The Center for Emerging Media Design and Development includes a diverse group of designers and storytellers from around the world. We embrace the differences and similarities in our individual experiences to develop more inclusive ideas and create solutions that are representative of the culture we have created within our program. During Black History Month, EMDD recognizes diverse storytellers and designers and their contributions to various forms of communication.
Mariam Braimah
“Since I joined to date, the black community at Netflix has grown. I’ve seen so many new designers join our team that are black or of African descent which is awesome to see. They’re learning how to become a more inclusive company.”
– Mariam Braimah
Photo from LinkedIn
Mariam Braimah is a Product Designer at Netflix and founder of the Kimoyo Fellowship, a design education program teaching the skills necessary to become a UI/UX designer at Nigeria’s leading tech companies. She serves as CEO of Kimoyo Insights, a user-testing platform that allows companies to receive meaningful feedback across the African continent.
Ta-Nehisi Coates
“I’ve been wondering who might fill the intellectual void that plagued me after James Baldwin died…clearly it is Ta-Nehisi Coates.”
– Toni Morrison
Ta-Nehisi Coates is an award-winning author and journalist. His books include The Beautiful Struggle, We Were Eight Years in Power, and The Water Dancer. Named one of the most influential books of the decade by CNN, his Between The World And Me won the National Book Award in 2015. He has also written several series for Marvel Comics, including Black Panther and Captain America.
Jocelyn Bioh
“My goal is always, first, to entertain,” Bioh said. “I think second is to have people walking away, feeling like they now have a different understanding of either a culture, a person, a country—they now have a more unique perspective on that thing than they had walking in.”
– Jocelyn Bioh
Photo by Joshua Bright for the New York Times
Ghanaian-American actress and playwright Jocelyn Bioh is known for her thought-provoking works that delve into themes of identity and culture. A Broadway performer and writer, she was in the original cast of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. She received the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, The Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award for New American Playwright, and the Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award for her work School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play.
Tosh Juma
“Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.”
– Tim Brown
Photo from Ideo.org
Tosh Juma is the Managing Director for IDEO.org Nairobi. He oversees the company’s Kenyan design team and focuses on designing products, services, and brands that address emerging global development and humanitarian challenges. He is the Founder of the Nairobi Design Institute. NDI’s mission is to drive the future of innovation and impact in Africa through the power of design education—his vision and mission impact design worldwide.