About

Whitney Mortimer, a Partner at IDEO Palo Alto, has led the company’s marketing efforts since 1997. In that time, she has helped shape IDEO’s position as a thought leader in innovation and design in a rapidly changing global marketplace.

Prior to joining IDEO, Whitney was senior vice president at Supercuts Inc., which operates or franchises 1,200 hair salons in the U.S., Europe, and Puerto Rico. At Supercuts, she led brand strategy and research, marketing, and new business development functions. She met IDEO when she hired the company to help develop a new hair-cutting technology and retail concept for an innovative new approach to affordable hair care.

Prior to Supercuts, Whitney held various positions in brand management and strategy with E & J Gallo Winery, Frito-Lay, and American Express. She has taught courses in industry and competitive strategy and led seminars in service management for senior managers (titled “Achieving Breakthrough Service”). She earned an MBA with high honors from Harvard Business School and a BA in Russian civilization and French studies from Smith College.

Whitney is passionate about bringing design-led innovation to the domains of environmental activism, education, and philanthropy. She is a trustee for the Sonoma Academy, an independent high school based in Santa Rosa, California, and is a founding advisor for IDEO.org, a non-profit organization focused on cultivating and spreading design-centered solutions for poverty alleviation.

She is a lapsed pilot, an avid birder, and a recovering wine snob.