Isabella Gady

Isabella Gady is a Senior Expert at Demos Helsinki, where she works at the intersection of design, leadership, and public sector transformation. Her focus is on building the individual and institutional capacities needed to navigate complexity, uncertainty, and change. With a background in international diplomacy, behavioral sciences, and transdisciplinary design, she helps governments and organizations challenge assumptions and prototype new ways of leading and governing.

Her path has taken her through roles at the Austrian Foreign Ministry, the United Nations, and 3x3 Design - working with clients including the City of New York, IDEO.org, and various national ministries - experiences that shaped her deep commitment to systemic change. She co-founded the Digital Diplomacy Chapter in New York, taught at Parsons School of Design, and co-edited Design for Social Innovation (Bloomsbury).

Isabella develops capacity building programs that integrate strategy, foresight, psychology, and mindfulness. Her work is fueled by a few essential questions: What conditions enable meaningful change? What kind of self-leadership makes that possible? And how can public institutions become spaces of learning and transformation?

Outside of work, Isabella is a mom, a writer, and a nature enthusiast - always up for a walk, a good conversation, or a powerful documentary.