Lisa Leung transforms organizations by:
pinpointing the root cause of business challenges and piloting systems-focused solutions
leveraging a breadth of experience in HCI/HAI/psychology research, operations, BI analytics, and entrepreneurship to communicate complex systems
crafting open lines of communication and psychology safety
mentoring early-career professionals and collaborating with teams.
Kind words from others
Megan Qiang
Founder & Artist, Mangobun.art
" I enjoyed working with Fortis Design [Lisa Leung] to revamp my online shop’s website! They were able to improve my site’s design and efficiency, and the feedback I received was more in-depth than I expected. They are incredibly organized and provide great visual data, would recommend to any small business looking to branch out online!"
Sammie Walker Herrera
Founder & Speaking Coach, Speak Y'all
" Lisa has more than modernized my website – she has made it so much easier to update my press page with no stress. She uncovered many ways to make my site more manageable and always up-to-date. Lisa communicates early, often, and very professionally. I look forward to working with her on other design projects!"
Hart Fae
LCSW
"Working with Lisa was easy and straight forward. She's very thorough and detail oriented, documented everything. I enjoyed collaborating to bring my ideas to life. I would definitely trust her with future projects and recommend her to anyone."
Megan Qiang
Founder & Artist, Mangobun.art
" I enjoyed working with Fortis Design [Lisa Leung] to revamp my online shop’s website! They were able to improve my site’s design and efficiency, and the feedback I received was more in-depth than I expected. They are incredibly organized and provide great visual data, would recommend to any small business looking to branch out online!"
Sammie Walker Herrera
Founder & Speaking Coach, Speak Y'all
" Lisa has more than modernized my website – she has made it so much easier to update my press page with no stress. She uncovered many ways to make my site more manageable and always up-to-date. Lisa communicates early, often, and very professionally. I look forward to working with her on other design projects!"
Hart Fae
LCSW
"Working with Lisa was easy and straight forward. She's very thorough and detail oriented, documented everything. I enjoyed collaborating to bring my ideas to life. I would definitely trust her with future projects and recommend her to anyone."
Skills
Product Design
UI/UX Design
Service Design
Product Design
UI/UX Design
Service Design
User Research
HCI Research
Prototyping
User Research
HCI Research
Prototyping
Design Systems
Product Strategy
Innovation
Design Systems
Product Strategy
Innovation
Experience
Innovation & Product Development Analyst
2025 – Present
Driving product development with USPS' massive customer base in mind; utilizing human-centered design and research methodologies, technical documentation, BI analytics, agile/scrum methodologies, design systems, and and stakeholder management.
United States Postal Service
Washington, D.C.
Innovation & Product Development Analyst
2025 – Present
Driving product development with USPS' massive customer base in mind; utilizing human-centered design and research methodologies, technical documentation, BI analytics, agile/scrum methodologies, design systems, and and stakeholder management.
United States Postal Service
Washington, D.C.
Innovation & Product Development Analyst
2025 – Present
Driving product development with USPS' massive customer base in mind; utilizing human-centered design and research methodologies, technical documentation, BI analytics, agile/scrum methodologies, design systems, and and stakeholder management.
United States Postal Service
Washington, D.C.
Founder & Principal
2023 – 2025
Launched a 1-person product design studio to provide UI/UX design, strategy, and UXR services to small businesses and startups. Founder-in-Residence in Antler's pre-seed startup accelerator, Carnegie Mellon University's Customer Discovery Kickstarter, and NASDAQ's Milestone Circles Program.
Fortis Design Collective LLC
Washington, D.C. & New York City
Founder & Principal
2023 – 2025
Launched a 1-person product design studio to provide UI/UX design, strategy, and UXR services to small businesses and startups. Founder-in-Residence in Antler's pre-seed startup accelerator, Carnegie Mellon University's Customer Discovery Kickstarter, and NASDAQ's Milestone Circles Program.
