About Brian

Brian LeDuc is a design strategist working at the intersection of education, workforce development, and innovation.

With over a decade of experience using design in higher education and Fortune 500 companies, he helps institutions launch learner-centered experiences, programs, and strategies that align with industry needs and empower students for the future of work. He founded and leads the consulting practice of Learning, Designed.

Brian specializes in human-centered design and community-driven change in education. He has guided university and corporate leaders, along with community and workforce organizations, in using design thinking to drive meaningful and relevant change in education.

His work with institutions has led to increased student retention, new academic models, stronger learner and employer engagement, and career relevant programs. His influence and impact on institutions has been featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and Higher Ed Dive.

Past experience and impact

Previously, Brian led design strategy projects at the Education Design Lab, partnering with institutions like Catholic University of America and the American Council on Education (ACE Fellows program).

Most recently, Brian worked at Intuit, one of America’s most innovative companies, in Talent Development in the Learning Enablement Center of Excellence where he served as an Innovation Catalyst driving change with “Design for Delight” (D4D), an innovation framework regarded by Intuit founder Scott Cook as the company’s “number one secret weapon.”His work and contributions have earned recognition from the National Association for Campus Activities, NASPA’s “Grand Gold” award, and “Gold” recognition from Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards.

Brian started his career on campus in residence life, orientation, and leadership programs, also serving on the Board of Directors of the National Association for Campus Activities. He then brought his on-campus expertise to advising college Presidents, Provosts, and academic leadership in improving their academic advising systems and practices using big data as a consultant at EAB, leading campuses including Middle Tennessee State University to increased student retention and millions in tuition revenue.

His interest in the frontiers of education led him to serve as Director for the third largest campus of The Iron Yard, a national code school, growing their programs, enrollment, and employer advisory board while moving the campus twice.

In addition to his consulting practice, he’s served as Designer-in-Residence at the UC San Diego Design Lab founded by Don Norman, focusing on community-driven design efforts at the intersection of education, design, and innovation in the Lab’s Studio team.

Today Brian serves locally in San Diego as an Executive in Residence for the College of Business at CSU-San Marcos, ranked #1 in the US for Social Mobility, as well as the Innovation and Design Thinking sub-committee of the YMCA of SD County and as well as a Judge for the Global Jacobs Teen Innovation Challenge at University of San Diego hosted by the Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education.

He is a current Board Member for Project Next, a San Diego nonprofit embedded in high school students to provide opportunities for students to discover, explore, and determine their “Next” after high school, through college, career, military, and beyond.

Education and learning

Brian holds a master’s in Education Administration from Texas A&M University and a certificate in Design Thinking and Innovation from University of Virginia Darden Executive Education.

Among his eclectic skill development, he’s trained with groups ranging from The Second City improv group and Mental Health First Aid to Gallup’s StrengthsFinder. He also served as a Lead Facilitator for the Kiwanis Key Leader program, teaching servant leadership to high school students across the United States in weekend-long retreats.

On a personal note

He lives in north county San Diego, CA with his wife Grace. Outside of work, he can be found reading and listening to music, attending local cultural events, starting training runs for the 2026 Rock n’ Roll Marathon, golfing, and walking their Golden Retriever, Finley.

Stay Connected

About the Newsletter

For the last decade I’ve been using human-centered design, innovation tools, and building community to make change in learning environments through fast experiments.

I’m an advocate for making design accessible as a powerful tool to catalyze and align people to solve problems, especially in education. I often meet educators excited about design, but uncertain and hesitant about how to get started and bring it into the work of improving the student experience.

My hope is this newsletter can be a guide, as education is fraught with frustration, overwhelm, uncertainty, and loneliness that can be overcome with thoughtful design.

What you’ll find in this newsletter

• Real stories and reflections from design work happening inside colleges, companies, and communities to drive change and impact

• Unfiltered experiments — the messy middle where real learning happens.

• Actionable tools and frameworks you can test in your own context.

• I share my latest posts here on Tuesday, and my most popular posts on Linkedin on Wednesday

“Why now, why this?”

I’ve been amazed at how few conversations exist about work in progress in higher education.

We’re used to shiny case studies, press releases, and the outcomes.

What we need is inspiration and guidance for the messy in-between.

We need guides and inspiration to pursue the difficult and necessary changes that will improve student experiences and outcomes and rise to meet the era of disruption.