Agency
Pete and Lishan started Agency in 2016 after spending the good part of a decade at renowned design firm IDEO.
Agency was named after our intent; the empowerment we want our clients to feel and the impact we want our work to have.
Our Vision
Our Mission


What drives our work
Informed
Optimism
Leading with curiosity and possibility, but always grounded in human-centred truths gathered from rigorous research. It is easier to critique rather than explore the problem and advocate for what could be.
Bias Towards
Tangibility
As designers, we are obsessed with real world application, not the realm of theory. This gives us the confidence to embrace and navigate ambiguity.
Relentless
Collaboration
Innovation cannot be achieved in silos. We collaborate even when it is inconvenient or difficult in order to go further and faster to achieve the breakthroughs we seek.
Brave
Honesty
Great work requires honest feedback, but that is not always easy to do. We strive to always lean into difficult conversations with respect, candour and openness.
Healthy
Discontentment
We are guided by an unwavering conviction to do the right thing and to do it well. We are constantly challenging ourselves and rolling up our sleeves to iterate and improve.
Space
To Change
In order to grow, we need to intentionally design the space for perceived limits to expand, enabling the capacity for businesses to act.
Meet our team
We have assembled a team of individuals who are strategic generalists capable of problem-solving across a wide array of briefs, while being excellent in their core disciplines. This allows us to take design from conception to implementation. We intentionally design bespoke project teams that complement our client's existing team's strengths and needs.
Leadership Team






Together his expertise and interests culminate in his belief that in order to enable human-centered innovation, one must nurture the teams doing the innovating in the first place.


As AGENCY’s Business Director, Katherine advises our leadership team while finding balance between the needs of our people and the needs of our business. With over 15 years of experience in business operations, process management, and client relations, Katherine is focused on supporting the overall running and growth of AGENCY’s people and business. Outside of the office, this California native and ex-New Yorker is a full-time mother, a wannabe pro-wakeboarder, and an Italian-at-heart wine connoisseur and pasta maker.






sustaining the teams energy and morale, and redefines what the employer/employee relationship is all about. Bee Bee is responsible for the development and maintaining of the operational parts of AGENCY, she is passionate about how to create the best work environment and is empathic to the core. Bee Bee is genuinely excited to support client collaborations through a decade plus of experience in ops.
Our Agents








As a Business Design Lead, he draws the connections between business models, product outcomes, and human-centred design, enabling the team to create sustainable solutions. Guided by a “Deciding-Life-Priority Flow Chart", he makes time for baking, reading, or dabbling in a long list of transitory hobbies.












And it’s his passion for science fiction and anthropogenic futures that guides him. Darren believes that designers have the opportunity and skillset to build these potential possibilities for clients by tapping into their own experiences to communicate a story through the design. With the right process in place, he loves how something small can be designed into a bigger universe. Darren views design not as a means to an end, but the pathway to making a bigger impact. His heart also lies in printmaking, which he tinkers with in his spare time.







