Curriculum Vitae
Professional History
Founder & Chief Creative Officer - dreams • design + life, April 2018 - Present
Head of Design - Invoy, February 2019 - Present
Co-Founder, Investor & Industrial Designer - Keevo, December 2017 - Present
Vice President of Strategic Design - BCG Digital Ventures, April 2016 - April 2018
Principal, Human-Centered Design & Innovation Director - BCG Digital Ventures, January 2014 - March 2016
Principal, Human-Centered Design & Innovation Director - Booz Digital, December 2012 - December 2013
Design & Innovation Consultant - Axon Advisory Partners, May 2012 - December 2012
Design & Innovation Stretch Contributor - Nike, Inc., January 2008 - July 2010
Product Process Manager - Nike, Inc., January 2007 - July 2010
Financial Manager - Nike, Inc., July 2005 - January 2007
MBA Intern - Westinghouse Electric Company (Westinghouse Nuclear), LLC, Summer 2004
Senior Engineer - Westinghouse Electric Company (Westinghouse Nuclear), LLC, June 1998 - August 2003
Education
M. Sc., Industrial Design - ArtCenter College of Design
Pensole Footwear Design Academy (now Pensole Lewis College) - Inaugural student cohort from ArtCenter College of Design
M.B.A., Finance, Strategy & Entrepreneurship - Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University
B. Sc., Mechanical Engineering - University of Notre Dame
Publications & Credits
Adapted Article - “Design’s Moment of Truth,” The Kyndryl Institute, April 2025
Adapted Article - “How can we escape the ‘infinity loop?,’” Fast Company, February 2025
Adapted Article - “An Excerpt from Nonlinear,” Porchlight, February 2025
Mention - Mohammed Ben Totoch, Du Brief au Design: Shape Your Creative Concepts (Dunod), March 2025
Foreword - Chris Miller and Jenessa Spears, Routledge Companion to Practicing Anthropology & Design (Routledge), October 2024
Endorsement - Leah Buley and Joe Natoli, The User Experience Team of One, 2nd Edition (Rosenfeld Media), August 2024
Preface - Chris Davis, John Maeda: Designing the Future (City University of Hong Kong Press), June 2024
“Oh My, AI,” DesignObserver - Essays, June 2024
Endorsement - Ken Shelton and Dee Lanier, The Promises and Perils of AI in Education: Ethics and Equity Have Entered the Chat (Lanier Learning), June 2024
Foreword - Sheryl Cababa, Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers (Rosenfeld Media), February 2023
“Q&A with Kevin Bethune,” DMI Review Vol. 34, Issue 4, November 2023
“The Key to Critical Transformation,” ArtCenter On Magazine, September 2023
“A Designer’s Journey of Writing - Reimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation,” DMI Review Vol. 34, Issue 3, August 2023
Endorsement - Dori Tunstall, PhD, Decolonizing Design: A Cultural Justice Guidebook (The MIT Press), February 2023
Mention - Maria Giudice and Christopher Ireland, Change-makers: How Leaders Can Design Change in an Insanely Complex World, (Two Waves Books), January 2023
Adapted Article - “What Nike Taught Me About Collaborative Design,” Fast Company, March 2022
Reimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation (The MIT Press), March 2022
Mention - Natalie Nixon, The Creativity Leap (Berrett-Koehler), May 2020
Mention - Krystina Castella, Designing for Kids: Creating for Playing, Learning, and Growing (Routledge), December 2018
“Servant Leaders and Gatekeepers,” DMI Review Vol. 30, Issue 4, December 2019
“How to Future-Proof your Design Career: Expert Insights from Kevin Bethune,” Interaction Design Foundation, August 2019
“Connected by Design,” DMI Review Vol. 28, Issue 1, March 2017
Board Service
Board Trustee & Executive Committee Member - ArtCenter College of Design, July 2021 - Present
Advisory Board Member - EDI, Northwestern University
Advisory Board Member - Mobility Futures Alliance
Emeritus Board Chair / Director - Design Management Institute (DMI) - 2017 - 2024 (Chair, 2018 - 2023)
Honors & Awards
Curious 100 Honoree, 2025 - Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity
2024 Black by Design “Design Excellence, Innovation & Leadership” Award - San Diego State University
2024 Honorary Donor Pencil - ArtCenter College of Design
2023 Graduation Commencement Speaker - UIC, Architecture, Design & the Arts
“Our Bestsellers of 2022,” The MIT Press - Reimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation (released March 2022)
The Design of Business | The Business of Design (DBBD) Season 10 Co-host with Dana Arnett - DesignObserver
2021 IDSA Sustainability Deep-Dive - Co-Emcee
2018 Young Innovator Alumni Award - ArtCenter College of Design
2005 D. H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship / SMC Business Council - Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year Award
2005 D. H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship - Enterprise Award with Special Distinction
2002 / 2003 - 2 Westinghouse Signature Awards and 1 Westinghouse Special Project Award (CRDM Campaign)
Media Coverage
Print Magazine Book Club - “Navigate Ambiguity With an Open Aperture: Book Club Recap With Kevin Bethune,” 2025
Fortt Knox / CNBC with Jon Fortt - “Kevin Bethune, Author: Nonlinear - A Fortt Knox Update,” 2025
Design Observer’s Design Juice - “Nonlinear | A Design Observer Live Conversation (with Ellen McGirt),” 2025
The Design Better Podcast with Eli Woolery and Aarron Walter - “Kevin Bethune: Nonlinear,” 2025
Rotman - “The Power of a Nonlinear Approach to Innovation: Q&A with Kevin Bethune,” 2025
Pasadena Now - “Designer Kevin Bethune Inspires Waverly Students with Career Journey,” 2025
The Design Better Podcast with Eli Woolery and Aarron Walter - “Kevin Bethune: Reimagining Design,” 2023
Print Magazine Book Club - “Lessons from a Black Professional’s Journey Through Corporate America,” 2023
NBC TMJ-4 - “The Power of Transformative Design with Kevin Bethune,” 2022
Next Pittsburgh - “Tony Norman: Kevin Bethune Shares the Drive Behind His Design of Nike’s Air Jordan Fusion 8,” 2022
Core77 - “Kevin Bethune’s Reimagining Design is the Read We Need Right Now,” 2022
Fortt Knox with Jon Fortt - “Kevin Bethune, author of Reimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation,” 2022
Wall Street Journal - “‘Magic’ AI Avatars are Already Losing Their Charm,” 2022
Fast Company - “12 Design & Architecture Books to Get Excited About in 2022,” 2021
Fortt Knox with John Fortt - “Kevin Bethune, Keevo Co-Founder - a Fortt Knox Conversation," 2021
Revision Path Podcast with Maurice Cherry - “Episode 382: Kevin Bethune,” 2021
Core77 - “Kevin Bethune Says Building a Brighter Design Future Means Taking a Hard Look at the Industry’s Deepest Flaws,” 2021
Dr. John Maeda’s LinkedIn Live - “The Business of Design, CX in 2020, and Thoughts on Racial Justice,” 2020
In Your Shoes Podcast with Mauro Porcini, PepsiCo Design - “Episode 6 with Kevin Bethune", 2020
Notre Dame IDEA Center - “ND Founders Profile 39: As This Former Engineer Now Global Design Entrepreneur Proves, The Path to Success is Anything but Linear,” 2020.
Bloomberg - “Lexus: A Driving Force for the ‘Experiential’ Store?,” 2018
Photo: Richard Hadley / TED.