TORONTO, CANADA // Mo is currently the Executive Director of Design at johnst., where she has spent the last four years building the design offering from the ground up; by building an award-winning portfolio and leading a diverse team of multidisciplinary design thinkers. Born and raised in the Philippines, and growing up in Toronto, she brings a diverse point of view that mixes her passion for design, creativity and business strategy to Canadian design.

With over a decade of experience, she’s always believed that Design needs to go beyond the aesthetic – Design has the ability to not only create short-term interest and inspiration, it has the power to build brands and their systems for the long-term; brands that build true and meaningful experiences for their audiences.

Throughout her career, Mo has helped transformed some of Canada’s most iconic brands from the ground up: Bell, Home Hardware, Sleep Country, Winners, Shoppers, President’s Choice, Tangerine and Koodo to name a few. She has also helped transformed global brands like Coca-Cola, Corona, Audi, Subaru, Mitsubishi and helped them become relevant brands to Canadians.

She is a relentless optimist; be kind, do good work, have fun, travel often, and eat more fries.

On the side, she’s passionate about typography, mental health awareness, and all things art and design. She is a Design Instructor at Miami Ad School Toronto and part of The Sad Collective, a social platform that advocates for mental health awareness.

Her work has been awarded and recognized internationally by D&AD, How Design Awards, Cannes Lions, Luerzer’s Archive, Communication Arts, The Advertising & Design Club of Canada, Applied Arts, Marketing Magazine, among others.

She has been invited to judge at many of Canada’s prominent awards shows that include Cannes Young Lions, Applied Arts Design Awards, Canadian Marketing Awards and Registered Graphic Designers of Canada Awards to name a few. She actively participates in the industry as a portfolio reviewer, speaker and mentor. Most recently she was invited by the Government of Canada and the Asia Pacific Foundation to speak in Manila at 2018 APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership in Manila about the importance of building relevant brands.