A woman with reddish-brown hair wearing a green floral dress, holding a microphone with a SXSW logo, speaking at an event with a colorful background.

Creativity is your birthright.

Elysa is a design leader and builder who creates experiences and programs grounded in the science of play and purpose, helping people and organizations do their best, most human work.

Taught 20+ Stanford Classes

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50+ Fortune 500 Clients

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Led 100+ Workshops & Talks

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Live audiences of 500+

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5k+ Executives & Leaders

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10,000 Online Learners

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100k+ Framework Downloads

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SXSW Featured Panelist

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Taught 20+ Stanford Classes · 50+ Fortune 500 Clients · Led 100+ Workshops & Talks · Live audiences of 500+ · 5k+ Executives & Leaders · 10,000 Online Learners · 100k+ Framework Downloads · SXSW Featured Panelist ·

Elysa works with leaders and teams to build the creative and human capacity that makes meaningful work actually possible.

Better technology is part of it. So are people who know how to think, feel, and imagine in ways no model can replicate.

Four Areas of Expertise

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Play & Creativity

Play is a core human capacity.

Research shows it's one of the strongest drivers of creativity and team performance, and most organizations are aware of their teams potential.

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Innovation & Design Thinking

Better ideas start with better questions.

Using design thinking and futures frameworks, I help teams understand what people actually need, then build toward what doesn't exist yet.

Overlapping pink and red watercolor circles forming a Venn diagram.

Purpose & Leadership

When people know why their work matters, they show up differently, with purpose.

I help individuals and teams get clear on what drives them, and build practices around purpose, wellbeing, and intentional leadership.

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Transformative Experience Design

Real change is felt.

I design and build physical installations and immersive experiences that take people through the full emotional range, from play and humor to vulnerability and grief.

Collaborations With

IDEO logo
Google logo in black on a light background.
Stanford d.school logo
SXSW logo
NSF logo with a globe and gear design
MIT logo
Logo of the National Institute for Play, featuring interconnected circles and nodes.
re:imagine logo
Vans logo
Greater Good Science Center logo

Taught 20+ Stanford Classes

·

50+ Fortune 500 Clients

·

Led 100+ Workshops & Talks

·

500+ person live sessions

·

5k+ Executives & Leaders

·

10,000+ Online Learners

·

100k+ Framework Downloads

·

SXSW Featured Panelist

.

Taught 20+ Stanford Classes · 50+ Fortune 500 Clients · Led 100+ Workshops & Talks · 500+ person live sessions · 5k+ Executives & Leaders · 10,000+ Online Learners · 100k+ Framework Downloads · SXSW Featured Panelist .

Elysa’s Impact

Elysa has spent 17 years building the tools and programs organizations keep using, and designing the experiences people never forget.

Featured Speaker at SXSW

Lecturer at Stanford d.school

Designer-in-Residence at Google

Design Leader at IDEO

Fellow at Edmund Hillary Fellowship

Creative Director at Purpose Project at Greater Good Science Center

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TESTIMONIALS

What People Are Saying


“ Elysa is both grounded and wildly generative. She balances depth and intention with play and whimsy.”

— Carissa Carter, Academic Director | Stanford d.school


“Elysa was a leader within Google across the entire world in bringing design, art and empathy into Google products and services. In numerous products and events in multiple countries and regions, Oceania, Asia, Europe and Africa, Elysa designed and led training courses at the highest of professional and innovation levels, impacting hearts and minds.”

— Craig Warner, Former Head of Ideas and Opportunities | Google


“She is unbound. The space in her brain for ideation, creativity, innovation, playfulness, etc., has no boundaries. Her unapologetic artistry in a corporate environment created magical, visceral moments for so many Googlers. She transformed leaders with jazz, connected teammates in deeply vulnerable ways using only four walls, and propelled communities forward and together with waves. I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Elysa because I got to see her work and process up close, and also because I know there is now a part of my brain that is unbound, too, thanks to her influence.”

— Stephanie McLellan, Senior Director Communications | Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Creativity

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Conscious Design

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Connection

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Futures

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Healing

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Possibilities

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Play

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Wellness

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Performance

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Purpose

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Creativity · Conscious Design · Connection · Futures · Healing · Possibilities · Play · Wellness · Performance · Purpose ·