Hello

NOTE: This portfolio is being revamped. See a sampling of my work here. 

I am practicing systems-oriented equity-centered designer and strategist who works on end to end systems change. My work has spanned strategy at the intersection of health, demand driven innovation and complex systems at the Gates Foundation, co-creation of policy and service interventions at the state level as a Foster America Fellow* and designing experiences facilitated by technology. I design and lead Foster America’s co-creation and participatory practice to support the systems change work that Foster America fellows embark on.

 My background in experience in interaction design coupled with my past training as an engineer and theater artist help me approach complex problems creatively; researched and evaluated against the needs of the end beneficiaries. I have lead design for small agile teams at Microsoft Research - designing, researching and iterating on products in at the edge of innovative technologies and human need. I have also worked across sectors and also designed for adults and children who are who are differently-abled. 

I currently live and work on the unseeded lands of the Duwamish, Stillaguamish and Suquamish.

I am on my own anti-racist journey.

*Prevention of youth homelessness website

Preventing youth homeless from systems of care co-created with lived youth experts of housing instability - Published January 2020

Preventing youth homeless in Washington state co-created with BIPOC lived experts - Soon to be published September 2021

If you'd like to see more please contact me at slrao(dot)other(at)gmail(dot)com.