Ovetta Sampson is the Director of User Experience Machine Learning at Google. In December 2023, Business Insider named Ovetta to their AI 100, a list of the 100 most influential people working in artificial intelligence. Her inclusion on that list is a refreshing addition. Ovetta approaches her work with generative AI and machine learning as an activist, with a commitment to humanity and ethics. 

In the final interview episode of the 11th season of DB|BD, Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt sit down with Ovetta to talk about why awareness of how AI is made is the first step towards holding it, and the people who make it, accountable. Ovetta also shares more about her mantra “Skynet not yet”, why we all should have an expectation that our data will be used responsibly and how her dad’s Commodore 64 launched her programming journey

On this season of DB|BD, co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for. 

This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte. 

Visit our BRAND NEW site for more on this episode and to view a transcript.

Ovetta Sampson’s website.

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Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.

Jorge Fontanez is the CEO of B Lab, a non-profit network that believes business can be a force for good. B Lab is best known for certifying B Corps, companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance and accountability. To become a B Corp, companies need to be transparently addressing things like DEI, their own climate footprint and labor conditions. There are currently just over 9,000 B Corps in 102 countries across 162 industries, including well known brands like Patagonia, Toms, and Ben & Jerry’s. 

As the steward of B Lab’s rigorous certification process, Jorge believes that business can be more loving. To Jorge, this means building out corporate structures where every single person has access to opportunity and can benefit from a company’s growth.

In this episode of DB|BD, hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt sit down with Jorge to discuss just what love really has to do with it (business). Jorge also offers his digestible wisdom on daunting topics like facing down the ESG backlash, corporate hubris, how to identify a new generation of justice minded CEOs and rethinking marketing as a tool for education.

On this season of DB|BD, co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for. 

This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte. 

Visit our site for more on this episode and to view a transcript.

B Lab’s website.

Sarah Ganz Blythe Appointed as Director of Harvard Art Museums

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Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.

Tracy K. Smith is a Pulitzer prize winning poet, professor and librettist who served as the U.S. Poet Laureate from 2017-2019. She’s published five poetry collections, two librettos and one memoir-manifesto. She is also a Professor of English and African and African American Studies at Harvard. Her most recent Libretto for the opera The Righteous is currently running at the Santa Fe Opera house through August 13th.

Pulsing through Tracy’s long list of accomplishments is her belief that language, and specifically poetry, is a pathway to the fullest versions of ourselves- selves that today’s world often doesn’t allow us to be.

In this episode of DB|BD, hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt sit down with Tracy to talk through the writing process of two of her most recent works: the libretto for The Righteous and her 2024 memoir-manifesto To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul. Tracy also candidly engages in conversation about how she finds faith when you otherwise feel empty, how she uses history to inform her analysis of the current moment and how her employer and alma mater, Harvard, can emerge from this period of institutional struggle.

And stick around to the end of the episode to hear Tracy read one of her poems live on air!

On this season of DB|BD, co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for. 

This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte. 

Visit our site for more on this episode and to view a transcript.

Tracy K. Smith’s website.

Full text of “An Old Story”.

More on Nada Hafez Fencing While Pregnant

Allyson Felix on Setting Up the First Olympic Nursery

Ilona Maher on TikTok

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Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.

In this episode of DB|BD Ellen McGirt and Jessica Helfand talk with two extraordinary women from two seemingly different corners of the design world: Dionna Dorsey and Olivia Peebles. We say “seemingly” because, while they occupy different design disciplines, they approach their work in similar ways. They are both multidisciplinary designers with the hearts and souls of artists whose visuals bring to life what they and their collaborators know to be true about the world.

First up, we hear from Dionna Dorsey, who is running three design businesses at the same time! She has her own design firm called Dionna Dorsey Design, where she designs imagery and apparel for powerhouse organizations like Planned Parenthood. She is also the founder of District of Clothing, which is probably best known for those ubiquitous “Trust Black Women” t-shirts. She is also the CEO of Creative Ladder, an organization she co-founded with Ryan Reynolds and David Griner in 2022, that makes creative careers accessible to people from historically marginalized communities.

