Nashville, TN
Sep. 17 – 18

Jessie McGuire

Managing Partner

Thought Matter

New York, NY

Jessie McGuire is Managing Partner of Thought Matter, an independent design and creative studio in New York, NY. The studio works across culture, commerce, and civic life. Over the past decade, she has led work exploring how communication design shapes what people trust, how they participate, and what they pay attention to.

In 2026, Thought Matter received the National Design Award for Communication Design from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Her work includes collaborations with The Met, The Japan Society, and Misfits Market, alongside studio-initiated projects like For The People, a reimagining of the U.S. Constitution, and Seen / Unseen, an ongoing research series on surveillance, safety, and public trust.

Jessie is also a Visiting Instructor at Pratt Institute, where she teaches entrepreneurship to designers, focusing on how ideas become real businesses. Her writing and talks center on design as a civic tool and its role in shaping how the world is understood.

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Day 1

Ali OzdenJessie McGuireAneesh BhoopathyCarissa JusticeBadal PatelJoseph ErnstAmber ZaricorLindsey & Allen LaseterMark OwensAndy Khatouli

Day 2

Jesse Howell & Madeleine VogeJosh CarnleyAugustinas PauksteTimia LewisMelisa RivasMatt LehmanJen WagnerCymone WilderRami MoghadamNoah Love & A.J. Mercer