Liz Ogbu

Designer, Urbanist, and Social Innovator, Studio O

A designer, urbanist, and social innovator, Liz Ogbu is an expert on social and spatial innovation in challenged urban environments across the globe. From designing shelters for immigrant day laborers in the U.S. to developing a water and health social enterprise for low-income Kenyans, Ms. Ogbu has a long history of working with communities in need to leverage the power of design to catalyze sustained social impact. Her work blends human-centered design research methodologies, architecture and equitable development principles, cross-disciplinary design thinking frameworks, and social and spatial justice agendas.

Ms. Ogbu is founder and principal of Studio O, a multidisciplinary design and innovation firm. She also is adjunct faculty at University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University’s d.school, and was the Visiting Porter Chair in Urban and Environmental Planning at University of Virginia’s School of Architecture during the spring 2017 semester. Previously, Ms. Ogbu served as the Droga Architect-in-Residence in Australia, investigating urban marginalized populations and community development practices in the country. 

She has written for and been profiled in publications such as the Boston Globe, Metropolis, The Atlantic’s CityLab, and the Journal of Urban Design. Her projects have been featured in museum exhibitions and received numerous design awards from around the world. Ms. Ogbu’s honors include selection as a IDEO.org Global Fellow, Aspen Ideas Scholar, TEDWomen Speaker, Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council, and one of Public Interest Design’s Top 100. She earned architecture degrees from Wellesley College and Harvard University.