George Aye
He/Him
Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director
Greater Good Studio
George co-founded Greater Good Studio in 2011 to use design to heal, be just, and be restorative, where he serves as Co-Executive Director. Previously, he spent seven years at a global innovation firm before being hired as the first human-centered designer at the Chicago Transit Authority. Since founding Greater Good, he has guided clients and teams through complex projects that honor reality, create ownership, and build power. He speaks frequently across the US and internationally. George is an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University. Previously, he was a Full Professor (Adj) at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He serves on the board of the Asian-Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago and on the advisory board of the Chicago Children's Museum. He was born in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), raised in the UK, and is now a U.S. citizen.
Talk
Designing A New Social Contract
Every social contract has authors. This talk argues that designers, advocates, social sector and corporate leaders must become intentional ones, or cede that role to the well-organized forces already rewriting the rules. Aging and long-term care shows us exactly what's at stake.
Key takeaways:
1. You didn't author the social contract you're working inside, but someone did. This talk names who, surfaces the design choices they made, and argues that the field of design has both the tools and the obligation to author something different.
2. Race and class don't just shape outcomes, they are structural features of the current contract, baked in at birth. Understanding this shifts the frame from fixing programs to redesigning the system.
3. Long-term care is not a niche elder-care issue, it is the stress test that exposes every other failure in the contract. If we design for what people need when they are most vulnerable, we build a system that works better for everyone, at every age.