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Sam Hankins

PRODUCT DESIGNER. DESIGN MENTOR.

Filipinx-American. Queer. Non-binary. Neurodivergent. NYC.

CURRENTLY.

I'm a Principal Product Designer @ Vox Media leading research and design for Coral, a community engagement platform that puts safety and inclusion at the forefront of conversations around journalism.

Portfolio update in progress. Get in contact or check out LinkedIn

DESIGN AND REPRESENTATION.

As a designer navigating life with a newly deepened appreciation for my several identities and life experiences, I bring openness, curiosity, and vulnerability as core values to my design process and collaboration. I live with the belief that representation yields more inclusive and equitable products (and frankly, is required for any business to be successful today).

EMPOWERING THE NEXT GENERATION OF DESIGNERS.

This also fuels my passion for teaching and welcoming thoughtful problem-solvers from underrepresented communities and career transitioners from non-tech backgrounds into the world of product design.

I've spent close to 4 years mentoring up-and-coming designers with diverse backgrounds transitioning from other careers. As a career transitioner myself, I believe a new designer's greatest asset is owning their past experience and using that to inform their design voice. As a mentor, I help people refine their product-thinking skills, develop confidence in their unique history, and make sure these two things come together to produce a well-thought-out portfolio and radiate during their job interviews.

My past students and mentees now work at companies like Apple, Microsoft, Chegg, Slalom, Flickr, CVS and CarMax

Interested in mentorship? Let me know.