As the Program Director for the Re:Imagine Childcare program at IDEO.org, Aya strives to bolster an inspired design practice rooted in excellence and heart.

Passionate about upholding dignity and enriching the lives of the communities and individuals IDEO.org works with, Aya focuses on elevating their stories and inner worlds through creative storytelling and experience design. Aya has taught Design Thinking at NYU, earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Transdisciplinary Design from Parsons The New School for Design and a Bachelor of Design from York University.

Outside of IDEO.org, Aya can be found reading Russian literature, practicing Russian grammar with false confidence, and hoping she will one day read Dostoevsky in his mother tongue. When she’s not reading, she is probably hiking between villages (running away from sheep), living a pastoral dream where life is slower, and one can stop to smell the orange blossoms.