Board of Directors

Biography

Born and raised in Tijuana, B.C., she is bilingual and bicultural. She has 15+ years experience as Binational Affairs Advisor & Community Engagement; and 35+ years experience in Project Management, Design and Strategic Communication.

She is a member of the WildCoast Board of Directors; Balboa Park Cultural Partnership Board of Advisors; Tijuana Design Week Board of Advisors and San Diego Design Trek Co-Driver.

Her work experience includes: Binational Affairs Advisor for the Secretaría de Cultura, City of Tijuana; Chief Intl Affairs Officer for World Design Capital 2024; Project Manager at AIGA SDTJ; Designer in Residence at UCSD Design Lab; Co-Chair of the WDC2024 Site Visit Experience Committee and Bid Team Lead for the Tijuana Design Community; Director of Binational Affairs, Leadership Program and Volunteer Program for Tijuana Innovadora; Creative Director and Project Manager at Eikons Design and Communication, and member of the Graphic Design Department Faculty at Universidad Iberoamericana, Tijuana.

Biography

In addition to serving AIGA SDTJ as the Vice President of Education, Avery Caldwell is a Professor of Integrated Design at San Diego State University (SDSU) and a design practitioner whose work spans experiential design, UX/UI, web design, interactive media, print, and place-based visual communication. His practice focuses on the strategic role of placemaking within underserved communities, examining how visual information and the built environment shape identity, behavior, and public engagement. Drawing on interdisciplinary methods, he integrates cultural artifacts to strengthen connections across diverse communities and advance culturally informed design solutions. His creative portfolio includes digital media, mixed media, and installation work that proposes forward-looking spatial narratives. He brings advanced expertise in industry-standard digital tools—which he leverages to produce contemporary, cutting-edge design solutions.

Mr. Caldwell is the founder and principal of From Form 2 Morf (fF2M), a design firm that has delivered projects for clients including Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Disney, Columbia Records, and Discovery Channel Network. Drawing on more than 30 years of professional practice, he has produced work across a wide range of industries, including entertainment, hospitality, real estate, biotechnology, telecommunications, and food and beverage. His academic training includes a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Architecture degree from UCLA, undergraduate study at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, and doctoral studies at Claremont Graduate University.

Biography

Reyna is the Senior Creative Director for TSIA, a research and advisory firm for Fortune 100 tech companies, she has been in a creative leadership role for 10+ years. In this capacity, Reyna manages a creative team, overseeing event experiences and creative operations. Previously, Reyna was a Senior Graphic Designer at Nestle USA.

Fresh out of college, with $600 in her bank account, she drove her 2001 Burple VW Beetle (not quite blue, not quite purple) to Los Angeles, fulfilling her dream of becoming a ‘big city’ girl. The L.A. “hustle” 100% unlocked her creative grit that made her successful in her career.

Reyna has a world-class understanding of high-quality brand experiences, earned from her most recent role as Creative Director at TSIA. She deeply understands brand development and design strategy, earned from her time leading their brand marketing and event initiatives.

She has incredible leadership instincts, which she’s honed over many years of experience managing people who’d go on to become some of the strongest designers, and serving as an AIGA executive board member for San Diego/Tijuana design community events. Outside of the creative work, it’s the people she works with who inspire her the most.

Reyna is a San Diego native, where she lives and she enjoys “making all kinds of things” while soaking up the sunshine. She approaches her work and her life with joy, humility, and competence.

She is also the founder of The Queenly Kind, a guerrilla brand with the mission to inspire kindness toward others, through illustrations composed of clean, functional shapes, wrapped in bold colors.

Biography

Arturo Elenes is a graphic designer, entrepreneur, and advocate for design culture based in Tijuana. He co-founded Enigma Creative and Tijuana Design Week. He is part of the Executive Board of AIGA San Diego–Tijuana, where he serves as VP of Transborder Relations, strengthening creative collaboration across the U.S.–Mexico border. He is also a member of the World Design Organization and serves as an advisor for the Don Norman Design Awards, San Diego Design Week (SDDW), and World Design Capital 2024.

