Pumla

Maswanganyi

African Life-Centric Design
Designer, Strategist

About the Speaker

She helps companies and institutions rethink how design operates at every level – from knowledge frameworks to the systems that shape products, value, and meaning. Her work sits at the intersection of strategy, foresight, and design practice, developing scalable models that turn cultural intelligence into creative and commercial advantage.

She co-wrote the African Life-Centric Design (ALCD) framework, which reframes how global organisations engage with the world’s largest communities and markets – the Global Majority – by creating innovation rooted in relevance and accountability.

Over more than a decade, she has partnered with Samsung, Mozilla, Soho House, Qatar Foundation, the African Union, MTN, and others, guiding them to strengthen market resonance, cultural awareness, and long-term design value. Her focus spans knowledge architecture and frameworks, foresight-led strategy, and material and process innovation, bridging research, pedagogy, and product systems.

talk
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World-building and world-breaking: The role of the designer in systemic governance
Pumla Maswanganyi
African Life-Centric Design

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