ABOUT THE MADE IN THE FUTURE FELLOWSHIP
Made In the Future is a design career-building fellowship beginning with a 3 day summit fostering community and connection amongst preeminent design leaders and emerging underrepresented design talent via a series of immersive events.
Fellows will receive an all expenses paid experience where they will receive a foundational professional development curriculum, lessons in behavioral competency, and the necessary mentorship to make them more attractive candidates for junior and mid-level roles.
The Made In the Future program is designed around three core principles
Information Access
Made In the Future is designed to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and broadening of perspectives to create a more progressive, diverse and inspired industry. Fellows will gain access to first-hand information sessions on both the fundamentals of design and the professional development skills necessary to improve behavioral competency aka “the soft skills.”
Community Building
Fellows will leave with a new-found support system created via shared experiences with both peers and some of the industry’s leading design professionals. All in service building momentum for a positive career trajectory. Fellows will receive a high-level of support and mentorship post-summit by being paired with mentors.
Action
At its core, Made In the Future, is a catalyst for action for motivated aspiring designers. The curriculum was developed after hearing from over a 100 aspiring design professionals asking for tactical advice to jumpstart their careers. The result is a series of, meaningful workshops, and tactical and applicable mentorship and advice for our first fellow class. Fellows will be exposed to industry decision makers and our supporting partners to broaden their career opportunities.
The Summit
The Made In the Future fellowship program provides the opportunity for design leaders and senior practitioners to come together and share ideas, find camaraderie, and to support the professional development of Fellows through a series of immersive events.
Full schedule and curriculum are not available to the general public.
Our Mentors
A diverse lineup of the industry’s most respected and invested design leaders, emerging leaders, and creative entrepreneurs will play a pivotal role in the course of your Made in the Future Fellowship.
You’ll get plenty of opportunities over the course of your year long fellowship to engage with our selected mentor cohort. As a part of the Fellowship, each mentor has made a year long pledge to support individual fellows.
Michael Bierut / Partner / Pentagram
Mike Davidson / VP, Partnerships & Community / InVision
Laci Jordan / Multi-Disciplinary Artist / Entrepreneur & SLL Studios
Katie Dill / Head of Design / Lyft
Dezzie Garcia / Product Design Manager / Loom
Jessica Hische / Lettering Artist & Best-selling Author
Randy Hunt / Head of Design / Grab
Steve Johnson / VP, Product and Studio Design / Netflix
Isha Kasliwal / Senior Design Technologist / Twitch
Jeff Mahacek / VP of Design / NerdWallet
Jennifer Daniel / Unicode Subcommittee Chair, Emoji / Google
Dian Holton / Senior Deputy Art Director / AARP
Maya Gold Patterson / Staff Product Designer / Twitter
Maryam Pugh / Owner & Co-founder / Philadelphia Printworks
Brandon Ramos / Product Designer / Facebook
Stew Scott-Curran / Senior Director of Brand / Loom
Halli Thorleifsson / CEO / UENO
Kat Vellos / Senior UX Designer, Connection Coach & Author / Kat Vellos Design & Consulting
Cap Watkins / Chief Experience Officer / Primary.com
Karla Cole / Product Designer / Instagram
Rochelle King / VP, Creative Production / Netflix
Margaret Gould Stewart / VP, Product Design / Facebook
Alfonso "Fonz" Morris / Lead Product Designer, Global Conversion / Netflix
Timothy Goodman / Illustrator & Designer / Timothy Goodman LLC
Senongo Akpem / Design Director / Nava
Catt Small / Product Designer / Asana
Mia Blume / CEO & Design Executive Coach / Design Dept.
Jen Cotton / UX Lead / Google Nest
Wes O'Haire / Product Design Lead / Dropbox
Maria Gonzalez / Lead Designer (Web) / Slack
Program designed by designer, Kristy Tillman
My name is Kristy Tillman. I bring over 15+ years of experience in design working across industries.
With a mixture of experience like Head of Global Experience Design, Head of Communication Design, Design Director - I’ve been able to become acquainted with what it takes to be equipped for a myriad of design challenges and development as a designer. I’ve also led MICA students through the Flexible Design Studio workshop with a module on social impact design. I am a proud HBCU Alum ( FamU — Florida A&M University) and I studied design at Kansas City Art Institute.
I’ve been in design leadership, responsible for creating design teams from scratch and transitioning talent from entry level to design leadership. I am an Advisor for Designer Fund and sit on the board of Design Advisory Council for the University of Texas at Austin.
I’m a designer, investor and cultivator of a different kind of tomorrow one that harnesses the exponential addition of talent in the gaps. As you can imagine I’ve learned a lot along the way around growing my own talent and those around me in the realm of design.