About our Speakers
The State of Black Design
Omari Souza is a designer, researcher, educator, and author whose work explores how design shapes culture, identity, and belonging. He is an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech, a member of AIGA’s National Board of Directors, and the founder of the State of Black Design, a nationally recognized initiative advancing equity, research, and innovation across the design profession.
Through the State of Black Design Conference, Omari has convened thousands of designers, educators, students, and industry leaders to reimagine the future of design through research, community, and action. His work has helped organizations better understand historically underrepresented audiences while creating pathways for emerging designers to connect with leading companies and institutions. He is the co-editor of An Anthology of Blackness: The State of Black Design and the author of Design Against Racism: Creating Work That Transforms Communities, which explores how designers can create more equitable products, services, and experiences through research-informed practice.
ELEV8ED USC
Katrina “Cooley” Lenzly is an award-winning Creative Director and performing artist whose work lives at the intersection of design, music, community, and human experience. With more than a decade in advertising and brand marketing, she has built a career connecting culture and creativity for brands including The Coca-Cola Company, Netflix, Jeep, HBO, and the NBA. As an independent creative consultant and the artist behind King Cooley, Cooley brings the same strategic and design rigor to her own creative practice. Her multidisciplinary project KILN: Forged Through Fire transforms personal experiences of loss, rebuilding, and community into music, visual storytelling, writing, and participatory experiences. Her work is grounded in a simple belief: Meaningful experiences make meaningful work.
The Studio Temporary
Scott Fuller is the founder and designer at The Studio Temporary, an iconic design studio based out of Atlanta, GA. From humble beginnings in the back of a Newnan, GA, sign shop to having their work internationally recognized, Iconic Design Studio transforms brands into storytellers through timeless design. Scott’s specialties include brand identity design, logos, iconography, type design, packaging, posters, illustration and more.
10Ft Deep
Hal Riley is an award winning creative director, designer, entrepreneur, and adventurer whose work has spent more than 25 years moving between brand, experience, storytelling, and culture. He is cofounder and creative director of 10FT Deep and founder of WildHare Adventures. His career has included work with major global brands, startups, and creative teams, but some of his most meaningful work has happened far outside the studio. Hal captained Team Unbroken in the World’s Toughest Race, Eco Challenge Fiji, an experience that continues to shape how he thinks about leadership, creativity, uncertainty, and meaning. His work explores what happens when professional design discipline meets curiosity, lived experience, and a willingness to go a little deeper.
Artsy Elaine
Elaine Stephenson is an Atlanta artist, designer, and muralist transforming underutilized spaces into impactful works of art. She draws from her personal experience with anxiety and depression as a means to create art that focuses on the beauty of life and encourages others. She studied graphic design at the University of Georgia, which ignited her love for typography and bold design. After a 10 year design career she started her own art and mural business, combining both her strategic design skills and an artistic voice to create vibrant art that transforms spaces from bland to beautiful. Since beginning her mural journey in 2018, she has painted over 50 murals throughout Georgia, from Blue Ridge to Athens.
Vanna Black Art
Vanna Black is a self-taught artist and skilled graphic designer who earned her BFA in hybrid design from Georgia State University. She is a proud Atlanta native raised in Ormewood (EAV). Her work features vibrant, motion-filled landscapes and floral imagery inspired by her lifelong love of nature—from childhood exploration to now, hiking the North Georgia Mountains trails. Her visual language carries inspiration from African patterns with the serene balance of Japanese landscape art, using composition, color, and scale to encourage viewers to reconnect with nature and enhance their mental well-being with striking titles and love notes on the back of her paintings. An active member of CreativeMornings Atlanta and was a Paint Love Fellowship Artist working with underserved youth through art therapy, Vanna’s work spans public and residential murals. Her client list includes Hermès, Canada Goose, the City of Atlanta, Oakland Cemetery, and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.
BlackCatTips
A BlackCatTips is a painter man. A poet, a thinker, and a teller of tales. A BlackCatTips is Kyle Brooks, a street folk artist from way down in the American South. Through his paintings, murals, street poems, and whimsical roadside art installations, Brooks uses bright colors and found materials to paint the world happy. He lives in Arabia Mountain, Georgia, with his wife, two children, and an ol’ cat. He enjoys growing orchids and dreams of one day living in a biscuit house.
Samsung Electronics
Henry Hongmin Kim is Vice President and Head of the Design Strategy Group for Samsung Electronics’ Mobile Communications Business. He leads strategic design innovation that creates brand experiences and cohesive visual language worldwide. Previously, Henry was Group Director and Head of North America Design, as well as Global Senior Design Director of Whitespace, at The Coca-Cola Company. He was also Senior Experience Design Director at North Highland and taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Savannah College of Art and Design, where he served as Associate Chair. His work spans brand identity, packaging, editorial, UX/UI, data visualization, and experience and service design. His book, Graphic Design Discourse, was published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2018.
The Coca Cola Company
Rapha Abreu is a global design leader with 20+ years of experience shaping iconic brands through world class craft, strategic clarity, and innovation. He is currently Vice President of Global Design at The Coca Cola Company, leading design across a portfolio of brands including Coca Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade, and Smartwater. As the first Latino to hold this role, Rapha brings a barrier-breaking perspective to global leadership and creative transformation. At Coca Cola, Rapha drives a comprehensive global design strategy spanning brand identity, visual language, product design, interactive and motion systems, retail experiences, and the integration of AI enabled design innovation. Known for blending aesthetics with functionality, he builds cohesive brand worlds that scale globally while staying culturally relevant. Under Rapha’s leadership, Coca Cola was recognized as a Design Company of the Year honoree in 2025 by Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards. Previously, Rapha served as Vice President and Global Head of Design at Restaurant Brands International, where he led the globally celebrated Burger King rebrand which earned over 50 accolades, including Fast Company’s Rebrand of the Year. Rapha’s work has also been recognized with multiple Gold Cannes Lions, D&AD Wood and Graphite Pencils, and Dieline Awards. He is a frequent speaker at global events including D&AD Festival, How Design Live, and Adobe MAX, and his work has been featured in Fast Company, Creative Review, and Forbes.
Deanna Denham Hughes is a SCAD-trained designer turned Design Operations leader with an affinity for alliteration and an allergy to poor font choices. Over the last decade, she has translated messy creative ambitions into resilient systems without taxing a designer’s cognitive load at companies like Robinhood and Crunchyroll. On stage, Deanna pairs dry humor with sharp structural pace, creating an atmosphere where panelists feel comfortable speaking unkerned truths, resulting in a conversation that is equal parts insightful and entertaining.
