Helen van Baal

Helen van Baal is a strategic designer, teacher and design thinking expert with a focus on projects within the social innovation and education realm. Helen has taught design in many countries across Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. Between 2013 and 2015 she was a program lead at the HPI School of Design Thinking in Germany where she designed, managed and co-led the academic education in Design Thinking as well as supported student teams in developing innovative ideas and founding successful start-ups. Apart from her work with students, Helen has worked as a designer and innovation consultant with large corporations, non-profits, start-ups and consultancies within various industries (i.e. banking, education, automotive, digital and product design), teaching, consulting and designing globally (Europe, Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia). At the core of her work is the belief in empathy as the basis for good design and the dedication to creating value through design.