Hina Shahid

Hina Shahid, IDSA, is the founder of Project Pluralist, a longtime advocate for diversity in design, and the current Chair of IDSA’s Women in Design Committee (WIDC). She was elected alongside Lindsey Maxwell, IDSA, as Co-Chair earlier this year; and with Lindsey stepping into the role of Chair-Elect on IDSA’s Board of Directors next year, Hina will lead the WIDC in 2022. Her fellow WIDC members include Lisa Marks, IDSA, South District Representative; Kat Reiser, IDSA, Midwest District Representative; Lea Stewart, IDSA, Central District Representative; Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, IDSA, Northeast District Representative; and Marcelle van Beusekom, IDSA, West District Representative.

A multi-disciplinary design practitioner, educator, and entrepreneur, Hina currently works as a Staff Service Experience Researcher at Compass. Her design toolbox borrows heavily from anthropology, psychology, business management, and behavioral economics. Throughout her 15-year career she has worn many hats—including researcher, strategist, designer, entrepreneur, and educator—building practices and leading research and design teams in design consultancies, Fortune 500 corporations, and start-ups in South Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America.

Hina started Project Pluralist, a design-led youth development program dedicated to creating a pluralist world, in 2019. She is passionate about designing alternative solutions and imagining new realities, and her proficiency lies in design-led innovation—helping organizations create new products, environments, services, and business models that balance economic viability and human value.

IDSA has greatly benefitted from Hina’s multifaceted insights and worldview, with the future of the WIDC looking bright under her leadership.