University Design Institute Names Dena Messer-Herrera as Director of Enterprise Design
Advancing design-driven transformation and innovation across Arizona State University
The University Design Institute (UDI) at Arizona State University has appointed Dena Messer-Herrera as its new Director of Enterprise Design, a role central to advancing institutional innovation and design across ASU.
Dena brings a strong record of leadership, collaboration, and systems-level thinking to UDI, with experience spanning educator professional development, higher education administration and organizational development. Her work reflects a deep commitment to designing solutions that improve outcomes for learners, institutions, and communities.
In her new role, Dena will lead UDI’s Enterprise Design practice, partnering with ASU leaders, faculty, and staff to co-design and implement initiatives of strategic importance. Through UDI’s design-driven approach, she will help shape new models, structures, and programs that advance ASU’s mission as a leading public research university.
Dena’s ability to bring people together around complex challenges and translate ideas into action makes her an exceptional fit for this role. Her leadership will further strengthen our capacity to support ASU on its trajectory of innovation well into the future.
Minu IpeUniversity Design Institute Vice Chair & Managing Director
UDI’s Enterprise Design work has supported more than 70+ initiatives across the university, including the creation of new schools, interdisciplinary programs, and institution-wide strategies. These efforts contribute to ASU’s continued evolution as a model for innovation, access, and impact at scale. This work is complemented by UDI’s leadership programs — including ASU Leadership Academy, Advanced Leadership Initiative, and Launching Leaders Program — which build the capacity of faculty and staff to lead and sustain transformational change across the university.
“I’m excited to join the University Design Institute at such a pivotal moment,” said Dena. “Enterprise Design is an opportunity to reimagine how we work, how we partner, and how we create impact at scale. When we bring people together with intention, grounded in trust, curiosity, and shared purpose, we can move beyond incremental change and design what’s truly possible. I’m energized to partner with colleagues across ASU to shape bold, meaningful, and lasting change for our students, our communities, and the future of higher education.”
Read more about Messer-Herrera below. The interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: What drew you to the role at UDI, and how does it connect to your previous work?
A: What drew me to this role was the opportunity to operate at the intersection of strategy, people, and systems, where design isn’t just about solutions, but about shaping how an institution evolves. In my previous work leading leadership and professional development, I focused heavily on building trust, psychological safety, and human-centered capabilities at scale. This role feels like a natural extension of that work. Enterprise Design allows me to apply those same principles, deep listening, co-creation, and intentional culture-building, to broader institutional opportunities. It’s a shift from developing leaders within systems to helping design the systems themselves.
Q. Enterprise Design at ASU is highly collaborative—how do you approach bringing diverse stakeholders together to co-create solutions?
A: I start with the belief that people closest to the work hold essential insight, and that trust is the foundation for meaningful collaboration. Practically, that means creating spaces where stakeholders feel safe to speak candidly, where different perspectives are not just welcomed but expected, and where we stay focused on opportunities rather than positions or hierarchy. I rely heavily on open-ended questions, shared language, and clear facilitation structures to help groups move from ambiguity to alignment. Co-creation works best when people feel heard, when there’s clarity of purpose, and when we collectively hold ownership of the outcome.
Q: From your perspective, what makes ASU a unique environment for design-driven innovation in higher education?
A: ASU has a rare combination of scale, ambition, and willingness to challenge traditional models. There’s an institutional mindset that innovation isn’t a side initiative; it's core to the mission. What makes it especially powerful for design-driven work is the openness to experimentation and the emphasis on access and impact. Design at ASU isn’t theoretical; it’s applied in ways that directly affect students, communities, and global partners. That creates a unique environment where ideas can move quickly from concept to implementation, and where design can truly shape outcomes at scale.
Q. Can you share an example from your experience where design thinking led to meaningful institutional change?
A: One example that stands out is the development of leadership programming that moved beyond traditional training into more experiential, human-centered learning. Instead of starting with content, we began with the lived experiences of our managers: the challenges they faced, where trust was breaking down, and the skills they needed to lead effectively in a complex environment. Through iterative design, feedback loops, and close partnership with stakeholders, we built programs that emphasized psychological safety, communication, and accountability. The result wasn’t just higher engagement in training; it was a shift in how leaders approached their teams, marked by greater openness, clarity, and trust.
Q: What opportunities do you see for Enterprise Design to further strengthen ASU’s impact for students, communities, and partners?
A: One opportunity is to design more seamless, connected experiences across the institution. Our partners don’t experience ASU in silos; they experience it as a whole system. Enterprise Design can help bridge those gaps by aligning people, processes, and technology around shared outcomes. There’s also an opportunity to elevate how we engage external partners and communities as co-designers. By doing that, we can ensure that what we build is not only innovative but also relevant, equitable, and sustainable.
Q: Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of higher education—and the role design can play in shaping it?
A: What excites me most is the growing recognition that human skills, like empathy, communication, adaptability, and critical thinking, are just as important as technical expertise. As AI and technology continue to evolve, higher education has an opportunity to redefine what it means to prepare people for the future. Design plays a critical role in that transformation. It helps us reimagine learning experiences, rethink systems that no longer serve us, and build environments where people can thrive. At its core, design is about intentionality, about choosing to create systems that are more inclusive, more responsive, and more human. That’s the future I’m excited to be part of shaping.