Moji Akinde is a Chicago-born, Lagos-raised Leadership, Talent, and Culture Strategist known for transforming workplaces through clarity, courage, and human-centered strategy. She has built a career designing human-centered leadership frameworks, future-focused workforce solutions, and corporate citizenship initiatives that drive growth, resilience, and measurable impact across non-profit, hospitality, financial services, and social impact investment sectors.

A recognized thought leader and sought-after speaker, Moji has shared insights on leadership, organizational culture, and technology’s role in a multicultural global market at major conferences including the Impact Employer Summit, WORKTECH Chicago, and AfroTech. She has participated in forums alongside influential figures such as Illinois Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton, offering fresh, actionable perspectives on workforce development, AI and equity, and the future of work.

When she’s not advising executives or mentoring emerging leaders, Moji is likely exploring a new country or experimenting with ways to make the perfect cup of coffee!

What is Human Centered Design?

Human-Centered Design (HCD) is a strategic methodology that prioritizes human needs, values, and contexts as the foundation for creating systems, products, and solutions. Rather than forcing people to adapt to rigid frameworks, HCD flips the paradigm by designing adaptable solutions around how people actually think, feel, and behave.

By placing people at the center of the design process and understanding their behaviors, motivations, and pain points through deep research and empathy, HCD creates solutions that are more usable, accessible, sustainable, and impactful. This human-first approach delivers higher adoption rates, increased satisfaction, and ultimately superior business results because when we design for how people actually think, feel, and behave, we create experiences that serve them as opposed to expecting them to serve our systems.

Ultimately, Human-Centered Design creates experiences that serve people rather than expecting people to serve systems, unlocking human potential while driving sustainable competitive advantage.