Erica Estrada-Liou - Director of Curriculum & Experiential Learning at University of Maryland - Academy of Innovation & Entrepreneurship
"One of the toughest parts about teaching design thinking is to encourage people to not get distracted by its playfulness and to participate without self-judgment. Tom does a masterful job of teaching this to others by: (1) using compelling stories from real life examples showing the tangible impact of design thinking, (2) sharing his in-depth knowledge of social psychology research supporting design thinking tools and mindsets, and (3) connecting with any learner and designing a learning experience catered toward their needs."
Sheldon Maye - Management Consulting Executive at Accenture
“Tom was awesome to work with and very informative! Design thinking was totally new to me by the start of it and after a 2 day training I felt like I understood how and when to use design thinking, had practiced many of its core capabilities, could be an advocate to explain it to others, knew where to go for additional help, and had fun while learning it. Tom’s energy and passion for the topic made it a very enjoyable experience!”
Jeanne Liedtka - Design Thinking Expert & Business Professor at Darden Business School, UVA
“I have enjoyed working alongside Tom and seeing firsthand the kinds of transformational experiences and impressive outcomes his dedicated leadership and passion for design thinking have produced!”
Akhil Chugh - Senior Strategist at This Place
"I got to know Tom really well a few years back while we worked closely together for Design for America. He has in-depth knowledge and experience in Human Centered Design that was vital for scaling up the DFA studio at MICA and Johns Hopkins. Tom is also a true leader and natural workshop facilitator. His ability to motivate and encourage others who had little or no experience with any Design Thinking concepts was incredibly infectious, leaving everyone excited to share the same concepts and thinking to those around them. Tom is definitely the person you want to help lead your team through uncertainty and ambiguity to a place where you have clarity and a plan of action."
Maria Martello - Management Consultant
Tom led a 3-day Design Thinking (DT) session in our New York office. Experienced in DT, I was eager to learn new concepts, but set the expectation that training would be more of a refresher. Quite the contrary – Tom totally blew me away!
He presented concepts in a fresh new way, giving me greater perspective on familiar activities and teaching us new approaches in bite sizes. He explained how the approaches could be used as building blocks or as standalone activities, and how to tie them together to achieve various objectives.
Throughout the training, he kept the energy high and the group engaged – not an easy feat with a room of 20+ professionals working in different industries, at different levels, and with varying expertise in DT. He tackled the questions posed by the group, and adjusted the content to maximize learning.
Abhi Visuvasam - Application Services Sales Executive - Health and Public Service
"I recently took a class hoping to get a new perspective on Design Thinking. As a Certified Design Thinking Practitioner, my hopes were high, but expectations low. Tom was the perfect instructor to challenge me and give me a different view of the same, familiar exercises. Tom was able to tailor the content to reach everybody in the class, regardless of their level of knowledge in human-centric design. Tom is very skilled at teaching Design Thinking, by applying the very same principles in his teaching and reaching his students from an empathetic point of view and serving their individual needs with clear and concise examples. Tom is an articulate and responsive instructor who ensures no question goes unanswered or unexplored. This class reinvigorated my passion for Design Thinking and Tom was a critical part of that."
Dr. Kristan Skendall - Associate Director, Gemstone Honors Program, University of Maryland
"It has been a pleasure to collaborate with Tom and watch his transformational approach to learning make a difference in the classroom and beyond. I work with a highly critical group of students who gave Tom the highest reviews of the semester and requested he be our go to instructor on human-centered design."
Natalie Levy-Costa - Senior Design UX & Strategy at Gannett | USA Today Network
"I was lucky enough to work for Tom in 2015. Now that I practice Human Centered Design professionally, I realize how lucky I was to learn from Tom and his teammates. Not only is Tom an expert in the field, he has a knack for making complicated and unfamiliar concepts accessible to different audiences, he is also a master at designing elegant solutions to those complications. In addition to his expertise, Tom's approachable demeanor makes him an asset to any team and refreshingly flexible when it comes to getting things done!"
Natalie Foley - CEO at Peer Insight
"In his human-centered design work, Tom creates possibility and stretch while understanding the realities at hand. He combines this with a gift of empowering others through strong technical knowledge and excellent teaching and facilitation abilities...all while being a joy to work with and highly focused on forward momentum."
Brian Taylor - Data Scientist at Zaius
"My first exposure to DT was in a class that Tom led. One thing led to another and I soon found myself contributing to DT projects and leading my own teams. Tom brings his considerable passion, energy, and expertise to every project I've experienced with him."
Valia Todorova - Marketing Executive | Digital Transformation Leader at Accenture
“I found Tom to be an extremely effective design thinking trainer and facilitator. He kept us engaged throughout and the pace was perfect for learning and mastery. He brought relevance into the training through practical examples and his experiences. I especially appreciated Toms ability to relate the DT methods to our consulting needs even after the training. He’s continued to be engaged and supportive to help further the learnings after the training course ended. I would recommend Tom for Design Thinking training without hesitation.”
Yeri Kim - Design Researcher at IA Collaborative
"Tom is a design thinking champion. His optimism, ability to connect with people, and strategically push the boundaries make him a joy to work with as well as results that lift people and clear a path for big changes."