Vision · team building · partnerships · facilitation
Design culture Built to last
Building
Design Culture
I co-founded Basecamp to grow design leaders, connect teams, and build a culture that continued beyond my tenure.
01 / The brief
Create a culture of shared learning.
Basecamp turned learning, visibility, and leadership into an everyday shared practice.
At Autodesk, talented designers and researchers were spread across product teams with limited opportunities to learn from one another. I co-founded Basecamp as a grassroots response, then helped turn it into a recognized cross-functional program.
Recurring design education across Autodesk.
A distributed team of event managers and collaborators.
Design · research · product · ERG · external experts
Designers wanted to understand work outside their teams, build stronger relationships, and grow skills beyond the projects on their desks.
I shaped a clear program vision, recruited and developed a team, built the brand and operating model, and opened the door to strategic partners.
A durable culture platform: 19+ events, up to 80 live attendees per session, leadership funding, and support to keep going after I left.
A reliable rhythm of learning and connection.
Attendees joining a single internal session.
Ownership grew beyond the two co-founders.
Autodesk Young Professional Network, Dovetail, and an external career coach.
02 / The opportunity
Talent was everywhere. Connection wasn’t.
People were asking the same questions from different corners of the organization: What are other teams learning? Where can I share what I know? How can I grow beyond my immediate role?
I saw more than an engagement problem. This was an opportunity to create new pathways for influence, especially for people who were ready to lead before they had a leadership title.
Qualitative pulse
Three signals kept surfacing
Designers + researchers
“I don’t know what other teams are working on.”
Great work stayed inside team lines
Designers and researchers had few ways to see what adjacent teams were learning, building, or changing.
“I wish there were more opportunities to learn from each other.”
Expertise had no shared stage
People wanted to teach and learn, but there was no repeatable format for turning internal knowledge into community growth.
“I want to grow beyond my day-to-day project work.”
Leadership practice was scarce
Emerging leaders needed lower-risk opportunities to facilitate, present, host, and build influence beyond product delivery.
03 / Leadership
I designed the program like a product.
Culture does not scale through enthusiasm alone. I gave Basecamp a clear promise, a recognizable identity, shared ownership, and a repeatable way to turn internal expertise into valuable experiences.
I hosted, facilitated, coached speakers, and made the invisible work of community building visible.
Along the way, I strengthened my own public speaking and team leadership while creating the same growth runway for others.
04 / Partnerships
Expand Basecamp through partnerships.
I looked beyond the design org for complementary expertise, broader audiences, and new formats. Each partnership expanded what Basecamp could teach and the people it could connect.
01 / Autodesk Young Professional Network
Bring GenAI learning into the room
I partnered with Autodesk Young Professional Network to produce an in-person session on Generative AI in practice. I brought together three internal speakers, including two UX researchers and one product manager, and followed the session with a happy hour so people could keep the conversation going.
The partnership expanded Basecamp beyond the design org and created a meaningful face-to-face moment in a remote-first culture.
02 / Research platform partner
Make customer insight a team sport
I connected Dovetail’s Customer Success team with an internal principal UX researcher to lead a hands-on session on synthesis, insight sharing, and collaborative research practices.
The session invited non-R&D teams into the research process and advanced a shared vision for a centralized customer-insight hub.
03 / External career coach
Turn career blockers into something people could face
For Basecamp’s first external-speaker event, I developed “Defeat Career Monsters” with career coach Leena Mendoza. Halloween characters became memorable stand-ins for imposter syndrome, comparison, fear, and disconnection.
A playful concept made difficult career conversations approachable, actionable, and energizing.
Executive sponsorship
I made the case and secured funding.
Design leadership funded Basecamp’s expansion beyond virtual events. That support enabled higher-touch in-person programming, speaker partnerships, and branded swag that gave the community a visible identity.
05 / The impact
Culture became visible in what people did next.
Recognized across orgsBasecamp created more than attendance. It increased visibility for internal expertise, gave emerging leaders a stage, sparked cross-team relationships, and built trust in a remote-first organization.
Leadership in motionOne program.
One program.
A ripple effect.
The program created a ripple: people gained a stage, teams built bridges, Autodesk’s design story traveled outward, and ownership endured.
01
Leadership multiplierCreated a stage for others
Speakers and organizers practiced storytelling, facilitation, hosting, and influence in front of a real internal audience.
02
Organizational bridgeConnected teams through practice
Design, research, product, an employee resource group, and external experts came together around shared learning.
03
External advocacyExtended the design story outward
A Dovetail webinar drew 450+ sign-ups and 138 live attendees, expanding the conversation beyond Autodesk.
04
Durable cultureBuilt momentum beyond my tenure
The program earned recognition and active support from multiple organizations to continue after my tenure.
“Jessie is a natural community builder. Basecamp created a thriving space for leadership, connection, and professional growth.”
“What makes her stand out is her ability to share her experiences in a clear, concise, and compelling way.”
06 / The legacy
The program was built to last beyond me.
The strongest proof of design leadership is not that something needs you forever. It is that you leave behind the clarity, confidence, and ownership for others to carry it forward.
A repeatable program, a distinct brand, a six-person leadership bench, executive funding, and trusted partnerships inside and outside Autodesk.
Learning became a shared cultural practice. Basecamp also earned the recognition and organizational support to continue beyond my tenure.