Esther’s primary affiliation is with the Design Studies Dept.. Her secondary affiliation is with the Civil Society and Community Studies Dept. at SoHE. Her tenure-track position focuses on research, service, and teaching.

Esther earned her Ph.D. in Design from Carnegie Mellon University, M.A. in Social Design from the Maryland Institute College of Fine Art, and B.F.A. with concentrations in photography and art theory from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Before a career in academia, Esther was an award-winning practitioner for 12+ years and led a leading independent consultancy for 6 years. Through her work, she advocated for community-based practices in policy making, urban planning, and product development & implementation of civic technology projects across the US at the federal, state, and municipal levels.

Selected former clients include Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities + Results for America, New Jersey (state) Office of Innovation and New York (state) Department of Health, in addition to federal agencies.

Esther also taught at NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, School of Visual Arts, Pratt Institute, and Carnegie Mellon University.

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