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If you’re a current design student, recent graduate, new to the city, or looking to make a transition in your career, this free event will help you get acquainted with the dynamic world of design in Washington DC. We’ll cover key events, companies, people, current issues, and career paths in the industry. Come meet others who are just getting started in the local design community.
Panelists:
Mollie Bates
Senior Design + Technology Fellow, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Mollie works as a designer within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Technology and Innovation Fellowship. At this federal agency, she designs print and web products that help make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans. Previously, Mollie was an Assistant Art Director at National Geographic Traveler magazine and a designer at National Geographic Magazine. She recently completed four years of service on the AIGA DC board, and still helps to coordinate their DotGov Design quarterly events. She's a devoted bike commuter and DC-enthusiast.
Tom Giannattasio
Founder, Macaw
Tom Giannattasio has been designing and developing web-based products for more than 18 years and has established a record of innovation—leading major product initiatives for brands like Apple and Oracle. In 2012, he was acquire-hired by Twitter and was later called upon by MIT and Harvard to lead design efforts for edX—a massive online open course (MOOC), which offers an Ivy League education to students around the world for free. He recently left MIT to found Macaw, which is a software company building tools for web designers and developers. Macaw ran a successful Kickstarter campaign and was dubbed one of the most exciting projects of the year by CNN. It was nominated for .net magazine’s Game Changer of the Year and has been featured on Fast Company, TNW, Mashable and more.
Jennifer “Jo” Oliver
Art Director, AARP
As an Art Director in AARP's Brand department, Jennifer (Jo) Oliver creates communications that help over 37 million older Americans realize life's possibilities. During her 14 years at AARP, Jo has had the opportunity to work on everything from pins to billboards, and enjoys working with departments and over 60 state offices within the Association. Outside of work, Jo has volunteered as a member of the AIGA DC board, received her Master's Certificate in Digital Publishing Management from SCAD, and raised two Terriers (Guinness and Lola).
Dharma Pachner
Vice President & Creative Director, HZDG
Bio coming soon.
Carolyn Sewell
Chief Doodler, Carolyn Sewell Design
A potty-mouthed doodler from the Deep South, Carolyn’s work has been published in Communication Arts, Grafik, HOW, GDUSA, CMYK, UPPERCASE, and The Washington Post. When she’s not designing for clients she’s sending homemade postcards to her favorite people. Check out Postcards To My Parents to see a year’s worth of postcards to folks, and her follow-up projects Postcards To My Peeps and Postcardboard for cards to her friends. In her spare time she travels to conferences to take elaborate Sketchnotes. Her favorite color is glitter and folks say she’s nice.
Moderator:
Andrew Mason
Consultant, Macaw
Andrew loves building businesses. He started a crowdfunding company called EventStir, a business competition that gives away no-strings-attached cash called Startup Jackpot, and spent the last year growing NAV, a DC based web design firm that works with incredible clients like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He loves talking to people and is excited to moderate this GA panel.
About General Assembly
At General Assembly, we are creating a global community of individuals empowered to pursue work they love, by offering full-time immersive programs, long-form courses, and classes and workshops on the most relevant skills of the 21st century – from web development and user experience design, to business fundamentals, to data science, to product management and digital marketing.
Established in early 2011 as an innovative community in New York City for entrepreneurs and startup companies, General Assembly is an educational institution that transforms thinkers into creators through education in technology, business and design at nine campuses across four continents.