Dionna shares why her values take front and center in her work, how she is making design careers accessible to everyone, and why eating cereal and watching Arthur is one of her favorite creative rituals.

Next up, Ellen and Jessica talk with Production Designer Olivia Peebles. Olivia has worked as a set decorator on some of the biggest films of the past few years, including Killers of the Flower Moon and Oppenheimer. Her first film as lead production designer, Exhibiting Forgiveness, premiered at Sundance this year. Exhibiting Forgiveness is written and directed by iconic American painter Titus Kaphar.

Olivia discusses how she, as a white woman, brings to life worlds and stories that are not her own. She also shares how her training as a painter meshes with her career as a production designer and the opportunities and limitations A.I. poses to artists.

On this season of DB|BD, co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for. 

This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte. 

Visit our site for more on this episode and to view a transcript.

Titus Kaphar’s Ted Talk

Climate Central’s Urban Heat Hot Spots Study

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Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.

Twenty years ago, Shamina Singh took what might seem like an unlikely leap from a decade-long career as a labor and political organizer into an executive position at one of the world’s biggest financial institutions. To Singh, this leap was a logical next step in her fight for equity and inclusion. She is now the co-founder and president of Mastercard’s Center for Inclusive Growth. The Center, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this spring, is the credit card giant’s social impact hub that leverages Mastercard’s extensive business assets in service of people and the planet. As of 2023, the Center has brought 48 million small businesses worldwide into the digital economy, over half of which are led by women. 

In this episode of DB|BD, hosts Ellen McGirt and Jessica Helfand sit down with Singh to discuss why the creation of an inclusive global economy is a redesign project that transcends sectors. Singh also talks about why supporting small businesses is essential to global financial inclusion and championing A.I. solutions that have some equity intention in mind. She also shares the advice she received from iconic Texas governor Ann Richards that changed her career trajectory forever. 

On this season of DB|BD, co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for. 

This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte. 

Visit our site for more on this episode and to view a transcript.

To learn more about Mastercard’s Center for Inclusive Growth, visit their website.

Click here to learn more about and to enter  the Center’s A.I. challenge, in partnership with data.org.

For more information on What’s Around Design’s 2024 Conference in Portugal, click here.

Watch Design Observer’s video editor Daniel Paese’s award winning short Spots.

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Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.

The WNBA is both the moment and a movement.  Approximately 400,000 fans attended WNBA games during the first month of the 2024 season, the highest first month attendance in 26 years. An average of 1.32 million viewers are tuning into each game. A historic rookie class that includes Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark are bringing new eyeballs to a game that has some of the most dedicated fan bases in professional sports. The league also saw a 200% increase in revenue in 2023 from the year prior and they are currently negotiating a TV deal independently of the NBA for the very first time.  

And don’t forget the women of this league are staunch social activists who helped flip a U.S. Senate seat in 2021.

In this episode of DB|BD, hosts Ellen McGirt and Jessica Helfand sit down with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. Engelbert stepped in as the league’s very first commissioner in 2019 after spending 33 years at Deloitte. Engelbert shares how she transformed an almost non-existent marketing department to revive the 30 year old league, what the league is doing to support player wellness and why she considers the WNBA a “growth stock.”

Later in the episode we will hear from Lindsay Gibbs a sports reporter and author of the feminist sports newsletter Power Plays. Gibbs explains how this moment in the W fits into three decades of league history, why the long running record of WNBA player activism can’t be ignored and what mainstream sports media is getting wrong in their coverage of the league.

On this season of DB|BD, co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for. 

This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte. 

Visit our site for more on this episode and to view a transcript.

To check out the WNBA’s upcoming schedule and how to watch,  visit their website. 

To read more of Lindsay Gibbs’ reporting, including her piece on Candace Parker’s rookie season, and listen to her podcast, visit her website. 

Watch Bruhat Soma win the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Read more about the integration of Negro League baseball stats into the MLB records.

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Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.

