Design Redefined: AI, Climate, and the Future We Design

Gianluca Álvarez is a sophomore at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and a member of Innovators for Purpose's (iFp) AI Research Team. Over the past year and a half, he has explored topics such as the digital divide in AI, the intersection of AI and mental health, and the role of AI in public systems. Outside of iFp and school, Gianluca enjoys researching and writing, playing instruments such as the guitar and the cello, reading, and even challenging himself with the dance simulation game Dance Dance Revolution. He aspires to study astrophysics at MIT, where he hopes to keep asking big questions about how science and technology can shape a better world.

Gina James is Vice President of Strategic Development at PRX, a national non-profit based in MA at the intersection of technology, media, and culture. She is a results-driven leader with over a decade of experience in business, narrative shift, and relationship management. Before her work there, she worked in sales and operations at EF Education and Care .com.

With a passion for storytelling, Gina has told award-winning stories on stage, produced storytelling shows and fundraisers, and emcees for the MOTH. Gina facilitates custom workshops and guest lectures for students, elders, poets, radio producers, podcasters, and curious creators of all kinds. Gina is an oral history gatherer, mom, friend, auntie, partner, coach, sister, and daughter, and believes that everyone has a story worth listening to.

Jenn Turliuk helps mission-driven organizations educate, build, and scale solutions that deliver measurable impact. Jenn is a Lecturer at MIT, Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, and instructed part of the Google Data Center Community AI Fellowship. She previously served as Practice Leader of Climate and Energy AI at MIT’s entrepreneurship center. She built, taught, and researched AI for climate and energy solutions - and delivered invited talks at Davos, COP29, TEDx, UNPRME, Yale, Harvard, and other global forums.

Before MIT, she was Partner at one of the world’s most active funders of climate startups, led and co-taught a pioneering climate tech angel investing education program, and co-founded and exited an edtech company. She began her career in marketing at Procter & Gamble and has served as a board member, consultant, and mentor. She holds an MBA from MIT (where she wrote her thesis on the net climate impact of AI) and a Bachelor’s from Queen’s University, completed executive education at Harvard Kennedy School and Singularity University (at NASA Ames), and was awarded an honorary degree from Humber College. While studying at MIT, she spent a fair amount of time at the MIT Museum and made several interactive art projects there about climate and AI.

Sara Laura Wilson is a third-year PhD candidate pursuing an Interdisciplinary Doctoral Degree in Sustainable Design and Computation in Mechanical Engineering. Working in the Ideation Lab with Professor Maria Yang, she develops computational tools, informed by behavioral psychology and human-centered design principles, to identify actionable design interventions for lowering barriers to sustainable behavior. Her goal is to make sustainable choices both intuitive and desirable. Therefore, a key focus of her work is creating a cyclical process where user input and feedback continuously inform both the development of computational tools and the designs they generate.

Sara earned an M.S. from Imperial College London and an M.A. from the Royal College of Art in a joint program in Innovation Design Engineering, following her bachelor’s in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT. She has developed a strong teaching portfolio as a Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Design (2.00) and Product Design and Development (2.739), where she helps foster collaborative and interdisciplinary learning. Beyond academia,

Sara is a passionate advocate for climate action through art. She led an exhibition, “Interwoven: The Interdisciplinarity of Sustainability at MIT,” which invited participants across disciplinary and social boundaries to contribute to collective art pieces exploring sustainable habits and lifestyles. A lifelong pianist and composer, she has contributed to sustainability initiatives at music festivals through climate art workshops and waste management programs. When not on campus, Sara travels the world to explore contemporary art museums and attend K-pop concerts.