Krista Donaldson
Altruist Engineer
San Francisco, CA
TOPICS
Design
Disabilities
Health
International Development
Social Entrepreneurship
When many people hear the word “design,” they think Apple, but, in fact, some of the most innovative work in the field is actually serving people living on less than $4 a day. Krista Donaldson has been a pioneer of this kind of design for over a decade, most recently as CEO of nonprofit technology company D-Rev, best known for Brilliance, a device that has treated neonatal jaundice in nearly 32,000 babies, and the ReMotion prosthetic knee, which has helped nearly 7,000 amputees walk again–all in the developing world. Prior to D-Rev, Krista served as a Diplomacy Fellow in the U.S. Department of State’s American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), where she guided economic policy and the reconstruction of Iraq’s electricity sector.
One of Fast Company’s “50 Designers Shaping the Future” and a lecturer at the Stanford d.school, this woman is outrageously impressive. In a field known for its hype, Krista is uncompromising in her focus on where the rubber meets the road. She tells inspiring stories, but not to the exclusion of real talk about the challenges that face designers working in this exploding sector. Being in Krista’s presence makes you not only hungry to make a difference, but smarter about how to do so with real impact.
A world class product isn't just about technical performance. It's also about human performance.”
We really, truly believe that if a product is going to reach users at the scale that it's needed, it needs to be market-driven, and market-driven means that products are sold. They're not donated. They're not heavily subsidized.
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