At his studio, Enigma Creative, he focuses on developing creative strategies that capture the essence of brands. His work in the Tijuana–San Diego cross-border region allows him to understand and connect the creative realities on both sides of the border. For Arturo, promoting the design of the Tijuana–San Diego region and creating international opportunities for local talent is essential.

Biography

Máximo Escobedo is a designer, creative director, and educator whose career spans corporate, institutional, independent, and civic practice. He is the principal of Maximo Creative Communications and an Associate Professor of Media Arts + Technologies at MiraCosta College.

Máximo serves as Vice President of Special Projects for AIGA San Diego Tijuana (2026–2027), leading strategic partnerships, civic activations, and legacy initiatives — including the chapter’s continued stewardship of World Design Capital San Diego Tijuana 2024, for which he created the official branding. He previously served as VP of Cross-Border Relations, where he founded the Contact/o series to build dialogue and collaboration with the creative community in México.

His current work includes Plaza Central, a large-scale environmental graphics and branding program at San Diego Civic Center, developed through the city’s Civic Center Revitalization initiative. Previously, he served as Art Director at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, leading the creative team behind the award-winning magazine InsideSalk.

A graduate of Art Center College of Design, Máximo grew up in both Tijuana and San Diego. He is a founding alumnus and longtime design consultant for AVID, the internationally recognized education program.

Biography

Andrew Bergeron is a creative leader, designer, speaker, mentor, and an unrelenting advocate for accessible design.

Since 2015, Andrew has led design teams to modernize government services across a broad range of institutions including: the US Department of Veterans Affairs, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters, among others.

Currently, Andrew is a Senior User Experience Designer at Coforma – a digital services agency committed to building technology products that improve peoples lives.

Andrew serves as the Fundraising Director for AIGA San Diego–Tijuana. He is committed to expanding the chapter’s outreach, building upon its legacy, and supporting the vibrant San Diego-Tijuana design community.

Biography

Catherine Eng is a designer and technology strategist specializing in scientific communication, data visualization, and advanced interactive media. An alumna of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, she has led award-winning projects in XR, AI, and education, with six iOS applications featured in Apple’s Top Apps lists, including App of the Day, and more than 3 million cumulative downloads. She is Co-Founder and CTO of OurWorlds, a Native-led education technology company, and a co-inventor on U.S. Patent 12/394,161 for the Extended Reality XR360º System and Tool Suite. The company has won awards and recognition from SXSW, Instructure, and ASU+GSV, and is currently piloting standards-aligned immersive high school curriculum nationwide, with a contract to deliver curriculum across New Mexico in Q3 2026.

Catherine has collaborated extensively with leaders at UC San Diego Health Sciences, including the Moores Cancer Center and the UC San Diego School of Medicine, translating complex biomedical research into accessible, high-impact digital narratives for scientific, clinical, and public audiences. Her collaborations with Dr. Scott Lippman have supported research initiatives in cancer risk and early detection, including work on 9p21 loss and precision oncology. Her partnership with Dr. Quyen T. Nguyen contributed to the commercialization of a biofluorescent compound used to guide surgeons intraoperatively. These efforts helped catalyze industry-leading biotech ventures, including Acurion, Inc. and Alume Biosciences, where she continues to serve in advisory capacities.

Her broader work in education and immersive media has been recognized by SXSW EDU, ASU+GSV, the Getty Foundation, World Design Capital 2024, and the Qualcomm Institute, and featured in Wired, The New York Times, TechCrunch, San Diego Union Tribune, and PBS. She also serves as visiting faculty at UC San Diego, lecturing on speculative design and emerging technologies.

Biography

(Chepe) José Manuel Cruz Vázquez (Mexico City, 1973) is an Ensenada-raised, Tijuana-based graphic designer and educator with over 30 years of experience spanning branding, editorial design, digital media, and museum exhibitions. He holds a degree in Graphic Design from Universidad Iberoamericana Tijuana; his academic training includes studies at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, a Master’s in Web Creation from the Center for Innovation Studies (CEI) in València, Spain, and former student at Universitat Politècnica de València as part of the Design and Communication doctoral program.

