Elana Gurney
Elana Gurney
Lead Product Designer

Elana is a multidisciplinary designer and strategist working across sectors to build impactful products. She specializes in holistic digital solutions, combining UX/UI, brand and content strategy. Previously, she managed marketing and product for OpenIDEO, the open innovation platform of international design consultancy IDEO. In partnership with clients — including Nike, The Rockefeller Foundation, Starbucks, Unilever, the United States government and the United Nations — she worked to creatively engage a global community of more than 250,000 in tackling pressing societal issues.

With deep expertise in designing for social innovation and entrepreneurship, she joined IDEO by way of Teach for America, the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at UCLA Anderson School of Management and experience working with agencies. In 2013, she founded a boutique creative consultancy for social good. She has nearly two decades of experience working with nonprofits, most recently serving on the board of Transition US, a network of communities focused on building a regenerative and just future.

Elana has spoken and led workshops on design thinking, open innovation, community building and impactful communication around the world — from the Global Social Venture Competition to SXSW.