Ashley Pinakiewicz is a facilitator, design thinker, and educator passionate about bringing design thinking principles into youth-serving organizations. She has over 15 years of experience empowering diverse teams—from middle school students to senior executives of Fortune 500 companies—with the skills, mindsets, and tools to more effectively achieve their missions.
Ashley consults with educational organizations and non-profits to bring human-centered strategy, messaging, and processes to their work. Prior to establishing Looking Glass Strategy, Ashley was the founding 7th grade English teacher at Girls Prep Bronx Middle School, where she learned alongside the world’s best 7th grade girls.
Ashley started her career at design firm IDEO, where she facilitated executive teams through intensive learning sessions and brainstormed ideas and pitched clients as part of the Toy Lab. She worked closely with IDEO’s Education group on projects including: redesigning an after-school science program with NYC DOE and the American Museum of Natural History; teaching design thinking to university students in Colombia; and developing a design thinking curriculum for a national education non-profit. After her inspiring stint at IDEO, Ashley deepened her knowledge of qualitative and quantitative insight at brand strategy firm Clear, an M&C Saatchi Company, and led the Creative Team at Tough Mudder.
Ashley has a B.A. in English and Art History from Georgetown University and a Masters in Education from Harvard University.