Fortis Design Collective LLC
Washington, D.C. & New York City
Founder & Principal
2023 – 2025
Launched a 1-person product design studio to provide UI/UX design, strategy, and UXR services to small businesses and startups. Founder-in-Residence in Antler's pre-seed startup accelerator, Carnegie Mellon University's Customer Discovery Kickstarter, and NASDAQ's Milestone Circles Program.
Fortis Design Collective LLC
Washington, D.C. & New York City
Academic Researcher
2020 – 2023
Contributed to projects ranging from (1) identifying psychological barriers to personal protective equipment (PPE) usage, (2) investigating the usefulness of mathematics courses within information systems curricula, and (3) facilitating convergence in asynchronous/synchronous team communication. Research under Dr. Daniel Oppenheimer; Dr. Larry Heimann; Dr. Anita Woolley and Dr. Laura Dabbish.
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA
Academic Researcher
2020 – 2023
Contributed to projects ranging from (1) identifying psychological barriers to personal protective equipment (PPE) usage, (2) investigating the usefulness of mathematics courses within information systems curricula, and (3) facilitating convergence in asynchronous/synchronous team communication. Research under Dr. Daniel Oppenheimer; Dr. Larry Heimann; Dr. Anita Woolley and Dr. Laura Dabbish.
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA
Academic Researcher
2020 – 2023
Contributed to projects ranging from (1) identifying psychological barriers to personal protective equipment (PPE) usage, (2) investigating the usefulness of mathematics courses within information systems curricula, and (3) facilitating convergence in asynchronous/synchronous team communication. Research under Dr. Daniel Oppenheimer; Dr. Larry Heimann; Dr. Anita Woolley and Dr. Laura Dabbish.
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA
Design and Technology Consultant
2020 – 2023
Took on leadership and individual contributor roles to (1) interview organizations and subject-matter experts in order to recommend data management processes; (2) identify ideal customer profiles and prototype new product (software) features, (3) ideate new methods of visualizing data for teachers without Wi-Fi, and (4) supporting small businesses with a new website.
Various nonprofits and startups: CAPSEA Inc., Inspired Cognition Inc., Learning Equality, re:Bloom.
Pittsburgh, PA; Remote
Design and Technology Consultant
2020 – 2023
Took on leadership and individual contributor roles to (1) interview organizations and subject-matter experts in order to recommend data management processes; (2) identify ideal customer profiles and prototype new product (software) features, (3) ideate new methods of visualizing data for teachers without Wi-Fi, and (4) supporting small businesses with a new website.
Various nonprofits and startups: CAPSEA Inc., Inspired Cognition Inc., Learning Equality, re:Bloom.
Pittsburgh, PA; Remote
Design and Technology Consultant
2020 – 2023
Took on leadership and individual contributor roles to (1) interview organizations and subject-matter experts in order to recommend data management processes; (2) identify ideal customer profiles and prototype new product (software) features, (3) ideate new methods of visualizing data for teachers without Wi-Fi, and (4) supporting small businesses with a new website.
Various nonprofits and startups: CAPSEA Inc., Inspired Cognition Inc., Learning Equality, re:Bloom.
Pittsburgh, PA; Remote
Teaching Assistant
2022
Facilitated the ideation and prototyping of AI/ML product-service designs for 120 students under Dr. Jodi Forlizzi and Dr. John Zimmerman for 05-617 Design of AI Product & Services Course.
Carnegie Mellon University Human-Computer Interaction Institute
Pittsburgh, PA; Remote
Teaching Assistant
2022
Facilitated the ideation and prototyping of AI/ML product-service designs for 120 students under Dr. Jodi Forlizzi and Dr. John Zimmerman for 05-617 Design of AI Product & Services Course.
Carnegie Mellon University Human-Computer Interaction Institute
Pittsburgh, PA; Remote
Teaching Assistant
2022
Facilitated the ideation and prototyping of AI/ML product-service designs for 120 students under Dr. Jodi Forlizzi and Dr. John Zimmerman for 05-617 Design of AI Product & Services Course.