Richard Buery is the CEO of Robin Hood, New York City’s largest poverty fighting organization. It supports high-impact community organizations and partners with state and local governments to elevate New Yorkers out of poverty. In 2023 alone, Robin Hood invested $129 million in 200 carefully selected poverty fighting organizations. And New Yorkers need this support more than ever before. Robin Hood’s 2024 Poverty Tracker, released in February, found that nearly 500,000 more New Yorkers lived in poverty in 2022 than in the year prior. But Richard and his team don't see that statistic as a foregone conclusion. It is an urgent call to action to make New York better for all New Yorkers 

In this episode of DB|BD, Buery discusses the most pressing issues New York City is currently facing, including the migrant crisis and growth in post-pandemic poverty. He also shares why coalition building is the foundation of Robin Hood’s work and why the organization is investing in A.I. as a poverty fighting tool. 

Later in the episode we will hear from Cara Eckholm, a fellow at Cornell’s Urban Tech Hub. She’ll share her thoughts on why urban innovation must include technology and how A.I. fits into the urban renewal puzzle.

On this season of DB|BD, co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for. 

This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte. 

Visit our site for more on this episode and to view a transcript.

To learn more about Robin Hood, visit their website. 

Robinhood’s 2024 Poverty Tracker

Learn more about Robin Hood’s A.I. Challenge

To explore Daniella Zalcman’s photography, visit her website and revisit this 2019 DB|BD episode.

Women Photograph Database

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Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.

 In 2015, interior designer Jonsara Ruth and architect Alison Mears received a grant to study the use of building materials in affordable housing. This grant led to the creation of the Healthy Materials Lab, a design-led research lab based out of the Parsons School of Design that raises awareness about toxins in building materials and draws attention to healthier alternatives. Almost a decade later, they’re still asking big and necessary questions: What if we could make building materials a little more slowly with an eye towards health and sustainability? And what if these materials were accessible by everyone? What would that mean to the health of the world? 

In this episode of DB|BD, Ruth and Mears discuss why the Lab continues to focus on  affordable housing, what harms typical materials in our built environment cause, what healthy alternatives exist,  and how these healthy materials can become accessible and affordable at scale.

On this season of DB|BD,  co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for. 

This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte. 

Visit our site for more on this episode and to view a transcript.

To learn more about the Healthy Materials Lab, visit their website. 

Material Health: Design Frontiers, a book by the Healthy Materials Lab

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Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.

Franklin Leonard is the founder and CEO of The Black List, a platform that nurtures emerging screenwriters and gives screenplays that aren’t attached to a big producer, actor or studio a chance to be produced. Since The Black List’s founding in 2005, 440 scripts from its annual survey have been produced as feature films, grossing $30 billion in box office worldwide. These films have earned 267 Academy Award nominations and 54 wins, including four Best Picture Oscars (Spotlight, Slumdog Millionaire, The King’s Speech, Argo). 

In this episode of DB|BD, Leonard talks about the most pressing issues Hollywood faces, the business case for giving more diverse screenwriters a shot, and why he believes making the film industry a true meritocracy will naturally lead to more diverse filmmaking.

On this season of DB|BD,  co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for. 

This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte. 

Visit our site for more on this episode and to view a transcript.

To learn more about The Black List, visit their website. 

Franklin Leonard’s Ted Talk: How I Accidentally Changed the Way Movies Get Made

The Black Film Archive

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Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.

Carrie Mae Weems is a multidisciplinary artist. Her body of work stretches over four decades and across many mediums, but with a singular focus—  depicting the reality of Black life.  

Weems talks about her work, her role in public life, the intersecting crises in the world, and the power of convening people through art to confront big truths.

On this season of DB|BD,  co-hosts Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt are observing equity by highlighting the “redesigners” — people who are addressing urgent problems by challenging big assumptions about how the world can and should work — and who it should work for.

This season of DB|BD is powered by Deloitte.

Visit our site for more on this episode and to view a transcript.

To learn more about Carrie Mae Weems’ work, visit her website.  A write up of Carrie’s Cyclorama in the New York Times.

Varying Shades of Brown was a project featuring major installations and programs by Carrie Mae Weems across Brown University.

If you enjoyed this conversation with Carrie, check out Jessica and Ellen’s conversation with Avery Willis Hoffman, the artistic director of the Brown Arts Institute.

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Episodes are produced by Design Observer’s editorial team. The views and opinions expressed by podcast speakers and guests are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of Deloitte or its personnel, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse any individuals or entities featured on the episodes.