Cat van der Werff | Source | Executive Creative Director at Canva

Cat van der Werff is the Executive Creative Director for Canva, an online visual communication and collaboration platform with a mission to empower the whole world to design. Since launching in 2013, Canva has grown to over 220 million users each month with more than 30 billion designs created. Individual creators, small businesses, teams and Fortune 500 companies are embracing the power of design, photos, collaboration features, videos and even sound to cut through the content noise and achieve their goals using Canva.

Cat joined Canva in 2018 as the company’s first brand designer. In the years since, Cat has built an in-house agency of more than 120 creatives and oversees a team of designers, producers, and brand managers. Focussed on building a globally loved brand, Cat has led inspiring campaigns like ‘What Will You Design Today?’, ‘Love Your Work’, and events like Canva Create, successfully driving awareness and growing affinity for Canva across audiences and geographies. Believing the power of design can transform lives, Cat has helped transform Canva into the global creative powerhouse that it is today.

In recent years, Cat and her team have brought in a range of accolades, including three Golds at Transform Awards, In-house Agency of the Year at IHAC Awards, and an ANA In-House Excellence Award in the Out of Home Category. Outside of her work at Canva, she’s an active public speaker and creativity-for-good advocate, being featured at events like Design Assembly’s Women in Design Day, IHAC’s Connect Summit, and many more.