Renata M. Leitão

Renata M. Leitão is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Centered Design at Cornell University’s College of Human Ecology. She is a graphic designer and social design researcher specializing in intercultural and participatory projects with Indigenous and marginalized communities. As director of the Pluriversal Futures Design Lab (PluriFutures), her work bridges ontological design and communication design to address environmental and social crises through systemic transformation.

Her research focuses on:

• Redesigning design practices for social justice and sustainability
• Ontological design and its role in societal transformation
• Decoloniality and pluriversality in design frameworks

Dr. Leitão has been recognized through fellowships including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellowship and the 2021-22 Global Public Voices Fellowship. She co-founded the international DRS Pluriversal Design Special Interest Group (PluriSIG) and the PIVOT virtual conference series on decolonial design futures.