Nagela Dales (she/her), born and raised in Brooklyn, is the founder of OPENHOUSE. She wants to shape the future of business and research and make the ability to innovate more equitable and accessible. Her vision is a future where business transactions are more than financial exchanges but embody reciprocity, sustainability, and opportunities for solidarity. 

Nagela's work fuses research, business design, and strategy to serve as catalysts for imagination, innovation, and community building. She aims to provide a safe, nurturing space for founders and leaders to experiment with frameworks and business models that prioritize equity, joy, and liberation. She focuses especially on making the ability to fail more equitable for BIPOC visionaries. 

She has worked with clients from universities, non-profits, organized groups and large enterprises, led initiatives emphasizing ethical design practices, and transformed theoretical principles into practical applications. She firmly believes in the power of agency and self-determination as cornerstones of design inclusivity.

When she’s not working, you can find her enjoying all Brooklyn has to offer, from the Caribbean supermarket to a dine-in movie theater.