Aviva Oskow (she/they) is a Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary design leader with a passion for social activism and a flair for "do-good" design.

Aviva brings 15+ years of experience, with 8+ in the civic technology space. Until the March 2025 “abolishing” of her office, Aviva was a Principal Product Designer at 18F, in the Technology Transformation Services at GSA, and was most recently partnered with the Department of State, leading a team of designers and developers working to improve Bureau of Consular Affairs services like passports, visas, and assistance to overseas citizens. Previously, Aviva led the product design for the launch of civilrights.justice.gov (The civil rights complaints portal for the U.S. Department of Justice), the redesign of ADA.gov (the Americans with Disabilities Act website), FOIA. gov (the Freedom of Information Act request portal), and the first iteration of the FBI's Crime Data Explorer. She speaks on empathy-centered civic design and design for social innovation at conferences and schools.

Her past roles include Senior Designer at BerlinRosen and Incitement Design, as well as freelance for many non-profits, activist organizations, and socially conscious start-ups.

Outside of her day job, she writes and performs original music as Aviva La Viv and is the co-founder and creative director of Tone Shift Collective, a music community that uplifts women and gender-expansive artists and producers.

Aviva holds a BFA in Communications Design from Syracuse University, and has completed courses in human centered design, service design, and sustainability design from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Breaker Project (in collaboration with the Stanford D. School), Cooper Design, as well as anti-racist equity design through Creative Reaction Lab.

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Original photo by Moriah Ziman

Testimonials

  • I had the privilege of working alongside Aviva in a major digital transformation effort at the U.S. Department of Justice. We worked together on projects like the Civil Rights Reporting Portal, the redevelopment of ADA.gov, digital properties related to combatting hate crimes, and more.

    Aviva’s ability to design for equity, accessibility, and clarity in deeply complex legal civic contexts is extraordinary. She approached each project with enthusiasm, curiosity, and humility, which is how she was so successful at making things happen in a large and complex ecosystem. The strength of her design and inquiry process is a huge part of why her efforts had so many cascading positive impacts. For example, with the Civil Rights Reporting Portal alone, she developed a new visual design system that was so thoughtfully constructed that it went on to became the foundation for the design of the entire agency website. Today, much of the visual and interaction design across justice.gov reflects the principles she put in place.

    If you're looking for a design leader who can navigate complexity, build with integrity, and leave a lasting institutional impact, Aviva is that person. I'm lucky to have worked with her and would happily look for any opportunity to do so again.

    Daniel Yi, Harvard Law - former Associate Deputy Attorney General, DOJ

  • Aviva is an incredible designer and passionate about mission-driven work. I was so lucky to work alongside her for ~2 years at 18F doing design, research, workshops, and presentations together. She makes thoughtful, research-driven, and compassionate products & services and she does so with the full input of the team. She’s a wonderful workshop organizer, speaker, and facilitator, making space for everyone to contribute and celebrating their work. Take every chance to work with Aviva that you can!