01 ART WITH PURPOSE.
While I’m a strategist by training, I’ve always been a builder and creator at heart. The same instincts that drive me to design systems and organizations — curiosity, precision, and a deep focus on human experience — also guide my artistic practice.
Through Alia Follett Studio (@aliafollettstudio), I lead a range of projects that explore how creativity can illuminate connection, strengthen belonging, and turn awareness into impact. My art studio has evolved into a global collective of artists, designers, and innovators who view creativity not only as expression — but as a catalyst for social progress.
From large-scale murals to wearable art, each project is built with intention: to make complexity tangible and bring people closer through shared experience. Between 2019 and 2024, 100% of Alia Follett Studio proceeds supported the American Cancer Society’s ResearcHERS program, funding oncology research led by women and underrepresented scientists. Today, my creative work continues to intersect with purpose — whether transforming corporate spaces to foster connection, supporting medical research, or using design to mobilize community engagement.
At Google, I help teams design AI-driven systems that feel more intuitive, connected, and human. Through my art, I explore those same principles on a different canvas — how technology and creativity together can inspire belonging and spark change. Different missions, same foundation: the most transformative breakthroughs begin with listening — to people’s stories, to their needs, to what makes them human.
02 INTERNATIONAL & GLOBAL HEALTH.
Over the years, my career has taken me across more than 30 countries — including India, Israel, France, Morocco, Japan, Spain, Austria, the United Arab Emirates, Cuba, Germany, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Turkey, Thailand, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and more — in roles that span corporate innovation, public health, and community leadership.
For the past five years, I’ve served on the American Cancer Society’s National Peer Review Committee, evaluating oncology research at the intersection of biology, data science, and clinical innovation. The committee’s impact is profound: $37 billion in funded research, 1.2 million applications reviewed, and 250+ funding partners. Behind every statistic is a researcher relentlessly pushing the future of cancer care forward — work I’m proud to champion in any way I can.
Through BrightEdge Ventures, I help accelerate and fund oncology-focused startups, and as a US Legislative Ambassador for ACS CAN, I’ve contributed to national policy efforts that expand research funding and patient access — advocating every other year in the California State Capitol (Sacramento) and Washington, D.C.
While cancer research has been a central focus, I’ve also volunteered in a range of health and technology–driven initiatives — including four summers living and working at Sundari Mohan Hospital in Northeast India, assisting in surgeries and modernizing care delivery across rural regions. I also supported cataract eye camps with the Northeast India Academy for the Blind and the Cachar Cancer Sector — experiences that grounded my understanding of what access, equity, and innovation truly mean in practice.
Across disciplines, I’ve learned that the most meaningful advances don’t happen in isolation — they emerge where science, technology, and human experience meet.
03 COMMUNITY & COLLABORATION.
My broader work centers on how communities can design solutions together — uniting creativity, technology, and civic action to address shared challenges. Select initiatives include:
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Hurley Global H₂O Collaboration: Co-founded and funded a clean water initiative that delivered filtration systems to villages and schools across Northeast India and the Bangladesh border — empowering local stewards to sustain long-term operations.
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Let Girls Learn: Hosted regional events to advance girls’ education and global economic empowerment.
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Special Olympics: Supported annual events for athletes with intellectual and physical disabilities, including programs in India at the DISHA rural school.
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Operation Valentine & Santa: Led student volunteer teams to create care packages for deployed military personnel and fulfill holiday letters from underprivileged children.
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Walk for Hope: Organized community groups to raise funds and awareness for women’s cancer research while championing health and movement.
Every project, mural, or policy effort I’ve led shares a single ambition: to bring people together — across disciplines, borders, and beliefs — to create something that leaves the world a little more humane than before.
