Heather Boesch

Director of Business Operations at IDEO; Cambridge, MA

Heather Boesch is the Director of Operations for IDEO Cambridge and helps lead IDEO’s public sector practice. At IDEO, a global design and innovation consultancy, Heather works at the intersection of business, design and organizational strategy across industries, with a focus on shaping opportunities for government innovation, from tackling complex systemic challenges to designing emphatic citizen-centered services. Prior to IDEO, Heather spent 2 years in the Middle East as the Director of Operations for a trucking company led by tribal Sheikhs that endeavored to bring economic relief to communities adversely affected by war, and simultaneously co-founded New World Design, a collective of designers working on humanitarian projects in Iraq, including wheelchair distribution, mobile medical services and affordable housing. Heather previously worked as a research analyst at McKinsey, and with the US Air Force to design logistics services leveraging long-haul aircraft to transform the supply chains of commercial projects in the world’s most remote locations. Outside IDEO, Heather is an advisor at Eastern Foundry, an incubator convening startups, government agencies and contractors to drive innovation in government. Educated as both an economist and architect, Heather holds a BA with Honors from Harvard and a MA from Harvard's Graduate School of Design.