Jennifer Vokoun

Jennifer Vokoun helps teams focus on strong processes to achieve desired results. Driven by design, she designs curriculum, exercises, and experiences through design thinking and problem solving to strengthen teams and collaboration. Focused and efficient, Vokoun thrives when juggling multiple projects and layers of complexities.

In addition to contributing to Normal Next, Vokoun is an educator, teaching design and visual communication. Her academic research is focused on sustainable food design, and she actively facilitates community engagement on community food systems issues utilizing methods in participatory design. She is co-author of the book, Critical Mapping for Sustainable Food Design: Food Security, Equity, and Justice, written with Audrey Bennett from the University of Michigan.

For over 25 years, Vokoun has also actively worked as a designer and design strategist for non-profit clients, including The Cleveland Orchestra. She has served on the board of AIGA Cleveland, the professional organization for designers, for over 10 years, and currently serves as the chair for Design for Good.

Vokoun earned her undergraduate degree in Illustration from Columbus College of Art and Design, a Master's degree in Art Therapy from Ursuline College, and a Master's of Fine Arts degree in Visual Communication Design from Kent State University. She has received extensive training in Gestalt practices from the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, and is a licensed professional counselor in the state of Ohio.

Always encouraging others to trust the process, she helps others navigate how to solve seemingly unsolvable problems by truly understanding what the problem is. On any given day, preferably a good gray day, in between sprints of work and sips of coffee, you might find her painting a bit, listening to an audiobook, or out on a long walk.