Leen Sadder

I'm a creative director, experiential designer and community builder.

I turn wild ideas into real-life moments people can’t stop talking about.

In my 15-year career as a designer and founder, I’ve circled around the same question over and over again: How do we design brands, products, experiences and communities that people actually want to belong to?

In response to this life-long pursuit, I've built creative teams, launched founder-led initiatives from the ground up, and designed experiences that turn strangers into connected communities. There’s one thing I’m sure of, now more than ever: the most valuable thing we can design for in an increasingly digital world is real human connection.

 

Almost everything I do revolves around 3 things:

… cracking the age-old community question.

I’m a community nerd who loves to bring people together in unique ways, both in my personal and professional life.

  • Built the Dubai hub of ATÖLYE, a community-powered design & innovation consultancy from the ground up — first hire, everything from the space and team to the culture, programming and community

  • Co-authored the Community Playbook, a framework for building healthy creative communities.

  • Helped grow afikra into a global organisation across 30 chapters, creating space for curiosity around Arab history and culture

  • Advised the founders of Mauj (the first Arab sexual wellness brand for women) on building a community of 130,000 women in a region where the topic is still taboo

… turning ideas into lived experiences people can’t stop talking about.

I've designed and produced more than a hundred experiences over the years, from intimate dinners to corporate gatherings. That work now lives under my own boutique experiential agency House of Madder.

  • Partnered with Today at Apple to curate a program for International Women’s Month in Dubai.

  • Launched Mad About ., an immersive dinner series that turns a single theme into a multi-sensory experience

  • Hosted the Ugliest Dinner Party in the World for 50 members of the House of Beautiful Business in Athens

  • Curated and produced The Re:turn, a week-long climate × creativity pop-up at Dubai Design Week

  • Facilitated high-profile gatherings at global events such as COP28 and the World Government Summit.



… building design-led brands and businesses that stick.

I trained as a designer and started my career in brand and product. Since then I've built brands and businesses of my own and shaped them for others, moving between strategy, identity and product.

  • Built an award-winning e-commerce business called THIS Toothbrush that modernised the miswak, an ancient natural toothbrush

  • Led people & comms teams at Pixaera, a VC-backed startup using AI and VR to prevent frontline worker deaths in high-risk industries.

  • Built the strategy and identity behind F&B brands like Manousheh in New York

  • Designed digital products for clients like Comcast at Huge


SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

• CMX Summit, San Francisco
• Innovation Garden, Tokyo
• Index Design, Riyadh
• C2, Montreal (virtual)
• Goodness Podcast (virtual)
• Dubai Design Week, Dubai
• Step Conference, Dubai
• Saudi Design Week, Riyadh
• Tasmeem, Doha
• ING Creative Festival, Dubai
• Nuqat, Kuwait
• Ladies Dine & Design, Dubai
• Startup Weekend, Dubai
• Pecha Kucha, Dubai
• Mind Your Btalk, Dubai
• Afikra, Dubai

AWARDS, PUBLICATIONS & PRESS:

 The Goodness Podcast
• 
The Dieline Packaging Awards
• 
Dezeen
• 
The National
• 
Gizmodo
Al Arabiya
Core77
Wamda
• 
Becoming A Design Entrepreneur (Heller & Talarico)
Stop, Go, Do (Mirko Ilic)
Executive Magazine
Design, Work, Life

Connect with me via email, instagram or Linkedin