Jess Kirkman is an award winning designer and Executive Creative Director from NYC, having worked for top names across the branding, publishing and advertising industries before making her way in-house to help lead the team at Taco Bell Design in sunny California. She has spoken on various panels for The One Club, AIGA, Connecting Things OC and a 'Women in Design' panel in NYC with other female leaders from Instagram, Google and Spotify. Her passion for art and design keeps her on the pulse of creative trends within the industry and her authentic leadership style (a healthy mix of teacher, mentor and therapist) empowers her teams to be more inspired, creative, and confident in their approach to solving design problems.

Aside from her professional life as a Creative Director, Jess is also a visual artist, mainly using alcohol inks, resin and encaustic to create abstract universes. Her Instagram, @manifest.jess continues to inspire other artists and help them get over their creative fears so they can pursue their passions.