Mickey McManus, president, CEO, and principal of MAYA Design, a human-centered design and technology consulting firm, is passionate about getting people to use creativity—at any age—and instilling the tendency in early childhood.
“I’m interested in the idea of creativity, and the idea that we probably don’t understand it that well and don’t invest enough in nurturing it at an early age,” he says. At MAYA, McManus and his team have spent 20 years researching and studying creativity, looking at how people are creative and what they do in their daily lives, in order to encourage innovation in how people work together.

As a strategic consultant with the Kids & Creativity Network, McManus facilitates group sessions with member organizations to streamline ideas and discover new partnerships. The sessions are conducted using a refined brainstorming technique that encourages everyone—not just the loudest—in the room to participate, he says.

McManus frequently speaks on the need to consider human elements when solving complex problems in technology and has won numerous awards for his designs. Under his direction, MAYA’s work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, Wired and the Wall Street Journal. Before working at MAYA, McManus co-founded élan communications, an integrated commutations consultancy serving clients including Samsung, MasterCard, and TiVO.

Mickey McManus is a member of the Remake Learning Council.