Experience
From Cambridge seminar rooms to the Barbican's main stage, Ve, as director of Concurrency, builds the programmes that connect design ambition to systemic change. As co-convener of Design for Planet (CRASSH, Cambridge) and programme curator of the World Design Congress 2025, she has brought together ministers, economists, and practitioners, from Kate Raworth to Brian Eno, to examine how design drives the green transition. Her leadership programme work for CHEAD and D&AD further reflects a sustained commitment to building the UK's creative and leadership skills infrastructure.
Ve is appointed as a Creative PEC Champion, contributing practitioner-led insights to the UKRI-funded Policy and Evidence Centre for the Creative Industries. She informs national policy debates on AI, governance, and the role of design in the creative economy, and contributes to the Centre's mission to support the UK's creative industries in alignment with DCMS, Industrial Strategy, and R&D priorities.
At the RCA, Ve served as Innovation Fellow across two programmes at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Desgin. She co-conceived and led an Inclusive AI community of practice, developing its interdisciplinary framework and delivering its inaugural forum with TCS Pace©. Alongside this, she led the design and delivery of the Creative Leadership portfolio, managing business development and client activations with partners including Amazon, the University of Exeter, and Decathlon.
Ve is appointed as a Design Council Expert, contributing to the UK's national design advisory body on strategy, evidence, and policy. She advises on AI, systemic design, and governance, bringing interdisciplinary expertise to national design and innovation programmes. Her work supports the UK Government's Industrial Strategy, sustainability agenda, and skills pipeline, and advocates for design's role in addressing national priorities — from climate transition to digital transformation — at the level of policy and practice.
Whilst at Mattel, Ve created and led Mattel's first creative learning and development function, designing a systemic programme and community of practice for 400+ creatives, managing a six-figure budget, and producing 30+ activations, including CreativeCon, the company's inaugural global creative conference, which reached 30,000 employees. The programme was sanctioned by the then-COO as a strategic initiative for organisational innovation.
Ve co-chaired the In-House Initiative Steering Committee at AIGA — the world's oldest and leading professional association for design — co-leading an eight-member team of senior design leaders to develop resources for in-house design teams. Committee members included leaders from Coca-Cola, IBM Design, and Kimberly-Clark.
Ve founded and led the RSA Decolonising Design Coalition, building a global network to advance principles for decolonising design and shaping international discourse on the field's future and its broader societal impact. Over three years, she convened practitioners and thinkers across the international design community to synthesise perspectives and move the conversation forward.
As co-curator and head of partnerships for ReDesign Business Festival, Ve co-produced a six-day event recognised by both Wallpaper Magazine and Forbes as one of the top highlights of the London Design Festival 2020. She curated themes across sustainability, inclusivity, and the future of work, and built partnerships with major UK stakeholders, including the Design Council, Innovate UK, the CBI, and PwC, strengthening cross-sector collaboration between design, industry, and policy.
As co-creator and board member of Never Not Creative, Ve has co-led the organisation's International Women's Day platform and driven programmes on mental health, diversity, and inclusion within the global creative community.
As a Senior Marketing Manager, Ve led the development and launch of a strategic creative enterprise marketing programme across Europe, overseeing 30+ bespoke activations from design through to evaluation. She supported key accounts, including WPP, Dentsu, Unilever, Nike, TfL, and American Airlines — collectively representing over $100M in impact — and grew a high-performing team from 3 to 7. Her work spanned product, sales, and customer success, aligning design-led initiatives with broader business strategy.
Ve was named partner on the British Council's Indigenising Design global series,
a ten-month programme bringing together designers, academics, and changemakers to explore possibilities beyond a colonised design system. Delivered through live-streamed webinars and a shared microsite, the initiative was developed in collaboration with the British Council Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific, the University of Exeter Arts and Culture, and the Indigenous Design and Innovation Aotearoa (IDIA).
Ve served as a Visiting Fellow at Zinc VC, a mission-driven venture builder backing early-stage founders tackling major societal challenges. As part of Zinc's cross-sector fellowship network, she delivered talks and office hours to founders, advising on inclusive and design-led approaches to start-up development.
As a founding member of Creative Bravery Festival, Ve co-founded a cross-sector initiative with the Scottish Government to explore the future of education through collaboration among young people, educators, and the creative industries. The project positioned education as an evolving ecosystem, foregrounding creativity, participation, and new models of learning.