Ariana Faye
Allensworth

Cultural worker mobilizing people, memory, and design toward collective liberation.

Ariana Faye
Allensworth

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PROJECTS

IDEO



ROLE

Senior Global Director of
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and BelongingYEAR

2020 - 2026




Transforming workplace culture through a design-driven approach to DEI



In 2020, amid a global racial justice recokoning, IDEO publicly committed to examining and addressing systemic inequities within its culture and the design industry at large. At the time, the work was largely decentralized—driven by passionate individuals, but without the infrastructure needed to sustain it across a global organization.



KEY CHALLENGE

I joined the firm to help translate these commitments into everyday practice, working with employees, community leaders, and senior leadership to shape IDEO’s first global DEIB strategy and build the structures needed to support long-term cultural change.

My role focused on designing systems, relationships, and governance models that could move equity work from the margins of the organization into its everyday operations.

Rather than treating DEIB as a standalone initiative, the work required embedding new ways of working into leadership practices, organizational systems, and the everyday culture of the firm.





KEY CONTRIBUTIONS

Applied Design Thinking to Systems Change
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Led a global strategic planning process that leveraged design thinking tools—research, facilitation, prototyping, and systems thinking—to co-create IDEO’s first enterprise-wide DEIB strategy and implementation roadmap.



Built Community Infastructure
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Formalized an Employee Resource Group (ERG) program, securing compensation and executive sponsorship to support underrepresented leaders in cultivating community and advancing belonging across the organization.  



Linked Creative Practice to Equity and Justice
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Implemented a pro-bono fund linking IDEO’s design process to racial justice movements and helped organize the Inclusive Design Collective, an internal community advancing equity-centered design practices across project teams.



Turned Insights into Levers for Change
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Led the design and rollout of IDEO’s demographic reporting system and annual global employee engagement survey, translating insights into levers for action and change.  



Moved the Work from the Margins to the Core
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Partnered with the CEO’s office to launch an enterprise-wide DEIB council, aligning senior leaders around shared priorities and embedding equity into the firm’s governance structures.



Enabled Decentralized Implementation
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Worked with regional studios to translate global strategy into local practice, enabling teams to adapt DEIB priorities within their own cultural and operational contexts.





THE IMPACT

This work created the conditions for lasting change—rooted in iteration, not perfection, and sustained through community.


This body of work was shaped by years of internal organizing, co-design with underrepresented employees, and deep collaboration with design and business leaders across the company. It reflects a core belief I carry: effective culture change isn’t just about a well-articulated strategy; it requires engaging the full community in the ongoing practice of transformation.

IDEO is still evolving—as design today demands new capabilities that reckon with history, power, and care for both people and the planet. I’m proud to have helped shape this chapter of its journey, and to have contributed to building the infrastructure for what comes next.





RELEVENT LINKS

 CASE STUDY FROM IDEO’S RACIAL JUSTICE IMPACT FUND
HEAR FROM MEMBERS OF IDEO’S INCLUSIVE DESIGN COLLECTIVE ABOUT HOW INCLUSIVE DESIGN ISN’T JUST ETHICAL, BUT ESSENTIAL



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