Kevin Bethune
Founder and Chief Creative Officer of dreams • design + life
Kevin Bethune is the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of dreams • design + life, a think tank that delivers design and innovation services using a human-centered approach. Kevin's background spans engineering, business and design in equal proportion over his 20+ year career, positioning him to help brands deliver meaningful innovations to enrich people's lives.
Kevin began his career as a mechanical engineer in the nuclear power industry. This chapter gave him deep product experience working with high performing teams across 14 nuclear reactor upgrade campaigns. After his MBA, Kevin joined Nike, Inc. in a business capacity, but quickly navigated to the Global Footwear product engine to drive advanced digital product creation capabilities, discovering the world of design in the process. After solidifying his creative foundation through further studies at ArtCenter College of Design, Kevin co-founded distinct design & innovation capabilities at two Tier 1 management consulting firms in Booz & Co. and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). As vice president of Strategic Design at BCG Digital Ventures, he led a large cohort of designers that would influence and shape every corporate venture spun out from the incubator. Kevin left BCG Digital Ventures to carve his own path under the banner of dreams • design + life, focusing on unlocking human potential through strategic design, industrial design and the building of new ecologies.
Kevin has given keynote talks at TED@BCG, Google Design, AIGA, DMI (serving as Board Chair), DRDS, ArtCenter College of Design, California College of the Arts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Parsons School of Design, Yale School of Management, Woodbury University and Carnegie Mellon University. Kevin’s perspectives have also been featured in the dmi:Review, Bloomberg and DesignObserver. Kevin is working on his first book, Reimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation for The MIT Press, launching February 2022.
