Leone is passionate about understanding the complex needs of people. She has a talent for understanding diverse perspectives and what they might mean for those interacting with them.
Known as a ‘doer’, Leone loves to work alongside communities to build confidence and create impact at a grass roots level. Her abundance of optimism and energy makes things happen, helps people overcome the barriers to engagement and grows collaboration fast.
Before moving back to New Zealand in 2006, Leone spent more than 10 years working in Asia and the United Kingdom as a brand and communications specialist. In the last 18 months she has devoted much of her time to practising co-design methods with government agencies and public health organisations, helping them to innovate with their communities to deliver new outcomes. Leone also recently spent a semester teaching Design Thinking as part of Design for Business at AUT.
Leone has been a coach with Better by Design, NZTE's Design Integration Programme, since 2011 and in May 2015 was appointed as a design coach at the Auckland Co-Design Lab. She was also selected for the BBD Stanford d.school Design Thinking Programme in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
