FRONTIERS
Anne Kirah
Development Director/Design Anthropologist, CPH Inventures/CPH Design, Denmark
Anna Kirah facilitates change within companies and organizations wanting to approach the rapidly paced global world we live in. Working within most areas of concept development (or collaborating with those who do), Kirah guides you through new ways of acting in order to create meaningful, relevant, desirable products, services and organizational change. Kirah is also part of the newly established alliance in Denmark called Future Alliance.
Kirah recently left her position as dean and faculty member of 180º Academy, an international school for radical innovation. Kirah was responsible for designing, implementing and overseeing the 180° curriculum. The curriculum highlighted Kirah’s capacity to combine research, design, concept development and commercialization of products, services and organizational change in order to meet the demands of a rapidly growing world.
Prior to joining the academy, Kirah served as the senior design anthropologist for the Microsoft Corporation. Kirah was responsible for global field research and participatory design both within the Windows division and MSN. Kirah’s primary focus is on people-centered research, future product innovation, and strategy. In 2004, she won the award for MSN Contributor of the Year. In 2006 she was recognized for her contributions to Microsoft’s geopolitical strategy. Kirah also worked at Boeing as a research associate doing pre-concept research onboard commercial aircraft.
Kirah holds a graduate degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Oslo and a graduate degree in Psychology from the University of Washington.
Kirah has lived and worked extensively in Europe and Asia and is fluent in English and Norwegian. She also has a working knowledge of French. Kirah has written award-winning newspaper articles in Japan, edited and written books about contemporary Norwegian society and won several research grants, fellowships and scholarships. Kirah sits on several boards (both in the public and private sector) and she is a popular inspirational speaker on the topics of concept making, innovation, mindset change and change agents within companies, anthropology and participatory design.
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