Meet Ekene Ijeoma, the designer humanizing data for a more compassionate societyAs an artist and des

Meet Ekene Ijeoma, the designer humanizing data for a more compassionate society

As an artist and designer, Ijeoma is a unicorn—a sought-after rarity, utilizing a multitude of mediums, like interactive media and installations, and tools, like code and data, with ease. He is careful to note though that these decisions are always made depending on what best serves the concept. And while Ijeoma has worked on commercial projects, his talents and passions converge in his socially conscious work. One piece, The Refugee Project, is a collaboration with design studioHyperakt that aims to increase awareness of the ongoing refugee crisis. He shows me a now-famous photo of a Turkish police officer carrying a drowned Syrian refugee boy from the beach—a heart-wrenching image that drew international ire. “I was thinking about how much empathy this image created for the issue. How could data visualization do the same thing?”

As a GOOD 100 honoree, he’s one of 100 people featured in our latest issue who are tackling global issues in innovative ways.