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Deborah Szebeko
Strategic Designer, Social Entrepreneur & Wellbeing Practitioner
Change doesn't start in systems; it starts with the people inside them. That's who I co-design with to create services, ventures and experiences that transform health and wellbeing, for individuals, communities and the planet.
I'm the founder of thinkpublic, the UK's first social design agency, which I started in 2004 after volunteering at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, where I saw how design could transform the experience of patients and the people who care for them. Over two decades, thinkpublic has pioneered co-design and service design across the public and third sectors, working with the NHS, the Cabinet Office, Alzheimer's Society and Sport England, among others, helping organisations navigate complex social challenges by putting lived experience at the heart of every solution.
That work has taken me across sectors and around the world. I've led service design at Philips across EMEA and was Innovation Director at DigitasLBi's Digital Innovation Group, AstraZeneca's service innovation lab, designing global digital health services at scale. Along the way, I won the British Council's UK Young Design Entrepreneur Award, was named in The Observer's Future 500, wrote for academic and service design publications, and championed an idea that has since gone global: services work best when they're co-designed with people, not for them.
The longer I worked in health, the more clearly I saw how deep that goes. Change starts in how we live and rest, how we listen and stay present, and how we relate to ourselves, each other and the natural world. I'm a trained sound meditation practitioner, ceremony facilitator, and shamanic drum and forest-bathing guide. In 2018 I founded The Chiltern Sound Spa, which creates nature-inspired wellbeing experiences that nurture creativity and calm, and in 2020 launched Sound Asleep Club, a social enterprise helping people unwind their minds before bed. I care deeply about making these practices accessible, and have brought them into communities, the NHS, universities and boardrooms.
The question driving my personal creative exploration now is how we design with nature, not just for it, drawing on the web of life and the wisdom of our ancestors to explore different possibilities and understand complexity in new ways. In 2023 I created Design With Gaia, a not-for-profit collective exploring these ideas through creative tools and immersive experiences. I also work with leaders, bringing nature-inspired practice into how they think, create and show up to lead.
Whether I'm co-designing a healthcare service or holding a sound meditation under the trees, the essence is the same: helping people slow down, listen deeply, connect meaningfully and imagine better together.
If you're reimagining a service, growing an idea, or exploring how to lead differently, I'd love to hear from you.
Contact Me
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