about

Steven Wakabayashi

Steven Wakabayashi (he/him) is a creative director, changemaker, and founder of mission-driven organizations empowering historically excluded communities within design and tech. After leading creative teams at many notable brands and agencies, he is now creating pathways for queer BIPOC creatives into the design industry through his nonprofit QTBIPOC Design and designing equitable products and experiences for clients with his digital product design agency Stranger Creative.

QTBIPOC Design empowers the next generation of QTBIPOC creatives through education, mentorship, and networking opportunities. The organization builds bridges for QTBIPOC communities to break into and thrive in the design and tech industry, and aims to democratize education with its annual UX Bootcamp, quarterly book clubs, and monthly meetups. Stranger Creative is a digital product design agency creating human-centered digital experiences for clients including Apple, Google, Unilever, and Walmart.

You can often find Steven representing QTBIPOC Design and Stranger Creative at design conferences presenting talks on equitable design for our creative teams and communities, and the value of balance, rest, and mindfulness in our creative processes.

Steven earned his degrees from University of California, San Diego, where he received a BS in Physiology and Neuroscience, and a BS in Dance. Recently, he finished a two year mindfulness teacher certification training program with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach.