Laura McDermott

Laura is passionate about designing sustainable innovations, impactful experiences and educational programs. After moving from her native Ireland to Spain from 2015, Laura began working in the spaces of education and social impact.  She has since held roles such as Director of Academic Experience and Innovation at IE Business School, Adjunct Professor of Innovation, Sustainability and Design at IE University and Design Lead in the IE Center for Social Innovation and Sustainability. In 2022 Laura was named one of the Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise by the Euclid Network, a European Commission supported initiative. Her current focus is on developing Colectivo, a project-based consultancy specializing in designing and developing ESG projects for companies.

Within her broad range of work, Laura designs sustainable innovation projects, specifically from a behavioral lens, with educational institutions, startups and corporates. She has published articles in The Beam, GiLE, Global Voices, as well as receiving two awards for her writings on Ethics, Democracy, Mentorship, Innovation, Behavioural Design and Sustainability. Check out the “Publications” section of her Linkedin profile to read published articles and essays.

LinkedIn Profile

CORPORATE EXPERIENCE

• Founder, Colectivo, Ireland, 2022 – Present

• Director of Academic Experience and Innovation, IE Business School, Spain 2021 – 2022

• Associate Director of Faculty and Student Experience, IE HST, Spain, 2019 – 2021

• Design Lead at IE Center for Social Innovation and Sustainability, Spain, 2018 – 2021

• Founder, CopyEng, Global, 2016 – 2019

• Retail Banking Analyst, Bank of Ireland, Ireland, 2014 – 2015

• Brand and Proposition Specialist, Bank of Ireland, Ireland 2013 – 2014

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

• Adjunct Professor of UX/UI Design, IE University, 2021 – Present

• Adjunct Professor of Global Challenges, IE Law School, 2021 – Present

• Adjunct Professor of Behavioural Design, IE Business School, 2020 – Present

• Adjunct Professor of Design Thinking, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, IE Business School, 2020 – Present

• Founder of IE Business School Mentor Program (MCXI, BBSS, MVDM), IE, Spain 2018 – Present

• Visiting Lecturer of Design Thinking, Geneva Business School, Spain, 2021 – Present

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

• Postgraduate Certificate in Climate Change and Entrepreneurship, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, 2023

• Certificate in Data Science and Visualization fro Business, IE Executive Education, 2020

• MSc Master in Customer Experience and Innovation, IE Business School, Spain, 2018

• Higher Certificate in Bilingual and Multilingual Education, Universitat Internacional de Cataluña, Spain, 2016

• BAHons in English Studies, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, 2015

PUBLICATIONS

• “Mixing Younger and Older Employees at Work: What companies can learn from social innovation” in Council of Business and Society

• “Why Designers Should Be Rebels” in The Beam

• “Migrant Entrepreneurship For Europe’s Economic Growth: Reshaping A Collective Conception” in Council of Business and Society

• “The Opportunity of Intergenerational Collaboration” in IE Insights

• “The Citizen Experience: Managing Quality in a 21st Century Democracy”, IE Humanities Award Essay 2019

• “Consciousness: The Ethical Implications of Experience Design”, IE Humanities Award Essay 2018