Joan Gregor is Founder, President / CEO, Intersection-Inc and The Design Academy, Inc

 

Business is Better When Connected Through Design is Joan’s passion for fueling innovation by translating business strategy into meaningful human-centered design experiences, products and services.

 

Joan co-founded The Design Academy with her partner Chuck Pelly, in 2003.  As the company grew, in 2015 they started Intersection-Inc and positioned The Design Academy as their educational collaboratory.Their philosophy is to mentor and build capability in teams and individuals, as well as advance the design profession with thought leadership.

 

Intersection, a design innovation consultancy optimizes ROI by translating strategy and applying a rich array of perspectives from academia, industry and government through collaborative & interdisciplinary knowledge which is key to solving today's complex, multi-dimensional issues.

 

As a design strategist with broad-based business background, Joan integrates the organic creative process into tangible and feasible business and design management strategies. Through The Design Academy she mentors and educates people on design thinking/human-centered design tools and their integration into the company’s processes.

 

As an entrepreneur, she has practical experience in design resulting in 5 patents for a retail product line, including all elements of business start-up to market launch and licensing.
 

Joan is on the executive steering committee to UC San Diego Design Lab directed by Don Norman, is on the Advisory Boards for Alliance 4 Empowerment, Ignite What’s Right, ID 8 High and Resource Fiber, the only fully integrated bamboo company in the U.S. She has also served on the board of the Mary Magdalene Project (now Journey Out), a nonprofit helping victims of prostitution leave the life and break the cycle with their children.

 

Through her multinational clients & sense of adventure, she has travelled extensively and sailed in the South Pacific, contributing cultural insights & knowledge to her perspective on projects.