Amy Lussetto, MPH, EDAC, has been promoted to director of strategic innovation for HDR's architecture practice. With 14 years of experience in the healthcare industry and eight years with HDR, Lussetto is uniquely positioned to lead the strategic innovation practice, which integrates human-centered design and strategy to help a wide variety of organizations explore the evolution of their business, improve service delivery and strengthen a connection to their community.

Working for a major health system prior to joining HDR, Lussetto excelled in positions dealing with analytical chemistry, neuroscience research and financial analytics.

“Amy brings an infinite curiosity about art, chemistry, public health, biology, design and social good to her team; combining those interests with a genuine passion for problem solving, pushing boundaries and enabling innovation,” said Scott Foral, managing principal of HDR’s consulting group. “Empathizing with end users is key to her role in identifying pain points and delightful moments in their journey. She weaves it all together by making sense of complex inputs and constraints, pushing for new and provocative ideas, and then thoughtfully considering practical ways to bring those ideas to life.”

For Lussetto, humanizing moments in projects are a big part of what she says drives her. “Performing ethnography is one of the most humbling parts of the job,” she said. “People let us into their homes to discuss their thoughts and feelings, usually about personal topics, and it just blows my mind how open and inviting and brutally honest they are.” Whether it’s moments like these with end users or bringing client stakeholders and HDR team members together for an ideation session, Lussetto said she thrives when engaging and collaborating with people.

Lussetto recently earned a master's degree in public health from The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. She also holds a master of business administration degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a bachelor of science degree in biology from Doane College.