BRAIDEd Season 1, Episode 6

Visualizing Impact

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More From This Season

with Nia Kiara Cole

Episode 3

Inheriting the Harvest

with Cicely Garrett

Episode 4

Sowing Justice

with Dr. Connie Baptiste

Episode 5

Sustaining the Steward

with Gauri Misra-Deshpande

Episode 6

Visualizing Impact

About This Episode

In the season one finale of BRAIDEd, host Keionna Thomas sits down with Professor Gauri Misra-Deshpande, the award-winning design educator who led the SCADpro project that gave BRAID its visual identity. Professor Gauri walks through the research and design thinking behind BRAID's name, logo, and brand language, and the moment Valerie Hill Rawls walked into a staged farmer's market and saw her vision made real for the first time. The conversation also covers the BRAID brand's journey to a National Mosaic ADDY Award for impact work and what that visibility means for the movement. The episode closes with a reflection from Valerie Hill Rawls, founder of the EcoWomanist Institute Southeast, who frames the award, the cohort now in motion, and the road ahead under a single truth: BRAID is not branding for branding's sake.

About Our Guest

Pictured: Gauri Misra-Deshpande

Gauri Misra-Deshpande is an award-winning educator, creative leader, consultant, and cultural entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience driving innovation across design, education, marketing, and brand strategy.

She is the founder of Global Native, a consultancy that helps organizations create impactful, user-centered solutions through design thinking, UX strategy, design research, behavioral insights, and emerging technologies. She is also the founder of Indian Culture Box, a platform dedicated to celebrating and sharing the richness of Indian culture through storytelling, education, and community engagement.

Throughout her career, Gauri has led initiatives that connect human needs with business objectives, helping organizations strengthen customer experiences, foster innovation, and build more inclusive and culturally relevant products, services, and programs. As a design thinking practitioner and creative strategist, she provides thought leadership and consulting on user experience, brand innovation, inclusive marketing, and organizational transformation.

Drawing on a global perspective and a deep commitment to human-centered problem-solving, Gauri works with organizations, institutions, and multidisciplinary teams to navigate complexity, drive meaningful change, and create experiences that deliver lasting value and impact.