Kurt Ward is a Senior Design Director at Philips Healthcare who is responsible for strategic alliances and collaborations across businesses and partners to stimulate, inspire and explore new value spaces and innovation opportunities. He is based at Philips in the Netherlands and has led global design teams for over twenty years. He was previously the Director of research at Westwood One/CBS networks in New York. Kurt’s work focuses on redefining social determinants for resilient health. To design sustainable and adaptable health systems in the future, how can we reframe our understanding of humanity’s relationship with ourselves and the natural world?
Throughout his 22 years at Philips Design, he has constantly honed his skills and developed design thinking across many areas of the company. From Philips’ brand identity to helping to craft its mission and vision. From managing customer event experiences across Europe to the concept development and creative direction of the Philips Museum in Eindhoven. He has given speeches and held workshops across the globe, from India to South Africa and across Europe. In his childhood, he had the pleasure to play percussion with jazz greats Stan Kenton and Dizzy Gillespie. He spent much of his youth performing in local Cleveland Jazz clubs and now enjoys writing jazz compositions for piano in his spare time. He recently published a lyrical drama based on Greek mythology entitled Endymion or The State of Entropy.
