Angela is a strategist, designer, and educator whose work centers on creating meaningful experiences and connections. A Portland native, she studied at Oregon State University and graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design. She currently works as a Senior Brand Strategist for Murmur, and has spent the last 15+ years researching, strategizing, and designing engaging brands and experiences for clients of all sizes. Angela is also an experiential educator who has facilitated courses and workshops on a variety of subjects including organizational behavior, leadership, innovation, and scent design. View her website at angelaespersen.com

Ron Bronson is an information architect and design leader with over two decades of experience leading large-scale digital initiatives from ideation to post-launch. He's currently Head of Design & Strategy at 18F.gov, where he directs one of the largest design teams in the federal government. Ron speaks globally on service design, technology, and their collective impact on society. Prior to moving west, Ron founded Indianapolis Design Week and served as VP of Partnerships with AIGA Indianapolis. Locally, he started the PDX Skeeball League, was named 4A Girls Tennis Coach of the Year by the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association, and previously served on the City of Portland's Historic Landmarks Commission. He's also sort of famous in Finland.

Audrey is a freelance art director, designer, and illustrator constantly dreaming of better, more equitable futures. Her career started with design stints @ Nike and local agencies, working on a myriad of brand and campaigns projects, championing sustainability initiatives whenever possible. In order to align more with her passion for social and environmental change, she left the world of Fortune 500’s to focus on community organizing, freelancing with non-profits, and forging relationships with purpose- mission-driven organizations. Outside of AIGA, Audrey enjoys growing food, natural spaces, baking, and talking about feelings.  AUDDITIES   @1auddities

Halle is an art director, designer, illustrator and educator with experience working for a wide range of creative clients in e-commerce, education, retail, healthcare, publishing and technology. Originally from Ohio, she left to pursue a career in design in NYC before coming to Portland in 2016. She taught at PNCA and the Art Institute Online for several years while also working as a designer and volunteering at AIGA, Caldera, The Right Brain Initiative and Bigs Brothers Big Sisters. She enjoys drawing, bicycling and hanging out with her 10 year old son. See Halle’s website at: hallecisco.com

Jordan is a producer of big ideas. As a Chicago native, the midwest work ethic lives in her bones. She spent her early career in independent newspaper publishing and as a result, has a firm appreciation for deadlines and distrust of the Oxford comma. She specializes in design, strategy, and making things possible—she is always willing to get her hands dirty and dig deep into the details that bring projects to life. A skilled writer and creative problem solver, Jordan’s process-oriented and technology-focused approach to creative workflow make her an astute collaborator and project manager. She is passionate about Portland’s creative community and diversity, equity, and inclusion within the allied creative fields.

Alex is an accountant with over five years of experience in finance and accounting. After completing his B.S. in Finance at the University of Oregon, he worked in the finance departments of a marketing firm in San Francisco and, later, a shoe and apparel company in Portland. Currently, he works as an Associate on the Corporate Accounting Team at Fisher Investments. He seeks to combine his skills in finance with his passion for design to assist AIGA’s Portland chapter in reaching its short and long-term goals. In his free time, Alex enjoys playing guitar, running in Forest Park, and snowboarding at Mt. Hood.

Deena Anreise is a Lebanese-American creative, mover & shaker, and storyteller who prioritizes relationships over outcomes. Playfulness, curiosity, data, and grit have driven her to craft strategies and assets, produce events, and lead teams in the corporate world for 20+ years. Notable clients include Spotify, Apple, Taco Bell, Patreon, Adobe, Nike, Seagate, HP, and Intel. Deena's people management and mentoring chops inspire career growth, job satisfaction, high productivity, and low turnover. She holds an MA in Publishing & Writing and is finishing an MBA at Johns Hopkins University. Deena enjoys sharing time with her partner and their five kids, painting, dancing, playing guitar and singing, taking looooong walks, traveling, extreme sports, talking to strangers, and stopping to smell all the fragrant things. Visit her at deenaanreise.com

Isa D’Aniello is an Art Director and Graphic Designer from Austin, TX, now living and working in Portland with her pup Luca. She constantly pushes the boundaries of her role as a maker, trying out new tools, mediums, and blending analog with digital techniques to maintain a versatile design style. With more than a decade of professional experience, Isa specializes in brand design, event art direction, large-scale marketing campaigns, packaging, and illustration. She most recently worked as the lead designer for a wine company, and currently runs her own freelance design business, “Isa Made.” Aside from design, Isa makes elaborate messes in the kitchen, shimmery body oils, half-decent pottery, and Spotify playlists for every occasion. In her free time, she can be found chasing waterfalls, learning to garden, and exploring Portland’s food scene. Visit her at www.isamadethis.com

Jojo Benge-Palacio is a Human Resources & Business Operations professional for over a decade. His career revolves around building and rebuilding organizations. Jojo is adept at building dynamic, scalable internal infrastructure teams from the ground up to support a company’s growth and development. He has a BA in Psychology, an MS in Leadership and Management, focusing on HR Management and Organizational Development, and is SHRM Certified Professional. He is thrilled to bring the skills and knowledge to develop the creative community. In his spare time, he loves to cook, travel, hang with his two dogs and husband, and plan games with friends.

Equal parts executive producer and creative director, Ventura has been a force behind the scenes of the motion graphics industry for the last 15+ years. He’s held leading roles at NBCUniversal and Motionographer. At Motionographer he shaped events, producing and directing the much venerated F5 Festivals to audiences of 1500+ creatives. As Creative Director for NBC ArtWorks Studio, he leads the in-house agency for brand and package design across all News/Documentary properties for on-air and streaming platforms. He has collaborated on campaigns with Yahoo!/Oath, Activision/Blizzard, Civic Entertainment, Lion's Gate Films, and KeexFrame. An avid cinephile, Ventura has taught at the EPFC and given talks at SCAD, SVA, and NYU. Visit him at venturacastro.com and check out his Portfolio Reel at vimeo.com/venturacastro

Originally from New York, Janet is a UX Designer who splits her time between Utah and Oregon. Currently, she works for NICE as a Product Designer and engages in freelance opportunities as they arise. Janet loves design because every day is different and provides her the opportunity to create something truly impactful. Prior to becoming a UX Designer, she studied history (MA) and entrepreneurship (MBA), worked in finance (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Fidelity), and managed several branch offices on the West Coast. When not designing, Janet loves to travel, run, figure skate, meditate, volunteer (with AIGA Portland and Delta Alpha Sigma), and spend time with friends and family. View her portfolio at janetgonzales.com

Much of Ayesha’s career has been focused on identifying ways to drive equity, creativity, innovation, and empathy. She’s especially focused on transforming lives through authentic, culturally considered experiences as a storyteller, leader, and connector. With both in-house and agency experience, Ayesha brings a data-driven approach to crafting strategic frameworks for positive impact that accelerates brand growth, deepens engagement, and drives resonance globally. She has proven expertise in people and partnership management (non-profit, key brand partners, influencers, athletes) as well as equity and inclusion leadership across social impact, communities, and programming.

Nicole is a steward of the people, the product, and the product design discipline at Driveway. As a designer who also codes, she describes herself as technical. Having a deep understanding of the medium she’s designing for is crucial to realizing and executing exceptional user experience. As a manager, Nicole is passionate about "how we do design" work, design systems, and overall design operations. How to scale design is a compelling and meaty design problem to solve, and she’s up for the challenge. View her portfolio at nicolemors.com