Rachael Dietkus is a designer, licensed clinical social worker, and certified trauma professional dedicated to trauma-responsive practices in design. She is the founder and principal social worker-design of Social Workers Who Design and works with design teams worldwide.

After a 10-year career working with social justice and human rights non-profits, she earned her MSW in 2010. Rachael worked at Veterans Affairs for nearly seven years, followed by several years in higher education. She has served as an AmeriCorps member, an NGO delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Council. She is currently a Governor-appointed statewide Commissioner with the Serve Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service.

In 2022, Rachael will be finishing her MFA in Design for Responsible Innovation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on how and why trauma-responsive methods are relevant and needed in design research and practice.