Wednesday, March 3, 2021
9:00 am – 11:00 am CT
Keynote Sponsor
The future of work is top of mind for every organization. How we emerge in a post-pandemic society remains an unknown. However, establishing a framework by which we thoughtfully construct a new working paradigm requires meta-design thinking with input from (hard and soft) scientists, academics, and designers.
The Future of Work Think Tank
assembled at Ford Motor Company examined the nature of work in an ever-changing future through the lens of “Brain to Building”- evidence-based affordances to the individual, the group and the collective culture. Insights are currently being applied to the new, 2million SF Ford campus headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.
The session will reflect on the structure of the Think Tank and the perspective of subject matter experts representing the “Brain to Building” framework as a vetting mechanism for design
Panelists
(Left to right: Jennifer Kolstad, Casey Lindberg, Angela Ramer; Not Pictured: Dr. Richard Smith, Cathy Clark)
Jennifer Kolstad
Global Design Director, Ford Motor Company
Jennifer is the Global Design Director at Ford Motor Company overseeing the design of Ford’s physical environments. Her role seeks to unify the values and brand language of Ford in architecture and interior design, elevating impact internal and external to the global Ford ecosystem. Through research driven design, her mission is to ideate future-state readiness for the new world headquarters, workplace, retail, hotel, factory, or community space of a next-gen mobility company.Dedicated to the longevity of the interior design profession, Jennifer is the immediate Past-Chair of the American Society of Interior Designers. Since joining the National Board in 2016 her focus has been the broader application of the interior design professional’s human-centered expertise in every design equation. She is currently a member of the Ford Motor Company Global Design Council and an invited member of the Health Advisory Council at the School of Design and Creative Technologies at Dell Medical School’s Design Institute for Health at UT Austin.
Jennifer is a dedicated mentor to next-gen designers, a regular juror of national and international award competitions. 2020 closing plenary for the Design Museum Everywhere Innovation Summit, SCALE keynote for the 2020 and 2017/2018 ASID National Student Summits, 2019 guest lecturer and keynote concluding the “Communitas” Symposium at Utah State University and was nominated to the 2019 Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum National Design Awards.
Jennifer achieved a Master of Architecture degree from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and was a recipient of the SOM Graduate Fellowship. She is a professional member of ASID, IIDA, and an associate member of AIA.
She has been published in Interior Design Magazine, Architectural Digest, House and Garden, D Home, PaperCity, and Healthcare Design. Prior to Ford Jennifer designed at HKS, SOM, Gensler and ALDAR in the United Arab Emirates.
Casey Lindberg
HKS CADRE, Ford Think Tank Behavioral Psychologist
As a senior design researcher with HKS, Dr. Casey Lindberg is dedicated to the translation of scientific findings to the built environment. With a PhD in experimental psychology and a Master of Architecture, his expertise uniquely positions him to study and communicate how the built environment affects human health, wellbeing, and behavior.
Casey is broadly interested in the way different environments affect humans physiologically and psychologically. He has expertise in wearable sensing technology and other IEQ measures to study how the ambient and built environment affect physiological health and wellbeing outcomes. He is particularly interested in design solutions for the dissimilar effects the built environment has on people due to individual differences.
Angela Ramer
HKS CADRE, Ford Think Tank Anthropologist
Angela is a design anthropologist in the Advisory group at HKS. Her ethnographic approach to research captures the unique experience of users in built environments. This approach facilitates user engagement, promotes leadership investment and informs design to anticipate errors, consider user expectations and enable organizational evolution. Her work intersects strategy, research and design to deliver meaningful insights to clients and designers alike. Angela’s latest work focuses on strategizing new health service offerings, future-casting the role of corporate work environments and musing over implications of COVID-19/work-from-home practices on corporate culture.
Angela received her Master’s of Applied Anthropology from the University of North Texas with a concentration in business, technology and design. Her professional training includes serving as a WELL Accredited Professional and a certified Change Management Professional.
She is an active member of several anthropological associations (American Anthropological Association, Society for Applied Anthropology, and National Association for the Practice of Anthropology) and strives to stay connected via conference presentations, publications and guest lectures.
Richard Smith, MD
Pediatric Neurologist, Children’s Hospital of MichiganFord Think Tank Anthropologist
Cathy Clark
HKS Advisory, Ford Think Tank Facilitator
Cathy Sullivan Clark, an accomplished strategic advisor and leader, is a principal with HKS Advisory Services. Specializing in the health care sector, she brings a proven data-driven, consensus-focused approach to position her clients for success. With over 35 years of facilitation experience, Cathy is recognized for her ability to manage in the face of uncertainty, build consensus among diverse interest groups, and integrate multiple perspectives into a cohesive vision that can be implemented for meaningful impact.
Before joining HKS, Cathy led a boutique consulting firm—Sagamore Strategic Partners—focused on the transformation of health care. Prior to that, she was Director of Health Innovation at Noblis Inc. and Vice President at Jennings Ryan & Kolb.
Cathy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Mount Holyoke College and a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University. Over the course of her career, she has presented many educational programs and authored many articles on strategy and strategic planning.
Her interest lies in helping her clients become more resilient—capable of riding the waves of change and emerging stronger than ever before.
