Maria Giudice A’85

Running for: Council

I am proud to be an ’85 alumni from The Cooper Union School of Art. I am excited for the opportunity to give back to the school that has shaped my life both personally and professionally by participating on the Alumni Council. I believe my life experience as a design leader, CEO, Founder, and educator can add a fresh perspective to the Council as we work together to help Cooper Union prosper as an institution. I also can share learnings and insights from the education advisory boards I currently serve on in the Bay Area where I live: California College of the Arts, UC Berkeley, and Cal Poly. Thank you for your consideration.

Biography

As founder and CEO of the pioneering experience design firm Hot Studio, Maria built a thriving practice around the principles of human-centered design. Today, former “Hotties” can be found leading teams at Adobe, Google, McKinsey, Airbnb, Pinterest, Twitter, Meta, and more. After Hot Studio’s acquisition by Facebook in 2013, Maria led global design teams at Facebook and Autodesk, building digital experiences for millions worldwide. And now, after three decades at the forefront of business and design, Maria has a new mission:

Build the next generation of creative leaders.

Through one-on-one coaching and team-building workshops, Maria unlocks the potential hidden in executives and the people they lead. A popular speaker at design and business conferences, Maria is also the author of four books, including Rise of the DEO: Leadership by Design, and her latest book, Changemakers: How Leaders Can Design Change in an Insanely Complex World, with co-author Christopher Ireland.

Maria lives in Oakland, CA with her husband and two children. Maria is also a Board Member with several profit and non-profit organizations. She teaches classes at the intersection of design and business at California College of the Arts, and Stanford Continuing Studies Program. In her spare time, Maria practices calligraphy, paints, and provides spiritual counseling to those in need