Our Global Team

Virtually leading volunteers across 6 continents, and 24 time zones.

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Rachel Smith
Founder

Rachel is a UX Leader and founder of DCC19. She is active on Slack to answer questions, connect folks, and create impact through meaningful designs.

Charm Bitanga  Head of Events

Charm Bitanga
Head of Events

Charm is a Product Designer who recently pivoted from cultivating communities at Google Maps, Al Roker Entertainment, Demand Media, etc. She also volunteers as a graphic designer and social media strategist at 5calls.org and VoterNetwork.us to make advocacy accessible.

Farah Aqrabawi Head of Marketing

Farah Aqrabawi
Head of Marketing

Farah is an architectural designer who is passionate about design for social impact and heritage conservation. She has taken on the journey of balancing a career in both architecture and graphic design. Recently completed a graduate program for architectural conservation of historical structures in Canada, she has been creating self-initiated projects during lockdown. She is always updating her list of favorite fonts whilst also peeling and enjoying a clementine right next to her laptop.

 
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Branden Byers
Operations Adviser

Branden is the Community and Operations Lead for Design to Combat COVID19. He is an iOS Software Engineer in Test, founder of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit cKeys, founder of the fermented food podcast FermUp and has written a cookbook on food fermentation.

Kayvan Mesbah Marketing +Engagement Lead

Kayvan Mesbah
Marketing +Engagement Lead

Kayvan is a UX designer with a background in the biotech and automotive industry. He's helped launch breakthrough drugs as well as the Tesla Model 3. Kayvan enjoys backpacking, eating, and playing video games with his son.

Leslie Sern Marketing +Engagement Lead

Leslie Sern
Marketing +Engagement Lead

Leslie is an aspiring industrial designer studying at the Cleveland Institute of Art whose interests include futurism in design and car-aoke. She has worked with startups designing medical products and is a true ambivert traveling to different cities alone to recharge just to meet new people. She is always open for ice cream-chats because coffee puts her to sleep.

Pratiksha Rathi Marketing +Engagement Lead

Pratiksha Rathi
Marketing +Engagement Lead

Pratiksha is a Design Researcher and Strategist with a background in social innovation. Currently, she is working on a sustainable design project, ‘ReFashion’ that is selected for the ongoing final phase of the Ethical Fashion and Textile challenge at the United Nations. She is passionate about cooking and started a food blog on Instagram called Dil ka Tadka as a side hustle during the quarantine. She loves traveling, hiking, bird watching, and understanding different cultures.