Social
Media

Half Block Isn’t Just for Students - Two CC Parents Teach Over Half Block

What an amazing experience to teach design thinking at Colorado College where my son attends. Rarely do parents get an "insider's view" of the faculty, school mission and culture of where our children attend universities and colleges. We see them ch…

What an amazing experience to teach design thinking at Colorado College where my son attends. Rarely do parents get an "insider's view" of the faculty, school mission and culture of where our children attend universities and colleges. We see them change over their four-year journey and now I understand a bit about how and why.

Students Tackle Food Waste on Campus as they Learn ‘Design Thinking’

Students Tackle Food Waste on Campus as they Learn ‘Design Thinking’

Students Tackle Food Waste on Campus as they Learn ‘Design Thinking’


Books & Writing

End-to-end Innovation Workshop Planning

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Innovation
Expertise

  • Created corporate Innovation Academy curriculum  

  • Led multiple interdisciplinary teams in Lean Startup to develop Prototypes and Minimum Viable Products (mockups)

  • Collaborated and led more than 100 global corporate design thinking workshops to deliver innovative solutions that generate new revenue streams and increase customer value


@Firmenich

Firmenich, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, is the largest privately-held perfume and taste company in the world.

I am honored to have been chosen for #firmenich4society, a life-changing trip to India to learn about sustainable farming, the sanitation economy, leadership and myself.

I am honored to have been chosen for #firmenich4society, a life-changing trip to India to learn about sustainable farming, the sanitation economy, leadership and myself.

Firmenich Pathways to Positive

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Awards

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Teaching& Speaking

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An Introduction
to Design Thinking to the Sanitation Economy Accelerator, April 2020

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Teach The Art of Innovation: A Design Thinking Immersion 2014 to present

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Teach Design Thinking 2020

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Designed and taught program @ Cornell Tech 2016


Articles

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CAPTURING THE STORY

Most people ask me the question, “How did I get from journalism to innovation?” It’s easy. Innovation starts with a story and I’m a storyteller.
Everyone and everything has a story. I see and experience the world through story ideas and storytelling.
My capacity to capture and communicate these stories is the essence of my role as a design thinker, innovation consultant and journalist.
— Toddi gutner
I have rarely been to a panel where people didn’t leave. Everyone was mesmerized...
— Marie c. Wilson, FORMER president and founder, the white house project
 
Design Thinking is coming to life at Firmenich thanks to Toddi. She’s trained countless members of our team infusing her knowledge and passion on the subject into the organization. Plus she makes it fun! Her view on the process is very results driven, always marrying the objective with a strategic business outcome. Her well-honed listening skills are critical, bringing new ideas or a different perspective to each project. Toddi’s a great asset to Firmenich and I’ve learned so much about problem solving as we’ve worked together.
— Debra Johns, Vice President at Firmenich
She was one of the most creative and dogged reporters I’ve ever worked with. If she has researched a topic, you can be sure she knows more about it that anyone else
— Amy dunkin, director of academic operations, cuny graduate school of journalism
Toddi is a change agent. When she first came to Firmenich 2 1/2 years ago, there was little awareness of innovation methodologies like design thinking, business canvas and lean startup. Through internal and external stakeholder building and collaboration, Toddi worked tirelessly to create and implement a culture of innovation through developing and implementing an internal Innovation Academy, as well as bringing innovation methodologies to our large external clients, helping them bring new products and services to market. Having worked with her closely to develop strategies using her strong creative thinking and collaboration skills, I am impressed with her action-oriented, results-driven focus. Toddi knows how to “peel back the onion skin” of complexity, get to the true goals of the team and help them lay out a strategy for success. Finally, Toddi has boundless energy and positivity. I enjoy working with her and always look forward to every exchange she has with me and my team(s)
— Joy Atkinson, former president of Firmenich, North America
The Women’s Forum...has received strong positive feedback about the program, including the session you moderated. It was funny, informative, and honest.
— Jennifer Milliken, program director, women’s forum global meeting,  Deauville, France
Toddi is someone who is always energetic and inspiring whenever I talked to her. I heard similar commends from many others at Firmenich. She is driven by her passion. She believes that empathetic mindset can lead to better product and process designs which will eventually improve the bottom line. Through her relentless effort, she has planted the seeds of Design Thinking culture at Firmenich. I believe this positive mindset/culture shift has a long lasting value to the company and many individuals including myself. Thanks Toddi!
— Ping Zhong, VP, Human Nutrition R&D at Archer Daniels Midland Company