Hi. I'm Kara.
I'm a design leader with 20+ years of experience building and running experience design organizations, most recently as Head of Global UX Design at BlackRock, where I sit on the Digital leadership team and lead a 20+ person multidisciplinary team across 4 global locations. The last 13 years have been in financial services, where I've learned how to design for real human needs inside regulated, high-stakes environments, and how to make the case for design as a business driver, not just a finishing touch.
I love good design and believe great design is something you feel as much as you see. (How else do you describe the feeling you get when you hit on the absolute perfect color combination?) These days that also means figuring out where AI genuinely earns its place in the process. I lead my organization's AI strategy and governance, working out how it can make our work faster and sharper without cutting corners on trust.
More than just designing, I'm equally comfortable building teams of strong, unique individuals who somehow fit together like a puzzle, and building the systems, hiring practices, and career paths that let those teams grow and do their best work at scale.
While my life has taken me from the southern tip of the US to coast to coast, I live in San Francisco, where I quietly obsess over finding the perfect cup of coffee.
Contact & Info
Email: akar123@gmail.com