Wilhelmina (Willa) Crolius grew up in New Haven, Connecticut , where she was first introduced to art and design through her work on collections management for the Yale University Art Gallery. After a year at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina studying politics pertaining to political activism and photography, she transferred to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) where she earned her BFA in Industrial Design. While studying in Chicago, Willa worked with a variety of community organizations in her first experience with human centered design practices.
During her time at the Institute for Human Centered Design she worked on projects ranging from the analysis of community programs, historic sites, public parks, as well as on a mix of products ranging from medical equipment to watches and pens to technology from websites to apps. She worked with the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s UP Initiative and Learning Networks conducting contextual inquiry design reviews of ten cultural organizations with the greater goal of making inclusive cultural practices a staple of the cultural experience of Massachusetts. She designed and led training programs on how to build capacity through the engagement of user/experts with Perspectiva, an NGO in Russia and traveled to Moscow and St. Petersburg several times to consult on inclusive culture and education practices. In 2013, she presented a user/expert analysis of medical equipment to the US Access Board, a federal agency in Washington, D.C., that promotes equality for people with disabilities.
Ms. Crolius received a double master’s degree from the Royal College of Art (Ma) and the Imperial College of London (MSc) in Innovation Design Engineering (IDE) spring 2018. During her time in IDE she worked on projects that married innovations in technology with her passion for human centered design strategy in order to create disruptive products, art and technology. Ms. Crolius is currently working as a design strategist based in the US.