Ellen McGirt is an author, podcaster, speaker, community builder, and award-winning business journalist. She is the editor-in-chief of Design Observer, an independent media company that has maintained the same clear vision for more than two decades: to expand the definition of design in service of a better world. In a previous life, Ellen established the inclusive leadership beat at Fortune in 2016 with raceAhead, an award-winning newsletter on inclusion, race, culture, and business. In her nearly ten years at Fortune, she conducted in-depth interviews with over 100 C-Suite leaders, offering real-time snapshots of how leaders navigate a rapidly changing world. The Time, Money, and Fast Company alum has published nearly two dozen cover stories throughout her career, chronicling everything from the rise of social media to the new future of work. In 2024, she collaborated with two-time Peabody-nominated documentarians at Scene on Radio to co-host a thirteen-part podcast series on capitalism. A lifelong wanderer who is rarely lost, she now calls Wisconsin home. Ask her about fly fishing if you get a chance.