Carmen Bocanegra

Since she first learned to talk, Carmen was encouraged to ask a lot of questions. It’s no wonder she gained a love of experimentation and a science degree, but she ended up at an advertising agency because it was different, so why not?

Over the past decade, Carmen has led teams through the process of research, strategy, and design. She took a brief stint to learn how to apply her design and research skills to physical spaces by earning a certification in interior design. Energized by ambiguity and forging a path forward when there is none, organizational design, Carmen seeks to understand how people are impacted by services, technology, and policy. A strong advocate for building trust between teams, clients, and the people they serve, she is focused on ensuring our language, code, and practices are inclusive and accessible to all.

After a couple cross-country moves, Carmen now lives in her home state of North Carolina and spends time AFK in the mountains with her spouse and her dog beside her.

For more, keep up with Carmen on Twitter as @carmenboca.

Presentations

Leadership By Design 2021

What Therapy Taught Me About Design & Creating Healthy Teams

Maintaining a healthy self and extending that to our professional lives are journeys. The root cause of many of our inner and outer conflicts stem from the stories we tell ourselves. The beliefs that support those stories are deeply held and often unnamed. My therapy journey started on a cold, rainy day on a bus in Portland, OR. I knew I wanted to find peace, but what I gained was so much more. I learned to let go of beliefs that didn’t serve me personally or professionally. My goal is to share what I learned, how I reframed those beliefs in my own life, and what I learned about design in the process.