​First-generation immigrants experience life in between cultures and barriers. These lived experiences can make breaking into and working in tech very challenging (especially if you're the first in your family or community to do so), and feeling seen in the industry an even bigger hurdle.

​Join our panelists Amy, Koji, Milan, Miguel, Drew and Vivianne as they discuss how first-gen designers navigate their design careers and the tech industry with vulnerability and purpose.

​🐰About our speakers

​Host: Amy Lima is a first-generation American and tech professional currently working as Pinterest's first-ever Product Design Apprentice. Having transitioned from a career in the music industry, Amy's passionate about helping early-career folks pivot into the design field. Her design philosophy is deeply rooted in ethical and inclusive practices and her work focuses on fostering community and social expression.

​​Connect with Amy: Twitter, LinkedIn

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​Koji Pereira is a Senior Product Design Manager at Twitter. With over 2 decades of experience in the Design field, +5 managing teams. He leads a team building experiences for explore and search at Twitter. He strives to build diverse teams and safe spaces, making sure everyone is included and all voices are heard. Over the years he helped to build many products from 0-1 elevating designers to the strategy sphere.

​Previously he was at Lyft where he was a Head of Design for Lyft Business, leading a suite of products for organizations to get rides for their people. He launched Lyft Pass a self-service product that allow companies to create ride programs.

​At Google he led Design for Files by Google from 0 to 1/2 billion MAU and launched many products including: Camera Go, Android TV Data Saver and Google Spaces. He also taught Design around the world in schools like Harbour.Space in Spain and PUC Minas in Brazil and led a startup in Brazil. Koji also hosts Cells and Pixels Podcast with Product and Design leaders.

​Connect with Koji: Podcast, Website

​—

​Milan Moffatt is a designer, educator and mentor based in San Francisco and Hawaii. Currently, she is designing the future of work at Slack. Previously, she was Design Lead at SuperHi, where she taught design and mentored students from all over the world. She is a mental health and disability advocate, and cares deeply about designing inclusive and accessible experiences.

​Connect with Milan: Instagram, Twitter

​—

​Miguel M is a Design Strategist, Educator, and Entrepreneur from New York. He is currently the Director of Design at Heady. He specializes in Design Strategy, Inclusive Design, and Design Process. He’s been an educator for the past three years having taught at General Assembly, currently teaching at CareerFoundry, and the founder of Inclusion Design Lab, an educational community for UX beginners focusing on teaching Inclusive Design methods and principles. He's also the founder of Rita Creative, an agency turned startup supporting creative initiatives led by women and people of color at scale. Before UX & Product Design, he was a Front-end Developer and then a UI Designer.

​Connect with Miguel: Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Website

​—

​Drew Montgomery is a product designer born and raised in Jamaica, now living in Toronto. He's seen two sides to the story of technology. Coming from a place with limited access, to a hub of innovation, he always questioned how to bridge the gap. Then he discovered user experience design. His belief that access to technology is a right, not a privilege, catalyzed his decision to pursue UX design as a career.

​He strives to make make the world more equitable through his work. When he's not designing, he's teaching kids code, in the mountains skiing, playing soccer or traveling the world. Experiencing different cultures heavily influences the way he solves problems.

​Connect with Drew: Twitter

​—

​Vivianne Castillo(she/her) is the Founder of HmntyCntrd, an award-winning organization that's committed to transforming the status quo of what it means to be human-centered in our professional and personal lives through community, courses, and consulting. She brings 8+ years of psychology and research experience spanning multiple contexts, cultures, and industries and her work and opinions have been written about in Slate, Fortune, Huffington Post, Fast Company, ELLE Magazine and has a strong track record influencing executives, educating others on trauma-informed care, & empowering others to challenge the status quo. Vivianne also has international conference speaking experience and was an invited speaker at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit in 2019. Prior to her career in the UX & Tech Industry, Vivianne worked primarily in the arenas of human services and counseling, where she tackled issues like shame, empathy, vulnerability and compassion. She credits her previous experience as a human services professional, her multi-cultural upbringing, and her love for cognitive behavioral psychology as major influences on her approach to entrepreneurship, design, and innovation.

​Connect with Viviane & links: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Critical UX Event, Organizational Trauma Report

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