Heather Winkle

Heather Winkle has spent nearly three decades as a designer and product leader in high tech. If you’ve paid a bill online, gotten a stock quote, compared items while online shopping, or filtered a search result, you’ve interacted with something she designed for the first time on the internet. After completing Carnegie Mellon’s program in Industrial Design, Heather kicked off her career in Silicon Valley, designing some of the world’s now ubiquitous digital experiences for companies like Apple, Adobe, eBay, Intuit, Yahoo, and Netscape. Fascinated by design’s potential for business, Heather obtained her MBA and specialized in leading innovation. She expanded her human-centered approach into business strategy, organizational design, and leadership to transform teams, services, and systems at scale.

Heather most recently served as McAfee’s Chief Design Officer, shaping the company’s vision for the future of online protection. Prior to joining McAfee, Heather was Senior Vice President of Design at Capital One, where she helped establish and mature the company’s design practice and design its ecosystem of award-winning digital banking apps. Heather applies her passion for improving the human experience to more than just products: she founded an Equity by Design team to understand and address bias and inclusivity in practice, served on community service and grant-decisioning committees, and continues to be an active participant in business resource groups for women in tech, LGTBQIA2S allies, Black and LatinX in tech, and adoptive parents.