mercedes-Benz, and Samsung, he is now dedicating himself to bring more diversity and equity to creative teams around the world.

Presentation Title:  ‘Establishing Inclusivity and Diversity in Teams’

Outline: Establishing equity within our creative teams starts with re-evaluating our everyday design processes. In this talk, you will learn some of the pitfalls of diversity hiring within creative teams, why they haven’t worked, and ways to create a more equitable creative culture using safe spaces and mindful collaboration methods that leads to more diverse thinking, innovation, and better hires. We’ll share our QTBIPOC Design organization principles and methods that have guided us in creating a thriving and diverse team and community. 

In this workshop, we will 

-Encourage designers and design leaders to re-examine their ways of approaching diversity in the workplace from a metric-driven model to a holistic examination of team culture and creative process. 

– Learn tactical solutions to improve internal reviews, meetings, critiques, and delivery that shifts away from perfectionism and metric-driven processes to a more mindful, equitable, and innovative model. 

– Inspire attendees to create safe spaces within creative teams that are less judgemental and defensive, and where challenging issues can be discussed without fear of conflict.

Company Website: https://qtbipoc.design