We’re delighted to announce our Advancing Research 2020 scholarship recipients. There were nearly 200 applications, so our judges really had their work cut out for them. 

Rachel Poonsiriwong is an emerging interaction designer at the California College of the Arts who is passionate about social impact. She leads Research at ShelterTech–an award-winning nonprofit that alleviates homelessness in San Francisco by connecting individuals-in-need to resources. Rachel has designed with Autodesk, Dell, and will join Microsoft in summer.

 

 

Jordan Green has worked as a researcher (and sometimes designer), focusing heavily on non-profits, civic tech, and community based organizations for the past four years,  going from a freelancer, to a moonlighter, to a full-time researcher.

 

 

 

Elli Ponomareva, UX Researcher at UXPressia, most recently worked on a project conducting research for a team developing an alarm clock mobile app for deaf and hard of hearing people.

 

 

 

Maryann Wangari is a Senior Design Research and Product Design consultant based in Nairobi. She has over seven years of experience in the tech, entrepreneurship, social impact and startup ecosystem in Africa. Her work cuts across different sectors; like tackling global challenges around reproductive health for women and girls, financial inclusion for low-income women, food and nutrition, early childhood development and many more. In her previous role, Maryann worked as a senior design researcher at IDEO.org. She has conducted design research projects in countries like; Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda.