Helen Yin Chen is an interdisciplinary strategist and researcher working at the intersection of technology, culture, and ecology. She helps organizations and brands navigate futures in flux through rigorous research, systems thinking, and creative experimentation. Previously, she worked in design and innovation with the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, R/GA, IDEO, and Arup Foresight. Alongside her strategic work, she is a research-based artist collaborating with living systems (fungi, algae, and bacteria), to explore transformative frameworks that deeply enrich both her art and strategy practice.
Select Experience
Senior Strategist & Researcher
Freelance, 2020-Present
Strategy Lead
Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, 2024-2025
Senior UX Designer & Researcher
Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, 2021-2024
Experience Strategist & Designer
R/GA, 2020-2021
Design Fellow
IDEO CoLab, 2019-2020
Foresight Strategist
Arup Foresight, 2019
Project Coordinator, Google Projects
Bjarke Ingels Group, 2015-2016
*CV available upon request.
Select Clients
Google
Nike
Mercedes Benz
Verizon
Delta Airlines
Target
e.l.f. Beauty
McDonald’s
Dunkin’
Chipotle
New York Public Library
Hyperice
Talks, Workshops, Residencies & Exhibitions
The New Pantheon (with Tony Wang) for Office of Applied Strategy
FWB FEST, 2025
Harnessing New Mythologies of Scale Speculative Entrepreneurship Workshop (with Tony Wang) for Office of Applied Strategy
FWB FEST 2025
Independent Study Program (Residency)
Institute for Postnatural Studies, 2025
Hyper-Optimization: Creative Stagnation Amidst Cultural Abundance Panel Discussion
Index Space, 2024
Fermenting the Landscape (Residency)
Domaine de Boisbuchet, 2023
Myco-cultivation: Grow Your Own Edible Mushrooms with Food Waste Workshop
Genspace, 2021
Beyond Food: Exploring Future Food Scenarios (Residency)
Domaine de Boisbuchet, 2019
Symbiosis (Group Exhibition)
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 2023
Publications
Alchemical Metabolism: In Conversation with Emmanuele Coccia for Tender Radio
Institute for Postnatural Studies & Radio Relativa, 2025
”The Alchemy of Waste: A Case Study on Global Supply Chains” in Hyper-Optimization: Creative Stagnation Amidst Cultural Abundance
Office of Applied Strategy, 2024
Fruiting Bodies: Fungal Futures for Collaborative Survival
School of Visual Arts, 2020
Awards & Honors
Fast Company World Changing Ideas
Honorable Mention, Workplace Category,
U.S. Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being, 2023
The Webby Awards
Honoree, Government & Associations Category, Website of the 21st U.S. Surgeon General, 2023
Core77 Design Awards
Student Winner in Strategy & Research, 2020
Student Runner-Up in Speculative Design, 2020
SVA Paula Rhodes Award
Exceptional Achievement in Design, 2020
Press
Trend Alert! Raw Milk, Luxe Travel, and Knitting
The New Yorker, 2025
A New Campaign Against Loneliness Starts With a Potluck
The New York Times, 2024
Education
School of Visual Arts
MFA in Products of Design, 2020
Columbia University
BA in Art History (with a focus on New Media Studies and East Asian Languages and Cultures), 2013