Elliot Felix

Elliot Felix is an author, speaker, teacher, father, and consultant to more than a hundred colleges and universities. He uses his background in design to make college work for all students by improving the spaces they learn and live in, the support services they rely on, and the technology they use.

Over the last 20 years, he has spoken at SxSW Edu, taught courses on innovation, and worked with top universities like Carnegie Mellon, MIT, NYU, NC State, and the University of Virginia. brightspot strategy, the education consulting company he founded in 2011, has improved the experience of more than 1,000,000 students and was acquired by Buro Happold in 2020. You can find his work in Fast Company, Forbes, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. His book, "How to Get the Most Out of College" was published in January 2022.

Elliot received his bachelor’s degree from the University Virginia and a master’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Board of Trustees at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) and serves on the advisory board of the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife Liz, their son Theo, and their daughter Nora.

As a consultant and advisor, Elliot has worked with more than a hundred colleges and universities to attract and retain students by improving their spaces, student services, and technology. In 2011, he founded brightspot Strategy and since then, his team has analyzed and improved the student experience, redesigned student support services, helped business and engineering schools grow, and reimagined libraries – and much more.

As a teacher, Elliot connects classes with careers. He has had the opportunity to be a guest lecturer in dozens of classes and to teach courses on innovation in the design and business program at Parsons. His focus is on helping students imagine what their future could be like by working on fulfilling projects and sharing my experiences as a consultant along the way.

As a father, Elliot is always helping Nora and Theo learn and is learning more from them about himself and what the future of education ought to be. Watching his kids learn and explore, fostering their curiosity and creativity, and making things together are the highlights of any day – and where Elliot thinks education should focus so that we are not training students to be machines but rather building the skills to succeed in the face of AI and automation.

As an author and speaker, Elliot provides insights about the college experience and he shares stories and stats about the future of education. Whether giving a talk, creating a tool, or writing a whitepaper, his goal is always to help students better find their place, people, purpose, and path – and do it in a way that levels the playing field so colleges and universities work for all students.