UX Designer, Creative Technologist, Speculative Futurist

Dana Martens is a designer, creative technologist, maker, teacher, life-long student and geek working to educate and empower communities to embrace the potential of speculative practice to understand how emerging technologies might be leveraged for social impact.

They currently work as a UX Designer at Teach For America by day, and an Adjunct Professor at Parsons School of Design by night, designing educational initiatives and consulting on the role of technology-led design for social impact entrepreneurship. In their spare time they organize the Speculative Futures NYC meetup, serve on the Design Futures Initiative Advisory Board, participate in a variety of fellowships and hackathons around emerging tech, and publish SciFly, a biweekly newsletter connecting people to global events & resources related to speculative design, art, and technology.

Dana graduated from MFA Design + Technology at Parsons School of Design, where they pursued their dual passions for studying and building technologies and designing projects that connect people to realize more sustainable and equitable futures.

Previously, Dana worked as a Policy Associate at The New York Academy of Medicine, where they developed policy and supported a portfolio of work at the intersection of aging, business, entrepreneurship, and technology. They also worked for The New York City Department of Small Business Service’s NYC Business Solutions Center where they coached aspiring entrepreneurs to start, operate, and expand their businesses and taught classes on business development and technology.

Dana holds a Bachelor of Arts cum laude in Economics from Smith College and Master of Fine Arts with honors in Design + Technology from Parsons School of Design.

• Looking for instruction in design-thinking, communication, and storytelling?
• Interested in speculative design/creative coding projects & want to collaborate?
• Want to nerd out about how science fiction can help us better prepare for potential futures?

Contact me at my information below!

View my CV