CASE STUDY

Google

Building Innovation and Creative Capacity

CASE STUDY

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CASE STUDY ✦

DESIGN CHALLENGE

How might we create a culture of innovation?

DESIGNIMPACT

Group of people standing in a circle during a discussion or activity in a room with digital screens and colorful lines on the floor.

Designed and led a global portfolio of innovation and creativity programs for Google, helping teams and leaders unlock new ways of thinking, collaborating, and leading.


Projects included:

  • Immersive design sprints in Hollywood, where product teams explored creativity and content-creation through improv, filmmaking, VR, and street art

  • Field-based innovation in Detroit, where engineers and designers co-created rapid-response solutions for first responders and emergency services

  • Cultural immersion in Japan, exploring how craftsmanship and cultural mastery can inform technical excellence

  • Development of Startups to Scaleups, a course blending innovation practices with Google’s product development process

This work expanded into transformational leadership programming—using experience design, music, and art to cultivate more connected, creative, and courageous leaders.


One standout project: a women’s leadership summit that grew from an intimate gathering of 50 to a global event for 500+ participants. The summit combined carefully crafted attendee journeys, large-scale art installations, and experiential workshops to foster authentic connection and catalyze culture change within the company. Similar experiences were later designed to support other historically underrepresented communities across Google, advancing inclusion, belonging, and leadership development.

2000+

Programs scaled from intimate workshops to global summits reaching 500+ Googlers

7 Countries

Designed and led innovation sprints in multiple international locations.

Testimonials

“Elysa and I first collided in 2017 — this was about four years after she joined Google. It is hard to pinpoint just one reason why Elysa is so remarkable, but if I had to choose, I’d say it’s because she is unbound. The space in her brain for ideation, creativity, innovation, playfulness, etc., has no boundaries. Her unapologetic artistry in a corporate environment created magical, visceral moments for so many Googlers. She transformed leaders with jazz, connected teammates in deeply vulnerable ways using only four walls, and propelled communities forward and together with waves. I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Elysa because I got to see her work and process up close, and also because I know there is now a part of my brain that is unbound, too, thanks to her influence.” 

Stephanie McClellan, Google, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative 

“The chance to connect with so many women across the globe and realize that at some level, all of us lead similar lives with similar challenges and similar moments of joy, pain, ambitions, and goals.” 

Women’s Leadership Event

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