Sustainability Chair

Sarah Brooks is the Director of Social Innovation at Hot Studio and founder of Networked Culture, a design strategy consultancy. She is an artist, design strategist, and user experience designer, specializing in the creation of innovative products, services and systems that support solutions to our most pressing social and environmental challenges.

She investigates the ethical implication of design work in her writing for various web publications. Also an avid convener, she produced the Design for Social Innovation track at SOCAP12 and is looking forward to producing Compostmodern in 2013.

Sarah’s life and work are informed by her passion for the power of the arts to shape culture, systems thinking, depth psychology and the natural world. She has led design strategy, interaction design and product innovation for social entrepreneurs including PopTech, Skoll Foundation, Code for America, Hub/SOCAP, Alter Eco, The Hoop Fund, NetSquared and Catalyst Commons. During her career, she’s directed digital initiatives for FORA.tv, CNET, Nokia Ideas Project, San Francisco Contemporary Jewish Museum and many other leading organizations.

Sarah conducted graduate studies in Clinical Social Work at Columbia University, and holds undergraduate degrees in Film & Literature from Boston University, Textiles and Printmaking from California College of the Arts and Fashion Design from Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.