Kelly Walters is a designer, educator and founder of the multidisciplinary design studio Bright Polka Dot. In her ongoing design research, she interrogates the complexities of identity formation, systems of value, and shared vernacular in and around Black visual culture. She is the author of Black, Brown + Latinx Design Educators: Conversations on Design and Race (Princeton Architectural Press, 2021) and the Creative Director of The Black Experience in Design (Allworth Press/School of Visual Arts, 2022). In 2021, she was a recipient of a Graham Foundation Exhibition award in support of her curated exhibition "With a Cast of Colored Stars." Kelly is currently an Assistant Professor of Communication Design Design in Parsons School of Design at The New School in New York.