# Ellie Cunningham

> Ellie Cunningham is the CEO of Canoa, a Brooklyn-based design-technology company building a browser canvas that unifies mood boards, scaled floor plans, real product data and FF&E schedules for interior designers. A Pratt-trained interior designer who spent years running global design operations at WeWork, she stepped up from COO to chief executive in October 2024 and is steering Canoa toward a circular, low-carbon future for commercial furniture, where good pieces get reused instead of dumped.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at Canoa
- **Organizations:** Canoa, WeWork, HOK, Tihany Design, Pratt Institute
- **From:** New York, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** MS in Interior Design, Pratt Institute
- **Known for:** Built and led WeWork's Design & Development Operations group supporting a 2,000+ person department, Rose from COO to CEO of Canoa after roughly a decade working alongside founder Federico Negro, Helped grow Canoa to 5,000+ designers and 100+ furniture brands publishing product data

## Career timeline

- **pre-2015** — Designer at HOK and Interior Designer at Tihany Design, working across healthcare, hospitality and workplace projects
- **2015** — Joins WeWork as West Coast Design Lead
- **2016** — Becomes Global Head of Operations, Design at WeWork, building the Design & Development Ops group supporting a 2,000+ person department
- **2018** — Promoted to Global Head of Strategy, Development at WeWork
- **2020** — Joins Canoa as Chief Operating Officer
- **2024** — Appointed Chief Executive Officer of Canoa (October 24, 2024)

## Achievements

- Built and led WeWork's Design & Development Operations group supporting a 2,000+ person department
- Rose from COO to CEO of Canoa after roughly a decade working alongside founder Federico Negro
- Helped grow Canoa to 5,000+ designers and 100+ furniture brands publishing product data
- Oversaw the decision to make Canoa's design tools free for designers in 2025

## Latest updates

- **2024-10** — Appointed CEO of Canoa, with founder Federico Negro moving to focus on product and joining the board.
- **2025-01** — Set goals to more than triple Canoa's user base and announce key brand partnerships; Canoa made its tools free for designers.

## Links

- Website: https://canoa.supply
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ellie-cunningham-7a901746

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/ellie-cunningham
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-01