Joanna Peña-Bickley | 2024 Forget-Me-Not Gala

Joanna Peña-Bickley, a design engineer, is known as the mother of Cognitive Experience Design and a pioneer in A.I. aided, generative design. She is propelled by multidisciplinary acumen in research, design, technology and media. Her dedication to lifelong learning and insatiable curiosity moves the C-Suite leaders beyond obvious business ideas towards enduring, market making experiences, platforms and devices for the connected era.

Joanna’s award-winning hand has galvenized earth's most recognized brands and companies, such as IBM, Land Rover, L'Oréal, Sephora, American Express, Boeing, NASA, MTV, Pepsi and Jay Z, to imagine and launch transformational inventions, products and services with a philosophy of radical collaboration and remarkable craft. Whether creating one of the first streaming video players that changed the delivery of live news for ABC, designing the first banking app on the Apple Watch for Citibank, reinventing the connected car as a smart mobility platform for General Motors, inventing new A.I. powered Alexa Devices at Amazon, or reimagining the way world moves goods for Uber, Joanna’s customer obsession and tenacious creativity delivers business results. 

Named one of Fortune's Most Powerful Women, a 2022 Hispanic Star, a Power Woman of New York and a D&AD Jury President her visionary, executive leadership is fueled by a mission to design inventions that work for everyone, everywhere, everyday. Joanna stands as a dynamic voice, organizer and advocate for women and girls in the fields of design and tech. As a passionate advocate, her transformative work has not only catalyzed the representation of women on US currency, but also propelled advancements in refugee resettlement and the promotion of STEAMD education for women and girls. Her efforts have elevated digital literacy and fueled workforce enhancement through innovative new collar apprenticeships. These notable accomplishments have made her a coveted keynote speaker at prestigious conferences, including Fortune's Brainstorm Design, CES, Cannes Lions, the World Economic Forum, The One Show, SxSW, Verizon's Data Summit, AWS re:Invent, the TriBeCa Film Festival, 3% Conference, and C2 Montreal.