Elisa is CEO Emeritus of FutureBrand Speck, where she leads teams of brand, product and service designers that innovate for companies as wide ranging as Google, Apple, Samsung, Cisco, Tesla, P&G, Ford, Medtronic, and PayPal. Organizations turn to FutureBrand Speck when they want to generate growth with ‘future proof’ relevancy. Elisa and her teams’ innovations sit inside our pockets, bodies, hospitals, cars, and data centers. Elisa recently sold Speck Design to FutureBrand (IPG), where she now also serves on the global leadership team. In these capacities Elisa has advanced her holistic vision of Experience Engineering, weaving together product, service and digital transformations to achieve superior business results through best-in-class brand experiences. Elisa speaks regularly at innovation summits such as CES, SXSW and TNW, advancing new models for innovation and growth.

 

As Founder and CEO of PartsRiver, Elisa pioneered early intelligent data management (IDM) in the transportation industry, and acquired two companies, Saqqara and CDC (a Boeing subsidiary). PartsRiver became the leading provider of IDM within 4 years and sold to Rush Industries in 2016. Elisa began her career in innovation making and managing investments at Harare-based Zimbabwe Fund (ZPF), and later at the leading New York-based private equity firm Zephyr. She previously worked on Capitol Hill as Director of Economic Development for the largest affordable housing finance intermediary.

 

Elisa serves on the advisory boards of QuakeFinder (earthquake prediction services) and Brava Home (smart kitchen), and on the non-profit boards of Teach for America, Bridge and Represent US. Elisa holds an MBA from the Wharton School and graduated Cum Laude from Princeton University, where she was a national champion rower and named All American.