Human-Centered Design for Inclusive Innovation

Mark Leung, former Director of the Business Design Lab at the Rotman School of Management, specializes in Business Design, focusing on human-centered corporate innovation and business transformation. He collaborates with students, academia, and industry to develop innovation-driven business leaders and enhance organizational innovation practices. Mark has taught across executive, graduate, and undergraduate programs, working with organizations like Scotiabank, Telus, Estée-Lauder, P&G, and Deloitte. An award-winning educator, his writings on human-centered design have appeared in Rotman Magazine, Healthcare Quarterly, Medium, and the Globe and Mail.

Nika Stelman, Chief of Staff at BenchSci, is an expert in design thinking and former Director of Design Strategy at Bridgeable, a renowned service design consultancy in Toronto. She blends design and strategy to analyze complex human interactions, uncover hidden opportunities, and drive meaningful impact across industries such as finance, telecom, retail, and public services. Nika holds an MBA in Business Design from Rotman School of Management and a BBA in Strategic Design & Management from Parsons School of Design. She has also taught at Rotman and serves as Alumna-in-Residence at the Institute for Gender and the Economy (GATE).

Sarah Kaplan is a Distinguished Professor of Gender and the Economy, Professor of Strategic Management, and Director of the Institute for Gender and the Economy (GATE) at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. She also serves as a Senior Fellow at the Lee-Chin Family Institute for Corporate Citizenship and the Wharton School's Mack Institute for Innovation Management. Kaplan is the Academic Director of the Gender Analytics Specialization and lead faculty for "The 360º Corporation: Tools for Achieving Corporate Purpose." An accomplished author, her works include the bestselling Creative Destruction and Survive and Thrive: Winning Against Strategic Threats to Your Business, along with her recent publication, The 360° Corporation: From Stakeholder Trade-offs to Transformation. Her research investigates organizational responses to emerging fields and technologies, with a current focus on applying innovation to tackle gender equality challenges. Kaplan's previous roles include a professorship at the Wharton School and nearly a decade as a consultant at McKinsey & Company. She holds a BA in Political Science from UCLA and an MA in International Relations and International Economics from Johns Hopkins University. Follow her on Twitter at @sarah_kaplan.