Benji Michalek

Benji Michalek has over 10 years of experience in design and innovation. Benji began their career in 2010 as the Managing Partner at August Mane. In 2014, they took on the role of Innovation Strategist at Alliance Data Retail Services, where they managed the story behind a high-profile innovation lab space, supported development and implementation of innovation initiatives and prototypes, and demonstrated new technologies within the innovation space to C-class executives through story telling. In 2015, they moved to FUSE by Cardinal Health as the Product Design Lead, where they championed human-centric design through exploration, testing, prototyping, and business strategy for projects in the innovation pipeline. In 2018, they were appointed as the VP of Design & Innovation at Fifth Third Bank. In 2019, they became the Sr. Experience Design Manager (UX) - Best in Class at Wayfair. In 2020, they joined Embark Veterinary as the Director of Product Design and Creative Director. Most recently, in 2021, they were appointed as the Head of Design at Signos.

Benji Michalek attended The Ohio State University from 2004 to 2008, where they earned a B.A. in Japanese in 2007 and a B.A. in Strategic Communications in 2008.