Maia is a strategist and creative who loves to connect people with meaningful experiences.
I do human-centered design, immersive storytelling, and creative direction. I'm a co-founder of a creative strategy firm and currently lead an innovation team at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Clearance: Top Secret
A few organizations I've supported
Program Manager
Launched Innovative Tech for Good
As the Program Manager of Spotlight, a machine learning tool for law enforcement to find victims of trafficking online, I led the national roll-out of the product, developed a robust training program for target users, and designed the website, marketing, and brand experience.
My love of performing as a kid translated nicely to the work I do today. Instead of dancing on stage, I get to facilitate dynamic conversations with teams and design interactive experiences.
I live to create. I create to live.
As the daughter of South American, Jewish, immigrant parents, I dedicated my life and career to social justice and human rights issues. After learning that a close friend had been sold for sex as a child, I focused the first ten years of my career on the field of anti-human trafficking.
Despite graduating at the height of the 2008 recession, I pursued my passion for social entrepreneurship by working at a San Francisco startup by day, and on anti-trafficking initiatives by night. Some of these initiatives included: starting a modern-day slavery radio show; writing and publishing policy memos for the California Research Bureau on the sexual exploitation of homeless youth; interning for a nonprofit that deterred child sex trafficking in Thailand by raising money for scholarships, and working as a 2010 Client Services Fellow for Polaris (a national anti-trafficking organization).
Eventually, I found a $300,000 grant to fund a position for myself and launch the Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) Watch Program at the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. In less than five years, I took their prosecution unit and turned it into an award-winning Statewide Initiative. Some of the work I did there was a successful billboard campaign to change the minds of the community around child sex trafficking, a graphic novel series on trafficking risk factors for high school youth in Oakland, CA, and a web-app that engaged the community and businesses on a Statewide human trafficking law. Eventually, I was asked by the US DOJ to teach the HEAT Watch model to communities across the Nation.
After working for the District Attorney's Office, I pivoted to tech, and helped launch digital products for Thorn, like Spotlight, a machine-learning tool to find victims of trafficking online; and a redesign of their website and marketing strategy. I also worked as a Product Manager for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, where I helped improve the user experience of their internal Amber Alert program, and ran a Design Sprint for their search missing kids tool.
Currently, I lead the InnovationX team at Booz Allen Hamilton, where I get to be a polymath and explore my interests in human-centered design, immersive storytelling, and creative direction.
I received a BA (summa cum laude) from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. I'm a hardcore 26+2 yogi and I roller skate (rain, snow, or shine).
Creative Superpowers
"Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference."
-Nolan Bushnell
Experience Design
Virtual/in-person Facilitation
Innovation, Business, & Design Strategy
Entrepreneurship
Design Sprints
Human-Centered Design
Visual Design
Public Speaking
Project Management
Agile Product Development
Event Planning
Marketing & Strategic Communications
Business Development
Stakeholder Management
Ecosystem-building
Endorsements from individuals I've had the pleasure of working with over the years
My love of performing as a kid has translated nicely to the work I do today. Instead of dancing on stage, I get to facilitate dynamic conversations with teams and design interactive experiences.
Rarely does one find a supervisor who inspires and motivates on the level of a mentor. Maia Sciupac is this ideal supervisor. When Maia first hired me, I had little knowledge of human trafficking in the Bay Area, Maia quickly became my guide as she expertly navigated the complex network of agencies, law enforcement, government officials, and service providers to coordinate a targeted response to combat child sex trafficking in California, the United States, and the world. Maia’s creativity repeatedly impressed me as I watched her turn various forms of multimedia (e.g. a graphic novel, podcasts, and social media sites) into powerful tools to respond to human trafficking. Her actions exemplify both her strong leadership skills and her unwavering passion for fighting injustice. Human trafficking is a personal issue to Maia and her dedication to fighting it is readily apparent in all that she does. I have no doubt that Maia will play a critical role in bringing an end to this criminal enterprise in whatever projects she chooses to undertake in the future.
former staff at the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, H.E.A.T. Watch
Alynia Phillips
All I want to say is, this was my first experience of a design sprint and I absolutely loved it. The best part was how we got a chance to really get away from our computers and let our thoughts flow. Everyone was really enthusiastic and participated to their fullest, and to top it all was your energy, which was truly infectious. Let's keep the same zeal throughout the rest of the project!! Thanks for all your effort in organizing and facilitating this design sprint!!! It was Awesome!!!
