Entrepreneur (inventor of a foot-saving product for ballet dancers), artist, optimist, lover of (bright) colors, dancer of all genres (particularly ballet and hip hop), someone who likes moving and being outside.
If you've ever wondered what it's like to design a life-sized paper forest of ambiguity, or write a book about a topic as ambiguous as... ambiguity, then you should talk to Kelly. A Product Design nut who teaches and advises students in the d.school’s undergrad design degree, she also oversees the undergrad program.Â
Since joining the d.school in 2013, she has been drawn to designing learning experiences with lasting impact, including reimagining the future of higher education (Stanford 2025), creating a purpose-based toolkit for high schoolers (Project Wayfinder), building out the d.school’s Navigating Ambiguity curriculum and resource library, and most recently, leading the charge in evolving Stanford’s undergrad design degree program. She is especially interested in engaging young people to help them discover more joy in the things they love so that they can align their skills and passions with work that moves them.
A lifelong designer, entrepreneur and dancer, Kelly found a way to blend her passions to launch a line of customized ballet shoe solutions (PerfectFit Pointe) to help transform and improve the en pointe experience for all dancers. She’s a master at designing prototypes and can often be found surrounded by scissors, Post-its and 3D models.
Kelly has taught DESIGN 121 (formerly ME 115a) Intro to Human Values in Design (2014-2023) alongside d.school founder David Kelley, ME 377 Design Thinking Studio (2019-2020) with Seamus Yu Harte, and most recently, DESIGN 160R Design Formation (2024 - current) with Dustin Liu and Victor Saad, and DESIGN 162 A/B Impact Studio Capstone (2024 - current) with Char McCurdy, a new undergrad capstone option focused on real-word impact in collaboration with community partners.
She is a two-time Product Design graduate (BS ‘06, MS ‘13), and a native of sunny cow- and bike-filled Davis, CA. From watercolor painting to hip hop and hiking, you’ll most likely find Kelly gravitating towards bright colors and unanswered questions.Â