About Me
Hi there! I’m Alexis – strategic designer and researcher, interested in the intersection of design and urban justice. My work focuses on how we can better design our communities and the services that support them to create a more equitable and sustainable future for the people who live in them. I believe co-design and policy reform are critical components of enduring, meaningful change.
Professional Experience
June 2023 - Present
Graduate Associate
Urban Land Institute
In just one year at ULI's Homeless to Housed Initiative, I facilitated their grant program launch, awarding $90,000 to fight homelessness in five communities. I co-developed a cohort program to guide them, leading workshops for over 30 cohort members. My impact continued with co-planning the inaugural H2H Symposium, convening 200+ real estate experts, housing advocates, and local government leaders for solution-oriented discussions. Leveraging data from academic experts and member feedback, I proposed strategic changes for H2H's 2024 plan, including more member education and workshops on real estate's role in addressing homelessness. I also established new criteria and selection process for the 2024 grant program.
Key skills: facilitation, stakeholder engagement, experience design, survey design, quantitative and qualitative research, journey mapping, project management, concept development, business strategy
August 2017 - June 2022
Senior Product Marketing Manager
Salesforce
Over five years, I progressed from Product Marketing Associate Manager to Product Marketing Manager to Senior Product Marketing Manager for the Go-to-Market team within the Marketing Cloud. I consistently demonstrated expertise across the product lifecycle, from leading new product introductions (including the strategy for and launch of the Marketing Cloud for Slack app) and designing user experiences to crafting successful sales enablement programs and driving marketing campaigns that generated significant ROI.
Key skills: go-to-market strategy, competitive strategy, product launches, user research, user personas, storyboarding, wireframing, usability testing, QA, design prototypes, education design, email marketing, cross-functional collaboration, focus groups
May 2014 - June 2017
Product Marketing Manager
Spredfast (now Kohros)
In my three years at Spredfast, I quickly rose through the ranks from intern to Product Marketing Specialist to Product Marketing Manager. I played a key role in shaping product direction through initiatives like the establishing the General Adoptability standard, supporting design sprints, and leading customer interviews. I also championed emerging market growth, securing increased investment in Australia and driving significant pipeline growth through targeted marketing efforts.
Key skills: design sprints, product roadmap development, process development and implementation, TAM analysis, webinars, customer stories, case studies
Relevant Technical Skills: Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop, JIRA, Excel, Salesforce, Camtasia, Figma, Miro, Mural, Monday, Asana, Slack
Relevant Academic Experience
M.S. Strategic Design and Management
August 2022 - Present
Parsons School of Design
The New School
Expanding Access to Housing for NYC’s Most Vulnerable Citizens (Design Research Capstone)
In Progress: Explored opportunities for design intervention that will meaningfully contribute to increasing the supply of–or access to–housing for vulnerable populations by examining the intersection of human, policy, space, and funding considerations. In our final semester, we are prototyping a new rapidly deployable, modular supportive housing model to keep NYC’s most vulnerable residents sheltered and progressing through the Continuum of Care.
Key skills: service design, interviewing, design research, journey mapping, synthesis, analysis, prototyping
Research Project - Policy Analysis: Involuntary Admission in NYC
Developed an investigative report and research project into NYC Mayor Eric Adams’s updated Involuntary Admission policy. Key areas of interest include the policy’s history, practical implementation of the policy, and its unintended social, health, economic, and political effects. Outputs: a public scholarship piece and academic paper.
Key skills: interviewing, ethnography, academic writing, journey mapping
Services Communication Kit for FICA (Brazil)
Designed a comprehensive Services Communication Kit for FICA, a non-profit housing provider dedicated to making renting viable for low-income students and families in the center of São Paulo. The kit (a set of illustrations and Zine in storyboard form) materialized the main interactions a tenant experiences during onboarding and orientation. FICA will use our assets to develop the Zines, which will be available physically in units and digitally.
Key skills: service blueprints, service design, communication design
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) Financial Impact Assessment with Gensler
Designed a self-service assessment prototype to help companies evaluate their daily practices' impact on DEI and its potential financial benefits. I presented the prototype and findings, including recommendations for refining the framework, to Gensler's design strategy and innovation team. I created this prototype in response to research commissioned by Gensler to pressure-test their Culture of Inclusion framework.
Key skills: storytelling, opportunity framing, ecosystem mapping, prototyping