Justin Massa: Transforming Ideas into Action

NEWDAY SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES

Justin Massa is an innovator and entrepreneur with expertise in food, big data, housing, open gov data, and civil rights. His work centers on connecting industries, companies, and governments, which have historically lagged behind with the technologies and data they need to leap ahead. He is currently a Portfolio Director focused on the intersection of data and design at IDEO’s Chicago studio.Justin was previously the founder and President of Food Genius, a venture-backed big data and analytics company in the food industry whose customers include US Foods, McDonald’s, Safeway, Coca-Cola, and Kraft. Food Genius has been named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s “100 Brilliant Companies” list and was the recipient of a “Chicago Innovation “Up and Comer” Award” and a “Core77 Design Award.” Food Genius was acquired by US Foods (USFD) in March 2016.Justin is a widely respected expert on food trends and the intersection of food and technology. He has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, The Washington Post, and Inc., and has been a featured speaker at many food and entrepreneurship conferences. Early in his career, Justin was a radio DJ, a fair and affordable housing advocate, a kindergarten teacher, and an undercover civil rights researcher (although not all at the same time).

As the NewDay Speaker, Justin will host a public design thinking workshop in which participants will learn hands-on tips and tricks on how to generate creative ideas and bring those ideas to life through prototyping.

FREE and OPEN to the public.