Currently, Chepe serves as the Head of Product Design and Branding at Cardiff.co, leading UI strategy and digital product development for the financial services firm. Since 2016, he is also the Lead Graphic Design Consultant for the Exhibitions Department at Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT). In this role, he oversees the conceptualization, visual identity, and environmental graphics for galleries and art exhibitions.

Through his independent practice, Estudio_ChP+, he has collaborated with a prestigious binational clientele, including the San Diego Union-Tribune, LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions), Fellows of Contemporary Art, Discovery Kids Latin America, Fundación Televisa, and MUAC (Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo), among others. He also served as Lead Designer for the binational contemporary art event inSite_05.

Beyond his design work, he has significant experience in academia, having served as a professor for undergraduate and master’s programs at UABC and Universidad Iberoamericana Tijuana. His creative reach extends to the arts, exemplified by his solo exhibition NADA hosted at CECUT in 2018.

Biography

Diana Robinson is the founder and director of Robinson Design, a boutique design and marketing studio established in 1998. Born and educated in Mexico City, she brings a binational perspective to her work, while her practice is rooted in Baja California. With more than 25 years of experience, she specializes in building design-driven strategies that shape how organizations define, align, and express their brands, serving clients in industries such as wine, food, fisheries, manufacturing, health, and energy in Mexico and internationally.

Alongside her professional practice, Diana is an Associate Professor at CETYS University and leads the Center of Excellence in Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship. She holds a PhD in Administrative Sciences and collaborates with academia, the third sector, public institutions, and the private sector, including international initiatives with the UC San Diego Design Lab. Her added value lies in bridging design, business strategy, and research to deliver human-centered, results-driven solutions.

Biography

Halle Kho is a design leader, creative director, and writer with a career spanning enterprise product design, brand systems, and cultural storytelling. She currently serves as Vice President of Cross-Support at SAP, where she leads global teams responsible for design systems, education, and brand expression—working at the intersection of design, technology, and organizational change.

Previously, Halle was an Executive Creative Director and Head of Design at frog, where she partnered with global brands to shape future-facing experiences across digital products, platforms, and services. Her work has consistently focused on building scalable systems—design systems, operating models, and learning frameworks—while keeping craft, humanity, and narrative at the center.

Alongside her corporate leadership, Halle maintains an active creative practice as a writer and artist. She holds a fine art background, with work exhibited at institutions including MoMA and Cooper Hewitt, and is currently deepening her writing practice through long-form fiction and essays exploring power, identity, place, and resilience.

Halle serves the AIGA San Diego–Tijuana community as Membership Director, where she is committed to building inclusive, cross-border creative networks, supporting designers at every career stage, and strengthening community through design.

Biography

Tavin is an user experience designer with a decade of experience driving social impact through design. Currently he is a product designer at Allocate, where he designs software interfaces for private market investing. Prior to Allocate, Tavin worked at Vidaloop where he designed a mobile voting platform to increase voting access. Prior to Vidaloop, Tavin co-founded BoltAbout, an electric bicycle startup that spared the environment of 1MM pounds of carbon emissions through its electric bike subscription program. When not designing, Tavin loves playing tennis at Balboa Tennis Club and hiking around San Diego.

Biography

I’ve been designing for as long as I can remember and have worked professionally as a graphic designer for more than 25 years. I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and have experience in both agency and in-house environments.

Throughout my career, I’ve collaborated with national brands including Disneyland.com, Sony,LG, and the San Diego Chargers, as well as many smaller organizations and growing businesses. Today, I run my own branding studio, Double Story. I view graphic design and branding as a form of storytelling. It begins with a name and a logo—the first impression—but extends across every touchpoint, from print and packaging to digital and motion. Each piece contributes to a larger narrative that shapes how a company is understood and experienced. My work focuses on creating thoughtful, cohesive visual systems that communicate clearly and support long-term growth.