Leala Abbott

Leala is a principal of strategy in Prophet’s New York office blending the rigor of business strategy with the creativity of design to help clients determine clear, actionable paths to innovation and growth.

Bold and pragmatic, she is also an advocate of lean experimentation. And she’s fond of quoting Simon Sinek throughout every project: “The only way to find out if it will work out is to do it.” She has 20 years of experience in digital, helping businesses develop a deep understanding of their industry and their customers to uncover barriers and trends to capture value.

Before joining Prophet, she was the director of experience strategy at Wunderman Thompson and held strategy positions at Huge Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of NY. Her clients have ranged from Comcast to The Simpsons. Leala won the Nielsen Norman award for her work with XL Groups Corporate Intranet and is a Webby award honoree for work on Think Insights for Google. She also teaches business strategy at Parsons School of Design.

A graduate of the City University of New York, she earned a Master of Information Science, Human Computer Interaction, from Rutgers University. She is an avid soccer player (and supporter of Arsenal FC), as well as a competitive indoor cyclist.
Bold and pragmatic, she is also an advocate of lean experimentation. And she’s fond of quoting Simon Sinek throughout every project: “The only way to find out if it will work out is to do it.” She has 20 years of experience in helping companies better serve their customers. That starts by first turning business questions into human questions, and then orchestrating all the components to ensure the right customer experience.

Before joining Prophet, she was the director of experience strategy at Wunderman Thompson and held strategy positions at Huge Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of NY. Her clients have ranged from Comcast to The Simpsons. Leala won the Nielsen Norman award for her work with XL Groups Corporate Intranet and is a Webby award honoree for work on Think Insights for Google. She also teaches business strategy at Parsons School of Design.

A graduate of the City University of New York, she earned a Master of Information Science, Human Computer Interaction, from Rutgers University. She is an avid soccer player (and supporter of Arsenal FC), as well as a competitive indoor cyclist.