Stephanie Wade

Stephanie Wade is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Design (ID) at Illinois Institute of Technology, co-teaching Civic Design. She previously served as an Adjunct Professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy (2016–2018). As Founder and CEO of Ascendant, she focuses on civic innovation to improve global public services. Her career includes leadership roles at Bloomberg Philanthropies (2016–2021), the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (2014–2016), and Booz Allen Hamilton (2006–2014).

Education: MPP from Harvard Kennedy School, BA (honors sociology, minor studio arts) from Boston College, and a certificate in Design Thinking from the Austin Center for Design.

Research interests emphasize applying human-centered design, data analytics, and behavioral economics to public-sector challenges. She advocates for innovation capacity-building in governments, emphasizing team diversity and design rigor.

Notable achievement: 2015 Design Value Award for redesigning USDA’s food assistance program. Key speaking engagements include international conferences on civic innovation and design thinking in government.

Her work with Innovation Teams at Bloomberg Philanthropies empowered over 100 cities to adopt design-led solutions. Current initiatives focus on scaling innovation through leadership and team development in public sectors.