Madhuri Rao

Hi, I’m a designer and facilitator dedicated to creating work that is human- and planet-centered. I’m currently a Communications Specialist for New York City’s health and wellness program, helping bring free resources and workshops to city workers, and I also conduct natural dye workshops in my free time.

With over seven years of design experience, I focus on projects that connect diverse communities through design research, strategy, and visual storytelling. I love turning big ideas into clear, engaging experiences through workshops, visual design, and community-centered projects.

Before this, I was a vegan baker and yoga teacher, and I bring a background in law to everything I do. My work is shaped by holistic and regenerative design principles, with the goal of creating solutions that tackle today’s challenges while building a healthier, more just future for people and the planet.



Design
Projects
  1. Theater der Welt
  2. AUTONOM Symposium
  3. Social Alpha
  4. London Design Festival
  5. Report Design


Research
Projects
  1. Earth’s Kitchen
  2. Loving The Bronx

Social Alpha and H&M Foundation



Social Alpha is a vital platform empowering entrepreneurs and innovators across India to tackle some of the country’s most urgent social, economic, and environmental challenges. By focusing on science, technology, and entrepreneurship, Social Alpha supports visionaries in transforming ideas from laboratory prototypes into viable, scalable market solutions.

My involvement in Social Alpha campaigns has been deeply rewarding, contributing to initiatives that raise awareness of mentorship programs and encourage engagement in social innovation challenges and activities.



Key projects include:

Techtonic – Innovations in Waste Management
A collaboration between Social Alpha, the H&M Foundation, and Saamuhika Shakti, this initiative supports entrepreneurs creating transformative waste management solutions that uplift marginalized communities within India’s informal sector. Through this program, five winners were selected for the Social Alpha Waste Innovations Accelerator, gaining critical support to scale their impact.

Agritech Innovations Challenge 2.0
Partnering with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Tata Trusts, this challenge aimed to empower technology-driven innovations designed to improve productivity and income for smallholder farmers across India. With over 140 startup applications, this multi-year campaign amplified Social Alpha’s mission to foster sustainable agricultural advancements.
In my role, I led the art team to design impactful promotional materials that effectively communicated the campaigns’ missions. Collaborating closely with copywriting and program management, we developed digital marketing assets including posters, social media content, and announcement creatives that emphasized the critical importance of sustainable waste management, highlighted the vital contributions of the rag-picking community, and encouraged broad participation in these competitions.

These experiences underscore the transformative power of collaborative innovation in driving meaningful, lasting social change.