Whitney Mortimer

Partner and Chief Marketing Officer of IDEO

Whitney is a passionate advocate for environmental conservation, biodiversity and climate action. As a trustee, advisor and docent, she supports and guides leaders and organizations investing in innovative solutions to complex problems. Whitney spent her career building brands rooted in meaning and purpose. She believes that good strategy is always grounded in clarity of purpose and mission. She works with leaders and their teams to tackle challenges related to brand positioning, business strategy, marketing communications, innovation, business development, and employee engagement, especially in moments of disruption, change or ambiguity. As Partner and Chief Marketing Officer of IDEO for 25 years, she shaped a global conversation in business, social and government sectors about how human-centered design and creativity fuel growth and resilience. She led initiatives related to competitiveness, diversity & inclusion, and technology and helped guide IDEO’s product businesses, online learning and open innovation platforms. She served as board director and development committee chair for IDEO.org, a non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of people in poor and vulnerable communities. The San Francisco Business Journal awarded Whitney “Most Influential Women in Business” for three consecutive years, earning her the accolade, “Forever Influential” in 2017. In 2018, she was named one of Mogul’s Top 100 Innovators in Marketing. A connoisseur of language, ceramics and textile arts, and audacious ideas, Whitney is also an avid birder, a lapsed pilot, and a recovering wine snob.