Carnegie Mellon University Human-Computer Interaction Institute
Pittsburgh, PA; Remote
Innovation Development Program Analyst
2022
Investigated technical issues with designers, developers, and product managers that resulted in high user churn for key internal stakeholders.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
New York, NY
Innovation Development Program Analyst
2022
Investigated technical issues with designers, developers, and product managers that resulted in high user churn for key internal stakeholders.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
New York, NY
Innovation Development Program Analyst
2022
Investigated technical issues with designers, developers, and product managers that resulted in high user churn for key internal stakeholders.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
New York, NY
Technical Writer
2021
First technical writer on the team to create sample databases to effective visualize the capabilities of AWS products. Crafted documentation for Amazon Q while the product was in-development (released in 2023).
Amazon Web Services,
Seattle, WA
Technical Writer
2021
First technical writer on the team to create sample databases to effective visualize the capabilities of AWS products. Crafted documentation for Amazon Q while the product was in-development (released in 2023).
Amazon Web Services,
Seattle, WA
Technical Writer
2021
First technical writer on the team to create sample databases to effective visualize the capabilities of AWS products. Crafted documentation for Amazon Q while the product was in-development (released in 2023).
Amazon Web Services,
Seattle, WA
Various administrative, education, and operations roles.
2016 – 2020
Supported operations by crafting documentation; facilitated the learning of middle-school and high-school students with interactive lessons.
Various companies: EMR Solutions and Technology, Greenbelt Endoscopy Center, Aristotle Circle.
Rockville, MD
Various administrative, education, and operations roles.
2016 – 2020
Supported operations by crafting documentation; facilitated the learning of middle-school and high-school students with interactive lessons.
Various companies: EMR Solutions and Technology, Greenbelt Endoscopy Center, Aristotle Circle.
Rockville, MD
Various administrative, education, and operations roles.
2016 – 2020
Supported operations by crafting documentation; facilitated the learning of middle-school and high-school students with interactive lessons.
Various companies: EMR Solutions and Technology, Greenbelt Endoscopy Center, Aristotle Circle.
Rockville, MD
Community Leadership
Membership and Volunteer Chair on the Board of Directors.
2024 – Present
Currently driving the experience and operations of 350+ volunteers and 500+ community members.
American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) DC
Washington, D.C.
Membership and Volunteer Chair on the Board of Directors.
2024 – Present
Currently driving the experience and operations of 350+ volunteers and 500+ community members.
American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) DC
Washington, D.C.
Membership and Volunteer Chair on the Board of Directors.
2024 – Present
Currently driving the experience and operations of 350+ volunteers and 500+ community members.
American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) DC
Washington, D.C.
Judge
2025
Interviewed interdisciplinary high-school robotics teams to gauge the sustainability of their organizations (financial, recruitment, strategic, environmental), efforts in supporting their local communities, and cohesion as a team.
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition
Chesapeake Region, Maryland
Judge
2025
Interviewed interdisciplinary high-school robotics teams to gauge the sustainability of their organizations (financial, recruitment, strategic, environmental), efforts in supporting their local communities, and cohesion as a team.
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition
Chesapeake Region, Maryland
Judge
2025
Interviewed interdisciplinary high-school robotics teams to gauge the sustainability of their organizations (financial, recruitment, strategic, environmental), efforts in supporting their local communities, and cohesion as a team.
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition
Chesapeake Region, Maryland
Initiative Chair
2020 -2023
Spearheaded the growth of the organization from a 50-student email list intended to support new students to become a fully-fledged organization with staff support, an Information Systems Day, and regular career development events.
Carnegie Mellon University Information Systems Ambassadors
Pittsburgh, PA
Initiative Chair
2020 -2023
Spearheaded the growth of the organization from a 50-student email list intended to support new students to become a fully-fledged organization with staff support, an Information Systems Day, and regular career development events.
Carnegie Mellon University Information Systems Ambassadors
Pittsburgh, PA
Initiative Chair
2020 -2023
Spearheaded the growth of the organization from a 50-student email list intended to support new students to become a fully-fledged organization with staff support, an Information Systems Day, and regular career development events.