Adobe Product Owner (part of the design sprint team at NCMEC for the "search missing kids" tool)
Nidhi Jain
Maia is one of the most fearless leaders I’ve ever worked with. Her passion for producing top-quality work and fostering a collaborative and open work environment for her team is remarkable. She does very well with feedback and is a pro at helping everyone pivot and navigate unexpected changes. My time working with her and the InnovationX team has given me new perspective on how to generate creative solutions for our DoD and new tools for design strategy. Maia is who you want on your team if you’re looking for the best way to help clients come together and solve tough problems.
Creative coworker at Booz Allen Hamilton
Kimberly Thomas
Maia was brought onto our project after the sudden departure of our team manager. She jumped right in and immediately started to provide her valuable insight and establish rapport with the client and the project lead. Her experience facilitating Design Thinking workshops was essential to organizing and delivering the innovation "roadshows" that were praised by the client and participants alike. Maia is an amazing asset to any team. Her ability to think outside the box matched with her endless positivity empowers everyone around her to find creative solutions to any problem. I learn so much from Maia every day, and I welcome any opportunity to work with her.
Former InnovationX team member at Booz Allen Hamilton
Paul Meosky
I wanted to take a few moments to recognize Maia's stellar support to my team. I reached out to Maia for assistance with organizing a tour of the Innovation Center for my clients. Even though tour coordination is not her primary job, Maia jumped in and took the lead in helping me craft an agenda perfect for what my clients needed. Maia took the lead by connecting me with subject matter experts, facilitating calls, keeping me posted, and leading a Lightning Decision Jam. Maia was responsive and patient with my clients. After our tour, Maia and her team answered my client's questions and hosted a follow-up call to discuss their questions about the culture of innovation. Based on that conversation, Maia developed a statement of work outlining how she and her team could create a tailored innovation maturity diagnostic for my clients. Maia is also supporting a colleague of mine with developing a design thinking-based client problem-solving program. Maia's willingness to reach across the Firm, and connect with me and connect me with others demonstrates her leadership capacity and commitment to collaboration. Maia opened up her network and gave her time to a team that she had never met, all while juggling various other client projects and obligations. She has become a resource to our team and someone we rely on for Innovation and Design Thinking Subject Matter Expertise.
Lead in the Army market at Booz Allen Hamilton
Kelly Burkhalter
Maia has been an invaluable member of our project team. Although we've been assigned to completely different workstreams under this contract, we've found a way to coalesce and collaborate with one another to overcome numerous challenges. Maia brings a very positive attitude to the team and always opts for a unique design and human-centric way of solving problems. She's not afraid to take the lead and march into unclear territories as she seems to always have a plan of action for any situation. One of our biggest collaborations was during a month-long strategy and execution of an innovation ecosystem summit where we sat together and developed 100% bespoke and unique workshop experience for our client.
She and I led the majority of the second day, where we facilitated and guided our clients through our tailored experience and Maia always maintained a positive and effective demeanor throughout the process, despite having put in 10+ hour days the week prior. Her best quality was guiding conversations and steering the participants on the right path, and in moments where I did not quite know what to say, she had a knack for keeping people aligned and focused. I think this is the hallmark of Maia's skillset -- she remains skilled, attentive, and positive in high-stress situations and always comes out doing a bang-up job.
Our work in collaborating closely for this event has brought us and other team-members together as close friends. I've been impressed with her level of managing numerous workstreams and proposal work simultaneously I look forward to seeing what she's going to accomplish in other Booz Allen ventures moving forward.
Fellow InnovationX team member at Booz Allen Hamilton
Ivan Kuo