Thinkshift engages its clients in a process of discovery and innovation. Using design thinking methods to clarify direction we define new strategies and offer a variety of specialized services to distill and test the best ideas. Together, we apply these ideas to your business challenges, amplifying well-formed actionable plans to bring your ideas to market.

I am a licensed architect in the State of New York and hold a B.ARCH from Pratt Institute School of Architecture. With over 30 years of experience, I have developed my own firm (ekdnyc) to exceed in the design and construction of high-end residential, commercial, restaurant/cafe and religious projects. Through a collaborative process of immersion, ideation and prototyping, my team guides our clients to arrive at a living, working and playing environmental experience that is both meaningful and enjoyable.I am currently an Associate Professor and former Chair of the Interior Design Department at FIT, where I co-developed the first Business & Technology Minor in Design Thinking. I developed a Study Abroad program entitled Adaptive Reuse: Community Place Making in Paris, France. I have taught architecture and interior design for 26 years in several top Interior Design programs in NYC, and have taught presentation skills to leading architectural, engineering and related industry consulting firms in the United States and the EU. I hold a Post Graduate Degree in Drama from the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA, UK, 1999), was a member of the Gorilla Rep Theater Company and have written several plays, which were performed in NYC and Kentucky.

Currently I am a full-time Associate Professor and former Chairperson of the Interior Design Department at FIT, Fashion Institute of Technology, and a faculty adviser to the Presidential Scholars Program. I'm co-Chair and co-developer of the new Minor in Design Thinking to students in the Jay & Patty Baker School of Business & Technology. The course I teach is called Environments & Experiences, where business students learn how innovative business models can disrupt a variety of retail markets using design thinking strategies. In January of 2019 I presented my FIT design thinking educational work at the Innova-Con IAOIP Global Conference at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC. Previously I taught at Pratt Institute Graduate School of Interior Design and Parsons School of Interior Design.

As a coach with Graceworks, Inc. I provide presentation (public speaking), leadership, communication, and vocal training, to leading architectural, engineering and related industry professionals in the United States and EU. I prepare “short-listed” firms for client interviews, presentations and seminars. I hold presentation technique seminars for students in architecture and interior design degree programs in NYC. Visit our website at www.graceworksinc.com.