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Ellen McGirt

Ellen McGirt is an author, podcaster, speaker, community builder, and award-winning business journalist. She is the editor-in-chief of Design Observer, a 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. Ellen established the inclusive leadership beat at Fortune in 2016 with raceAhead, an award-winning newsletter on race, culture, and business. The Fortune, Time, Money, and Fast Company alumna has published over twenty magazine cover stories throughout her twenty-year career, exploring the people and ideas changing business for good. Ask her about fly fishing if you get the chance.

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The Observatory Newsletter

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Observing David Hockney

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Mamdani’s city-owned grocery stores need a brand identity

The Observatory Newsletter

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Pope Leo XIV weighed in on the AI conversation

The Observatory Newsletter

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If the joy of achievement is fleeting, what sticks? Debbie Millman shares insights in her latest TED Talk.

Draw the Line

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The line, now drawn

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Ellen McGirt

The Supreme Court has gutted the Voting Rights Act

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Ellen McGirt

New technology always forges a new creative path

The Observatory Newsletter

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The failed promise of big tech might be prompting a cultural revival
A group of people stand in an interior courtyard formed by three white, single story buildings. The path is slate tile, there is a stone table and bench

The Observatory Newsletter

Ellen McGirt

“The future does not need more speed; it needs more meaning”

The Observatory Newsletter

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The man who built the $7 billion Jordan Brand had a secret

The Observatory Newsletter

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Protestors at “No Kings” rallies are making their mark.

The Observatory Newsletter

Ellen McGirt

Systems are failing. Just ask airport staff.