Jeff Leitner designs and builds bolder ways to save the world — with his own projects, through his clients’ projects, and by training the next generation to do this work.

His own projects

Jeff is a co-founder and director of UX for Good, an organization that leverages research and design to tackle society’s challenges. Over the past 15 years, UX for Good has worked with The Grammy Foundation to boost incomes for musicians after Hurricane Katrina, with the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education to integrate social-emotional learning into public schools, and with Aegis Trust to increase the impact of memorials and museums. UX for Good is currently developing a new technology to help families in the critical first month after a pediatric cancer diagnosis and helping to launch an international center for peace to export the lessons Rwanda has learned about rebuilding society after the genocide.

As a fellow at New America, a think tank in Washington, DC, Jeff partnered with the OECD to develop the optimal sequence for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

His clients’ projects

Jeff works with 2-3 organizations a year to help them make a smarter, better impact on their world. His current and former clients include the Poetry Foundation, the Shedd Aquarium, the Jim Joseph Foundation, and Chicago’s nonprofit theaters.

He previously founded and led Insight Labs, where he brought together hundreds of scientists, artists, executives, and government officials to address critical challenges for over 50 organizations, including the U.S. Department of State, Starbucks, NASA, Harvard Medical School, and TED.

Training the next generation

Jeff served as the inaugural innovator-in-residence at the University of Southern California, where he spearheaded the development of the nation's first doctorate in social innovation. While there, he and a colleague developed the first norms-based approach to social change, detailed in their book See Think Solve.

He leads several workshops a year on designing for social impact and on unwritten rules and their role in organizational change. Jeff has shared insights from his work across the globe, including at institutions like Harvard's Graduate School of Design and Stanford's d.school. His work has been featured in books on innovation, business, politics, and social change, and in magazines like Fast Company, Forbes, and Harvard Business Review.