From Forward is led by strategist Lily Mathews.

With roots in performance and playwriting, Lily is now a professional people-watcher, helping mission-driven organizations understand who they serve and what motivates them.

Before launching her own consultancy, Lily led design research at a Scandinavian-American studio focused on new technology experiences related to automation and mobility (i.e. helping machines play well with humans). Physical to digital, in-person or remote—research is her passion, and she’s always up for the next challenge.

Some projects she’s helped lead since…

• Worked with a major city library system to improve digital accessibility for their expansive research collections

• Developed creative concepts and positioning for a women's health and sexual education brand through mixed-methods research

• Helped a fintech platform understand how Gen Z approaches money to guide product strategy for a new digital wallet and identity authentication app

• Designed and led team trainings for engineers at an offshore wind company around the design thinking process 

• Led discovery for the world’s largest insurance company's website refresh, conducting interviews and surveys with customers and agents to inform experience principles and information architecture for a new website build

In a past life, Lily traveled around the world facilitating design thinking and experiential learning programs with students and young professionals. On nights and weekends, she writes and produces shows with her creative collaborative, Dugway Theater. She holds a BA from Brown University, with additional studies at Rhode Island School of Design.