A Design Leaders panel on stage, in front of the community

The globalhome ofdesignleadership.

Design Leaders brings experienced design leaders together to learn, belong, gain perspective, and shape the future of design.

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Directors → CDOs: experienced design leaders
Curated: members carefully selected on scope of responsibility and contribution
Late Nov 2026: launching

Why Design Leaders

Shape the future of design, together.

Design leaders carry increasingly complex responsibilities, with few trusted peers to discuss challenges and practical solutions openly.

Design has the power to save lives, shape societies and transform industries. It influences how we live, learn, work and connect. It depends on the strength of the people leading it.

A large group of Design Leaders members together at an evening gathering

Panellists sharing a laugh during a Design Leaders fireside conversation

What we're building

We see an opportunity to strengthen the profession collectively.

We create the conditions for design leaders to connect and grow collectively. Through our memberships, design leaders can compare experiences, challenge their thinking, explore new approaches and support one another throughout their careers.

Design Leaders will become a wider ecosystem connecting industry with education, improving how organisations understand and invest in design, and creating opportunities to apply design to challenges that matter.

Membership and community
The foundation.
A curated global membership built around trusted relationships, belonging and year-round programme and participation.
Live
Where lasting relationships develop through shared experience out of the day-to-day.
In-person and virtual gatherings, from small peer conversations, dinners, local meetups and larger summits.
Perspectives
The knowledge and voices within Design Leaders.
Stories, insights, and practical thinking from the people leading design.
Opportunities, Launchpad and Consultancy
Ways to progress, contribute and build together.
Opportunities for members to shape their careers, share their expertise and help shape what comes next.

Why we're different

A place to grow, not to perform.

Explore membership

Carefully selected.
Every member is a senior design leader, so the people around you understand your reality.
Room to be candid.
You can ask difficult questions, admit uncertainty and share ideas that are still taking shape.
Private by default, visible by choice.
What's said here stays here. You decide whether, when and how you're identified publicly.
Shaped by members.
Your questions set the agenda, and your experience becomes shared learning.
Connections that lead somewhere.
Relationships here can grow into research, partnerships, consultancy work or new ventures.
The spirit of design.
We work to bring back the creativity, curiosity, warmth and enjoyment that drew you into design in the first place.

What's coming?

Built properly, before the doors open

We moved the launch to the end of November so there is something genuinely valuable waiting when you arrive: a strong programme, better peer connection, useful insight, events and opportunities.

October
Listening
Conversations with leaders on the waiting list shape the first programme.
4 November
San Francisco
An evening with Atlassian on leadership, AI and the craft.
November
The first 90 days
The opening programme is shared before membership opens.
End of November
Membership opens
Founding members are welcomed and introduced to their peers.

Live

Designed around the people in the room

Each gathering is built around the people in it and the conversations they can have together, so the exchange continues long after the evening ends.

Explore events

Design leaders listening in the audience at a previous Design Leaders event

Next event · with Atlassian

San Francisco
4 Nov 2026

Leadership, closer to the craft.

Senior design leaders in San Francisco for a conversation about leadership, AI and staying close to the craft. An informal evening, not a conference.

Request an invite About the evening

Perspectives

Ideas from people doing the work

Member stories, interviews, practical resources and ideas. Private conversations stay private: recording, attribution and publication always need clear agreement.

First stories after launch

A member speaking during a table discussion at a Design Leaders gathering

People · The people and experiences behind design leadership

Beyond the Title

Three panellists in conversation at an evening Design Leaders event

Interviews · Leaders on their work and changing relationship with design

Closer to the Craft

Opinions · Different perspectives on the challenges facing design leadership
The Questions Worth Asking
Live · Ideas from the room, shared with contributors' permission
Inside the Conversation

Partners

Partnerships that create value for members

Partnerships must add value for members and protect the integrity of the experience. Access is never ownership of the audience, and member data is never part of the offer.

Experiences
Help create gatherings members value.
Expertise
Share what you know, without a sales pitch.
Ideas
Support research, programming and new ideas.
Learning
Learn from a curated group of senior practitioners.

Partner with Design Leaders

Host partner

Atlassian

Hosting our evening in San Francisco on 4 November 2026.