Senior Principal Change Designer

Background

I am a futurist, systems designer, and social researcher committed to working on societal transition to a regenerative economy, climate justice, and human rights.

Over the last decade, I have been working with public and private institutions, regional governments, NGOs, and civil society connecting strategic foresight, systems thinking, and human-centered design with on-the-ground social impact & behavior change.

My work has spanned across many challenge areas including helping organizations plan and achieve their sustainability & social impact commitments; designing policy for community-based healthcare and well-being; planning for a shift to regenerative economy and Circular Economy transition; and enabling community resilience for climate adaptation.

I work with diverse stakeholders to gain deeper insights about user & ecosystem needs, pinpoint strategic interventions, co-design solutions, and facilitate iterative prototyping, in order to bring a collective vision to tangible on-the-ground projects.

I have spent my life and professional career navigating liminality - the transitory, in-between state, characterized by ambiguity, messiness, and hybridity. This deepened my desire to understand and enable personal, community and organizational resilience and ability to adapt and thrive when faced with complexity and uncertainty.

Throughout my life I have been exploring the "edges of change" to gain deeper insights into the drivers of socio-cultural, political, environmental and technological changes and developments. By exploring and experimenting with different narratives, lifestyles and practices, I have been able to gain unique perspectives to deepen my design and futures practice.

For example, I spent over a year living zero-waste and actively participating in and building the sharing economy as part of my research and solution design for transitioning consumer behaviors towards Circular Economy business models. More recently I also participated in a series of analog astronaut Mars Simulation missions, where diverse teams are subject to living in isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments, in order to study human needs, limitations, and capabilities to adapt to new and unexplored environments and build community resilience.

I am a graduate from OCAD University with a Master of Design (M.Des) in Strategic Foresight and Innovation, and a BA, International Development, University of Guelph.

I am very excited to bring my expertise and skills to my role at Forum for the Future!

Dream project

My dream project is anything to do with shifting to a regenerative economy ensuring a just and equitable transition. I am very passionate about empowering communities and co-creating place-based solutions that address community needs.

I am also passionate about experiential design futures, helping people immerse themselves in futuristic possibilities in visceral and tangible ways to help with better decision-making.

What floats my boat outside work?

Exploring the wonders and beauty of nature, meditating by an ocean, and visiting new places and cultures. I have also recently been interested in learning more about applying Traditional Indigenous Knowledge (TEK) to social and environmental challenges.

Contact Ksenia

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