Carnegie Mellon University Information Systems Ambassadors
Pittsburgh, PA
VP of Finance and Founding Member
2015 - 2019
Facilitated the donation of over 2000 cakes to disadvantaged children and seniors in 4 years within the DC metropolitan area.
Birthday Cakes 4 Free Maryland
Rockville, MD
VP of Finance and Founding Member
2015 - 2019
Facilitated the donation of over 2000 cakes to disadvantaged children and seniors in 4 years within the DC metropolitan area.
Birthday Cakes 4 Free Maryland
Rockville, MD
VP of Finance and Founding Member
2015 - 2019
Facilitated the donation of over 2000 cakes to disadvantaged children and seniors in 4 years within the DC metropolitan area.
Birthday Cakes 4 Free Maryland
Rockville, MD
Recognition
NASDAQ Milestone Circles Program, Participant
2024
One of 4,000 female-identifying entrepreneurs.
NASDAQ Milestone Circles Program, Participant
2024
One of 4,000 female-identifying entrepreneurs.
NASDAQ Milestone Circles Program, Participant
2024
One of 4,000 female-identifying entrepreneurs.
Antler Pre-Seed Startup Accelerator, Founder-in-Residence
2023
One of 300 selected from over 280,000 applicants.
Antler Pre-Seed Startup Accelerator, Founder-in-Residence
2023
One of 300 selected from over 280,000 applicants.
Antler Pre-Seed Startup Accelerator, Founder-in-Residence
2023
One of 300 selected from over 280,000 applicants.
Carnegie Mellon University Information Systems, Student Graduation Speaker
2023
Selected by Information Systems staff and faculty to speak on behalf of the class of 2023.
Carnegie Mellon University Information Systems, Student Graduation Speaker
2023
Selected by Information Systems staff and faculty to speak on behalf of the class of 2023.
Carnegie Mellon University Information Systems, Student Graduation Speaker
2023
Selected by Information Systems staff and faculty to speak on behalf of the class of 2023.
Carnegie Mellon University’s UX Association Hackathon, 2nd Place for Undergraduates
2022
Selected from 30 undergraduate teams.
Carnegie Mellon University’s UX Association Hackathon, 2nd Place for Undergraduates
2022
Selected from 30 undergraduate teams.
Carnegie Mellon University’s UX Association Hackathon, 2nd Place for Undergraduates
2022
Selected from 30 undergraduate teams.
Education
Carnegie Mellon University
Bachelor of Science in Information Systems. Additional Major in Human-Computer Interaction, Minor in Societal and Human Impacts of Future Technologies (SHIFT). Leadership roles: IS Ambassadors, Carnegie Involvement Association Buggy Team, CMU Explorers Club.
Pittsburgh, PA
Carnegie Mellon University
Bachelor of Science in Information Systems. Additional Major in Human-Computer Interaction, Minor in Societal and Human Impacts of Future Technologies (SHIFT). Leadership roles: IS Ambassadors, Carnegie Involvement Association Buggy Team, CMU Explorers Club.
Pittsburgh, PA
Carnegie Mellon University
Bachelor of Science in Information Systems. Additional Major in Human-Computer Interaction, Minor in Societal and Human Impacts of Future Technologies (SHIFT). Leadership roles: IS Ambassadors, Carnegie Involvement Association Buggy Team, CMU Explorers Club.
Pittsburgh, PA
IBM Enterprise Design Thinking
2023 – 2024
Certified Co-Creator and in Team Essentials for AI.
IBM Enterprise Design Thinking
2023 – 2024
Certified Co-Creator and in Team Essentials for AI.
IBM Enterprise Design Thinking
2023 – 2024
Certified Co-Creator and in Team Essentials for AI.
Amazon Web Services
Certified Cloud Practitioner.
Amazon Web Services
Certified Cloud Practitioner.
Amazon Web Services
Certified Cloud Practitioner.