Joshua Lavra

About Joshua Lavra

My work tends to intersect across design, science, art, and technology. I\'m an advocate for STEAM education, mental health, LGBTQ+ rights, and have a passion for helping others communicate their ideas. I live and work in New York; currently designing, developmenting, and testing new tools to support the health and well-being needs of teens and young adults. Currently exploring:+ design as a means for supporting mental health + LGBTQ+ advocacy and support + using design and art as a tool for societal change + artificial intelligence

Experience

1. Principal

   Hopelab

   Oct 2024 — Present · NY, US

   I’m a designer with a science background currently working alongside young people to build more inclusive, joyful futures for mental health and well-being. My work lives between design, research, and technology, with a focus on supporting Black, Brown, and Queer young people as they navigate increasingly complex digital and social worlds.As Principal, Youth-Led Innovation at Hopelab, I partner with young leaders, practitioners, and funders to design and scale tools, programs, and narratives that center youth power. Over the past decade, I’ve led creative strategy, product and program design, and cross-sector collaborations spanning philanthropy, nonprofits, and industry – always with an eye toward equity, belonging, and measurable impact on youth mental health.I started my career as a chemical engineer and product manager, coordinating teams across continents and using human-centered and lean approaches to bring new ideas to life in highly regulated environments. That foundation in systems, experimentation, and rigor now informs how I design with, not just for, young people and communities most impacted by mental health inequities.Current curiosities: how youth-led movements are reshaping systems, what “being young in the age of AI” really looks like, and how queer futures, art, and technology can help us imagine new ways of caring for one another.If you’re building with young people (in innovation, philanthropy, research, policy, narrative, or tech), working on queer and trans futures, or generally interested in nerding out on a topic, I’d love to connect.

Education

• Penn State University

  B.S., Chemical Engineering

  2007 — 2011

Skills

• Team Leadership
• Conference Speaking
• Word
• Public Speaking
• Problem Solving
• Presentation Development
• Chemical Engineering
• Powerpoint
• Microsoft Excel
• Graphic Design
• Microsoft Office
• Technical Presentations
• Management
• Engineering
• Excel
• Matlab
• Leadership
• Process Optimization
• Optimization