Q&A with Genevieve Resnick, strategy and operations manager

DG+Design is excited to welcome Genevieve Resnick aboard as our strategy and operations manager. Genevieve will focus primarily on improving internal operations and efficiency to ensure that DG+ provides high-quality work to all clients. Genevieve currently lives in the Bay Area.

Tell me a bit about yourself. 

I'm from the Boston area. I lived in Louisiana before coming to California, where I've been for about eight years. I earned my bachelor’s degree in environmental biology, but then I felt like businesses in the private sector needed to do a lot more work on the climate. That's ultimately where my career has taken me. I just got my MBA in sustainable solutions, which was fascinating.

Where did your interest in the environment come from?

I've been a climate advocate since my mom explained the holes in the ozone layer to me. It was this super transformative moment in my young life, and I think I've always really had that throughline to the planet. I realized then that what we do has such an impact on the planet. It felt like a big problem, and especially at that time, we didn't understand what the solution could ever be.

Secondly… this one's crazy. I love animals. As a kid, I bought a goldfish, which I then developed an obsession with. I had three fish tanks in my bedroom. People were calling me, asking, "My fish is showing me this symptom. What should I do?" I was treating my tanks with antibiotics. I was super into goldfish and marine biology, so I worked at the New England Aquarium in Boston as a scuba diver. They were in a big period of transition and needed to establish a lot of new processes and procedures, so it was super fun to play a pivotal role in their history. In college, I studied biology and got into energy, and then energy efficiency — the less sexy sister to renewable energy — which I'm a big proponent of.

Why did you choose to work at DG+?

I love writing and communications. I think especially in advocacy-based work, the way that we frame messages and say things is such a powerful tool to drive change. I don't think I could be a marketer, and I have no design aesthetic. But this role is a great way for me to still support marketing, communications, and design efforts with the skill sets that I feel are a bit stronger on my end. And, obviously, the DG+ mission is really important.

What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?

This is a two-part answer. If it's a single day, I am hanging out in the morning with a huge cup of coffee and my dogs and my fiancé. I’m most likely going for a run or a hike in the afternoon. My close friends and I often have “family dinners” with all of us together, so if it's a Sunday, I’m probably  going to a family dinner. If it's a bit more of a long weekend or a trip, we’re probably going camping or backpacking and jumping in an alpine lake because I love swimming.

What’s a fun fact about you that most people wouldn’t expect to be true? 

If I had the right skill sets, my dream career would be “international pop star.” I'm talking like Sabrina Carpenter, Dua Lipa, Mariah Carey. I want to sing, I want to dance, and I wish that I could be the Super Bowl halftime show. In the past two years, I've really channeled it. I have a wig, a microphone, and an alter ego. And when she comes out, she comes out. 

What’s something you’re passionate about outside of work?

I would say gender equity, primarily through the lens of reproductive justice. That extends into motherhood. I think that we should always have the ability to make decisions about whether or not motherhood is for us or if it is not. And I think both sides lack the right resources, be it access to abortion care or affordable daycare services. Obviously, our nation tends to restrict reproductive freedoms. I also think that for women who choose to have children, we see a lot of double standards that impact our education opportunities, career growth, and salaries. That is something I pay a lot of attention to outside of work — being a general advocate for what I consider to be everybody’s problem, but women’s issues.

What person, dead or alive, do you most look up to? 

I love Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Not only did she do a lot of great work to advance women's rights in our country, but strategically she was very smart and deliberate in her approach to those issues because she brought gender equity first on behalf of men.

Right now, Kamala Harris is top of mind. To be the person to stand up to such a bully and subject yourself to everything that comes with that — I mean, a lot of abuse and online hate, and also losing — makes me think, “Wow, you must be a really powerful and strong person.”