Emma Koramshahi '16 is a Principal Design Strategist at Fidelity, where she uses design to turn human insight into systems and financial products that help people make safer, more informed decisions with their money. Her work sits at the intersection of research, design, and business strategy, and often focuses on deeply emotional topics like money, family, and the future. "My job is to be a conduit for human stories," she says, "and translate them into systems and financial products that make sense for real people."
Koramshahi traces much of how she works today back to her time rowing on Wesleyan Women's Crew. "Of course I love to beat the other boat," she says, "but with rowing, you're also racing yourself. You're always chasing a personal best, hitting a split, staying composed for one more stroke, and finding another gear when you think you're empty." Over time, she learned how to stay disciplined through tiny gains and trust that small, consistent improvements add up. The team culture that grows out of that mindset is powerful: each person competes with themself in order to make the boat faster, together.
At Wesleyan, Koramshahi studied Italian Studies and Film, a combination that shaped how she understands people. "Italian taught me how cultural and linguistic context shapes the way people think and communicate," she explains. "Film taught me how to notice what's said, what's unsaid, and how emotion and narrative shape behavior." Today, that training shows up as deep listening and pattern-finding in her work as a design strategist. "Human-centered design is about understanding what people think, feel, say, and do, even when those things don't line up," she says. "Those contradictions are often where the most interesting opportunities for design live."
That sensitivity to context deepened when she studied abroad in Bologna. Living in another culture made her aware of how easy it is to project assumptions, and how rich the world becomes when you approach people with curiosity instead of judgment. That lesson carries directly into her work today, where some of her research involves interviewing people about their money. "Sometimes these interviews are inside strangers' homes, sitting on their couches, asking them to share stories that are personal," she says. "Talking about money is taboo in American culture. Creating a space of trust requires real empathy, careful listening, and respect for how each person understands their own world."
Koramshahi also learned leadership through behind-the-scenes roles where progress depends less on authority and more on coordination and care. At Wesleyan, she was a producer on the student thesis film Juniper, working with essentially no budget, relying on relationships and problem-solving to make the project possible. She secured a hospital room for a scene by contacting a doctor who stored her single scull at the Wesleyan boathouse and leaned on her rowing network for locations and support. "Leadership wasn't about directing people," she says. "It was about connecting them and honoring everyone's contributions."
She carried that same mindset into her role as a course assistant in the Italian department, where she ran conversation hours for beginning students. The core of that work was creating a space where people felt comfortable being imperfect. "Learning a language is vulnerable," she explains. "It demands making mistakes, awkwardness, and trying to express ideas before you fully have the words." When that process is met with patience, humor, and curiosity, people are far more willing to participate and grow.
After Wesleyan, Koramshahi worked as an associate producer in documentary film. The work involved navigating real constraints like tight budgets, legal negotiations, and historical assets, often cold-calling private archives and negotiating usage rights, sometimes in Italian. "Constraints aren't something to work around or avoid," she says. "They provide shape and help clarify what actually matters in a creative pursuit."
Wanting stronger tools, Koramshahi pursued the dual-degree MA and MBA in Design Leadership program at Johns Hopkins Carey and MICA. The program helped her bridge intuition and structure, connecting creative work to strategy, impact, and real-world viability.
During graduate school, she co-created Convo, a tool focused on compassionate communication in virtual work, which received recognition and funding through the MICA Up/Start pitch competition. The driving insight emerged in 2020, when classes moved online and Koramshahi noticed how easily a few voices could dominate Zoom discussions. An intercultural communication lens prompted her to think more deeply about power, participation, and inclusion in group settings. "Being a student-athlete shaped how I take up space, when I step forward, when I listen, and how the space I take up can either support or crowd out others," she says. That awareness directly informed how her team imagined their venture.
At Fidelity, Koramshahi works on complex, enterprise-wide initiatives. With a new project, she starts with what she calls "research amnesty," an audit of what's already been learned, both internally and across the industry. "It helps us avoid retreading old ground and respect the work that's come before," she explains. From there, her team leans into both quantitative and qualitative research including interviews, surveys, rapid ideation, and constant testing to let real people guide what stays and what goes. The process de-risks recommendations before anything gets built, while close partnership with stakeholders ensures design, business priorities, and user needs stay aligned.
Koramshahi approaches teamwork today much like she did rowing at Wesleyan. "I always tried to be coachable, and I hope Coach Pat would agree!" she says. That mindset shapes how she works now: using feedback as fuel, keeping momentum through change, and helping teams stay connected to what they're building together.
When she talks to current Wesleyan student-athletes interested in storytelling, design, or strategy, her advice is simple, "Lean on your network early and often. Wesleyan people are everywhere, and athletes recognize other athletes because they share a shorthand around work ethic, resilience, and teamwork. Follow genuine curiosity, reach out, and show gratitude generously."
She closes with thanks—to her teammates across every year and iteration of the crew team, and to Coach Pat. Those experiences, she says, continue to inform how she thinks about commitment, resilience, and collective effort in everything and everyone she shows up for.
