Margaret Hartwell is an innovation and strategy leader on a mission to empower purpose-driven change at the intersection of design, brand & culture, and technology. By developing people-centered solutions, she serves as a guide, translator, mentor and innovator to help senior executives and teams solve complex issues. 

​

She uses a transformative approach to everyday innovation and employs skills and best practices from a range of disciplines: archetypal branding, transpersonal psychology, sustainable management, and design thinking. Her diverse accomplishments range from co-founding Cognition.Studio, a subsidiary of Certus Solutions, and establishing the innovation, design thinking, UX strategy and UI design practices to authoring Archetypes in Branding: A Toolkit for Creatives and Strategists. Margaret holds her MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School, her BA from UC Berkeley, and an advanced coaching certification from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. She thinks in systems, strategies, and surprises. She creates in metaphor, music, and story and relates with empathy and curiosity. 

​

Her experience spans 20+ years developing design-led businesses in the US, UK, Europe, and APAC. Industries include technology, social and environmental advocacy, health and wellness, media, entertainment and the arts, leadership development, automotive, telecommunications, packaged goods, and travel. She draws upon, and expands on, toolkits from the Design Council UK, The Grove, Society for Organizational Learning, IDEO, Stanford d.school, and Jeanne Liedtka’s work at the Darden School of Business, to name just a few sources of inspiration.

​

Recognized for a breadth and depth of applied skills and experience across multiple creative disciplines and business sectors, Margaret began her career as a designer as one of the founding members of Suissa Miller Advertising where she served in various roles from studio director to art director to vice president. In London, she was Director of Development for the London Design Festival and Head of Marketing for the Design Council. Returning to the U.S., consulting and coaching includes work with Saatchi & Saatchi S, PayPal, Jive, BVG, Inc., Flextronics, BFG Communications, Omegawave, Stanford Lively Arts, Verve Coffee Roasters, TwoFish Bakery, and the San Francisco Symphony. She has taught in the pioneering MBA in Design Strategy (DMBA) program at the California College of the Arts and is an engaging speaker/presenter.

​

Margaret has been called an information junkie with a childlike curiosity and is known for having an insatiable appetite for travel, trends, and technologies. She has been an actor, singer, improv artist, photographer, scriptwriter, environmental advocate, and founder of a line of infant sportswear called zerosomething. She currently lives in Salem, Massachusetts.