Verda Alexander
Verda Alexander is a founder of Studio O+A, a San Francisco design firm responsible for groundbreaking offices at Facebook, Microsoft, Yelp, Nike, McDonald’s and many others. Verda’s vision has shaped the company from its earliest days. Combining a career in fine art with a passionate commitment to improving lives through design, her contribution to a project is to question received wisdom, test basic assumptions and look beyond conventional solutions to a more creative path. Verda’s early expertise in landscape architecture and fine arts continues to inform her interiors work today. Her experimental projects for O+A, from pop-up installations on the future of workplace to a mobile design lab partnering with communities across California, have consistently opened new doors of exploration in the company’s approach to more mainstream projects.
Instagram @verdaalexander
LInkedIN @ Verda Alexander
Jon
Strassner
Jon Strassner, LEED AP, serves as Chief Sustainability Officer, ASID. Before joining the Society, Jon worked with Humanscale for 22 years, serving as vice president of Workplace Strategy and Industry Relations, Canadian sales director, and North American director of A&D. A LEED Accredited Professional since 2007, Jon is passionate about understanding the role we all play in the Net Positive Movement, where we don’t just take less from the environment, but restore, regenerate and replace what has been damaged or destroyed. A passionate founding member of the Next Wave collaborative, Jon has traveled the globe to share this message, speaking at events such as the Our Ocean conference in Bali, Indonesia, ICFF in New York and Miami, Design Week Philadelphia, SCALEX, SCALE, the Leadership Experience: Presented by ASID, and many more.
Jon has had articles published in Contract magazine, Loft Life, and Design at Work.
Instagram @jonstrassner
LinkedIn @Jon Strassner
Paulina McFarland
After earning a BFA in painting and MFA in design, Paulina went on to build internal brand campaigns for corporate clients; worked as a creative director for an art collective; published an art magazine; served as a brand consultant for Bay Area nonprofits; worked at several design and strategy agencies and expanded into textile design. She has been a designer at Studio O+A since 2017.
Paulina has recently published a manifesto on the Green New Deal that can be found here:
https://issuu.com/standard.issue.press/docs/manifesto_gnd_issue_01_issuu
James Riley
James Riley is an audio engineer born and raised in the Bay Area. He received a Bachelor's of Arts in Music from St. Bonaventure University and a Technical Diploma in Audio Engineering from the SAE Institute. Prior to his time spent working on Break Some Dishes, James was an in house recording engineer at Nexus Audio, and acted as the lead engineer for the Lonely Whale's podcast: 52 Hertz.
Minnee Pham
When O+A needs illustrations that capture a client’s personality Minnee is the graphic designer of choice. Her ability to translate a company’s culture into clear, bold, often witty visualizations is matched only by the speed with which she produces them. Whether bringing an artful touch to public health announcements, turning common directional signage into distinctive icons or creating imaginary worlds for speculative, futuristic projects, Minnee’s playful creativity and meticulous technical execution are always strong team assets.
