Speakers:
Amber Banks
Amber Banks is a Program Manager who has worked in media, IT, infrastructure, and software development within several Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 companies. She has extensive experience leading complex, cross-functional projects with high value propositions. Her skills center around building stakeholder relationships and delivering quality products.
Jacklyn Cohen
Jacklyn has more than 17 years of experience building customer-centered digital products, including at institutions like Turner and Salesforce. Jacklyn has spent the last few years as a UX Director leading and defining digital product experiences, conducting customer research, and facilitating design workshops with an array of large and small companies.
She founded the Ladies That UX chapters in both Atlanta and New York City, serving on the global leadership team, while mentoring several LTUX city volunteers at a time. She planned and executed the first Talk UX, the annual LTUX international design and technology conference, held in America.
Kelly McFarlane
Kelley is a UX Lead at Thorn, a nonprofit that builds technology to protect kids online. She leads the UX strategy for Thorn’s Victim Identification department and also spearheads systems design thinking projects for the wider org. Previously, she worked as an enterprise UX designer for The Home Depot headquarters, improving CMS tools for marketing teams and leading the research for a new content personalization experience. She also teaches and mentors UX students, previously through UX programs like General Assembly and CareerFoundry; and now currently mentors students through ADPList.
She originally transitioned to UX from a career in mental health and psychology where she worked in wilderness therapy, did experimental research, and more. Her psychology skills still come in handy throughout her UX career. Her favorite pastimes currently are spending time with her family, reading, writing, eating good food, and practicing self-care.
Sarah Sofia Rivera
Sarah Sofía Rivera is a Senior User Experience Designer at Honeywell, where she leads the UX strategy for the Asset Management enterprise solution that spans several industries. She has experience with complex SaaS solutions, from emissions calculation software and pilot electronic flight bags for the aerospace industry to creating interfaces to consume data from IoT sensors. Previously, aside from working in aerospace, she also worked in the medical tourism industry and on a design agency as an editorial and print designer.
She believes that to be a great UX partner, it’s key to learn how to work with cross-functional stakeholders, be eager to listen and learn from users and be a supporting, understanding, and generous team member.