Fauske Earns Advanced Design Thinking Certificate

Gretchen Fauske recently earned an Advanced Design Thinking certificate from IDEO U, the educational arm of global design firm IDEO.

Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation—anchored in understanding customer’s needs, rapid prototyping, and generating creative ideas—that aids the development of products, services, processes, and organizations.

As the Associate Director for the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development (UA CED), Fauske is already incorporating design thinking principles into her work and is especially excited about leading a month-long customer discovery workshop for entrepreneurs this summer.

“Design thinking is an incredibly effective way of understanding how people interact with the world, from digital realms to in-person experiences,” says Fauske. “I’m looking forward to helping entrepreneurs put design thinking tools into practice as they build their businesses.” 

“The way we think about entrepreneurship is changing, as we recognize how important it is to empathize with the customer’s needs and wishes to build a successful startup. Nobody understands that better than Gretchen, and this certificate caps off months of hard work,” said Nolan Klouda, Executive Director for UA CED.

Fauske has worked on a number of award-winning economic development projects and was named to Alaska’s Top Forty Under 40 in 2013. She is a Gallup-certified Strengths Coach, serves as Board President for Anchorage Downtown Partnership, and is a member of the organizing committee for 1 Million Cups Anchorage.