HEI, HI, HELLO

At the Baltic Sea on a hike through Keila

My name is Kevin Zheng Lu, although many of my friends call me KLU, a nickname that caught on in high school. I grew up on the outskirts of Dallas in an immigrant Buddhist household, where from a young age I became fascinated by our complex relationship with nature and humanity. Although money was hard to come by, my family was rich in different aspects: hand-picked garden produce, potluck community dinners, and stand-by flights that took us around the world.

I knew that I wanted to one day go beyond my small town to explore how to create transformative impact on the lives we lead and the land we live on. This guided me to Los Angeles, where I graduated from USC Annenberg as a Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab Scholar and focused on how we can design media and technology for social innovation. Since then, I’ve led brand and storytelling across startups, nonprofits, and venture capital for organizations like Alltruists (YC W21) and Designer Fund. I’ve also built communities for student entrepreneurs, launched programs for young global leaders, and shaped content design for Salesforce’s sustainability software.

In 2024, I was named a Fulbright Scholar to Estonia and spent a year at the Tallinn University of Technology researching its climate tech ecosystem and advising on national innovation strategies.

Now, I’m focused on harnessing technology to tackle humanity’s most pressing problems. Some other things I’m currently thinking about:

  • Inspiring more compassionate individuals to align their talents with their intention and purpose

  • The art of storytelling and resonant writing cultures that cultivate taste, identity, and unity

  • Shifting design from being human-centered to becoming nature-centered, where ecology and technology can work in harmony

  • Community spaces of gathering that revolve around thematic aesthetics, goals, and culinary profiles

  • The value of spirituality in how we understand our past, present, and future selves

I’m now looking for what’s next in my journey! You can reach me at hello@kevinzlu.com.