African Americans in Technology

President, Design Management Institute Carole is the president of the Design Management Institute. dmi.org DMI is the premier global organization of emerging and senior leaders that connects, promotes and elevates the role of Design, Design Management, Design Thinking and Innovation in business, culture and society. They host conferences, workshops, webcasts, have 2 magazine publications, and Harvard Business Case studies. DMI communicates weekly with 30,000 leaders in 44+ countries. DMIl just launched the dmi:Diversity in Design Manifesto, an initiative to advocate for and build a leadership pipeline for diversity in design globally. They recently held the first Design Conference ever dedicated to Diversity & Inclusion. For the last 2 years they have dedicated their second quarter issue of the dmi:Review (magazine) to Diversity & Inclusion in Design. In 2014 DMI launched the first dmi:Design Value Index to measure the value of design in business (this effort has now been adopted and enhanced by McKinsey & Co.); the dmi:Design Value Awards; and the dmi:Student Essay Competition. Prior to this she has held the following positions: President, Strategic Change & Innovation, providing strategic and operational guidance to managers and executives wishing to create organizational change, utilizing design thinking and innovation. Vice President, Global Design & Usability & Technology Support Operations at Pitney Bowes. She was the first African American woman ever to head a global corporate design organization. She led an award-winning team of designers, human factors specialists, engineers and software developers. Under Carole’s leadership, her department received 12 international Design Awards and was awarded 49 patents; and helped the company win a $21 million dollar bid from the Federal Government. She spearheaded an innovation project for the division that resulted in a product launch for Apple App Store. She led the company’s first User Experience Council, which made recommendations to the CEO. This Council’s efforts resulted in the Company’s creation of the first department of Customer Experience and significant cost savings ($12 million over two years). She also initiated the first User Experience and Innovation Day at the company. Carole was then invited to join the CEO Council, a group of 40 senior executives who contribute to strategy development of the company. Prior to this Carole worked at the Eastman Kodak Company, in various Product Development and Marketing Management roles. Her most notable assignment was as Worldwide Marketing Manager to deliver the Award-winning Kodak Picturemaker™, the digital photo kiosk that delivered over a Billion dollars in revenue for Kodak. She took a two-year leave from Kodak to become a Loaned Executive/ Rochester Coordinator, for the National Science Foundation’s Statewide Systemic Initiative. Working with 5 school districts in the state of NY and leaders at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to support systemic change and improve the teaching and learning of Math, Science and Technology from K-12. 

In addition to being the holder of two patents, Carole has been very active in the community for which she has received numerous awards and recognition. She has served on numerous non-profit Boards, spoken globally, on a variety of topics including: user/customer experience, design management & strategy, the value of R&D Tax credits, systemic change in public education, women in leadership roles. She was co-founder of the first employee Network at Eastman Kodak Company called Network Northstar; president of the Rochester Women’s Network one of the largest women’s networks for professional and Executive Women in the country. She was President and Founding Board Member of the Greater Fairfield County Foundation, Inc., the philanthropic arm of the Fairfield County Chapter Links. She was a member of the Links Rochester and Fairfield County chapters for 20 years providing community service to youth, women and the underserved. Currently, Carole is a member and co-founder of the User Experience Design Consortium, a consortium of corporate design executives. She is also a member of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), and the Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF). Carole holds a BFA in Industrial Design & Graphic/Visual Design from the University of Michigan and executive development certifications from Amos Tuck School, Dartmouth College; the University of California at Berkeley, and ITSMF. She is married to T. Andrew Brown, Managing Partner of the law firm BrownHutchinson LLP and Vice Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents. They have one child.