About me
Hi there! I'm Cherrie (it's pronounced like cherry 🍒). My pronouns are she/her/她/他.
I'm currently the Design Lead at a Vancouver-based tech nonprofit called PeaceGeeks. There, I spend most of my time researching, strategizing, and collaborating with community members to build digital tools that help immigrants and refugees thrive in their new communities.
On the side, I advise companies on inclusive product design with Pause and Effect. I also co-organize the Vancouver node of the Design Justice Network and a community project called Shades of Sustainability. Shades of Sustainability brings together Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) to reclaim and share stories of sustainable practices rooted in our cultural and intergenerational traditions.
I'm self-taught in design and owe my practice to the guidance of mentors, elders, and colleagues to whom I am deeply indebted.
Honest, sustainable, and community-centered design are central to my practice. With a background in International Relations, I'm deeply fascinated by how social systems are designed and may be redesigned to realize more just and equitable futures. I see technology and design as inherently political. As our societies increasingly organize online, we're all responsible for demanding equitable and safe digital infrastructure that mediates our lives.
When I'm not designing, you'll find me practicing muay thai, slurping on soup noodles, reading, wandering in nature, exploring different neighbourhoods, and making things!
I'd love to learn more about you! Get in touch with me here.
Get to know me, in a few snapshots 👧🏻
If you're wondering about the tree logo... 🤔
林 is the Chinese character for "Lam," my last name, which means "forest" or "woods" in English. (Hover over the logo to see the Chinese character!)
Let's get together
Want to connect or collaborate? Say hello@cherrielam.com
My work takes place on the stolen, ancestral territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. I commit to deepening my understanding of these lands and its Indigenous peoples, unlearning practices that perpetuate oppression and erasure, and nourishing relations rooted in justice and liberation. Learn whose land you're on.