Rubén Cantú, executive director of inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship, will give a talk titled “How Inclusivity Drives Innovation in Today’s Leading Companies” on Feb. 5, 12-1:30 p.m. at the Texas Union, Eastwoods Room. The event is part of the DDCE Lecture Series.

Event summary: True innovation is understanding your customer so well, you anticipate their desires before they do. We often fall in love with the products we create, without considering our true markets, especially overlooked populations in our communities. We’re human and have unconscious inherent bias. If we don’t’ address unconscious bias and check it, we will create a world that is truly not equitable.

In this talk, Cantú will talk about three key factors for becoming an inclusive, innovative designer.

1. How to assess your own biases and relationship to products, people, and paradigms
2. How innovation is truly a contact sport
3. How to invest in inclusivity within your daily routine and its after-effects

The event is free and open to the public. Lunch will be served.