PROFESSIONAL CV

CORE SKILL SETS:

• Developing Creative Brain Capital

• Human Creative Potential for Artificial Intelligence

• Creativity as Performance Driver in Corporate Innovation Teams

• Creative Placehealing

• Cross-Sector Collaboration Strategies

• Arts in Corporate Innovation

• Arts in Entrepreneurship

• Strategic & Cultural Foresight

• Multi-dimensional Trends & Pattern Recognition

• Quantum Storytelling & WonderLabs

• Keynotes & Workshop Facilitation

• Human-Side R&D for Maximizing Investments in Technology & Future of Work

• Culture Analytics for Innovation

• Workplace Cultural Wellbeing

• Creative Leadership Strategies for Systems Change

• Cultural Communication

RECENT ROLES

University of Colorado Denver | Denver, CO

Research Associate Professor & Director, Imaginator Academy, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (2022-Present) / Associate Dean of Transdisciplinary Research & Innovation, College of Arts & Media (2021-2022)

• Co-founding/leading the Imaginator Academy (now emerging as Creativity America), a cultural analytics, strategic foresight, and futurist innovation hub for industry-university research partnerships focused on inclusive, interdisciplinary talent development. Produced the Imaginator Summit with the Denver Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Corporation, Brain Capital Alliance, Science and Cultural Finance District, and Energize Colorado.

• Co-chairing Global Creativity Sciences Committee for the Brain Capital Alliance. Leading the formation of an international network of entrepreneurs, companies, scientists, artists, creatives, and innovators to transform brain sciences research on creativity into cultural intelligence and strategic foresight for solving business innovation challenges.

• Co-curated the Cross Atlantic Creativity Congress for scientists and experience makers. Congress was inspired by artist Joseph Beuys con’s concept of social sculpture, which views society as a democratic work of art.

• Led culture strategy for data collection instrument and analytics design of Colorado’s Small Business Resiliency Index. This index measures and predicts the resilience of small businesses across Colorado, providing valuable insights to enhance their sustainability and growth.

• Developed creativity industries innovation initiative to support the university's 2030 strategic plan. Aligned market innovation potential with research of professional creatives across visual arts, film, television, music, entertainment, and media forensics.

Culture Leads LLC | Denver, CO

Co-Founder (2020-Present)

Small, boutique partnership engaged in transforming culture analytics into strategic foresight. Established to hold intellectual property of books and other creative works arising from my personal endeavors, with research partner and data scientist Cameron Lister through our limited, bespoke engagements with state governments, higher education, large philanthropy, family offices, and private sector companies.

University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences | Louisville, KY

Assistant Professor, Health Management & Systems Sciences (2018-2021)

• Revised PhD Innovation Capstone for Health Management & Information Sciences.

• Served as Principal Investigator for multiple projects within the National Science Foundation Sponsored Center for Health Organization Transformation.

• Awarded the University of Louisville Trailblazer Award for Research & Innovation for leading the research team that invented the Cultural Wellbeing Index.

• Voted “Faculty Favorite” Teaching Award by Students for Innovative Curriculum Design in Public Health Law & Ethics.

IDEAS xLab | Louisville, KY & Denver, CO

Co-Founder + CEO (2013-2018) / Strategy Advisor (2018-Present)

• Co-developed and launched multiple arts and culture innovation initiatives across several states and secured millions in funding. 2013-2018

• Created a public health innovation model designated as a World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments’ International Best Practice for Creative Placemaking. 2018

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Culture of Health Prize. 2016

• Pyramid Award of Excellence in the Art of Vision, Center for Nonprofit Excellence. 2014

EARLIER CAREER 

• Creative Development Director & Artist in Residence - Residency Unlimited, New York, NY. 2012-2013

• Cultural Producer and Artist. 2007-2011

• Founder & CEO – IDEArchitects, Arts & Healthcare Consulting. 2004-2007

• Director of Queen's Heart & Vascular Center - Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, HI. 2003-2004

• Region Director for Cardiovascular Services - Tenet Healthcare, New Orleans, LA. 2001-2003

• Administrator - Ochsner Heart & Vascular Center, New Orleans, LA. 1997-2001

• Director of Network Development - Ochsner Health Plan, New Orleans, LA. 1996-1997

EDUCATION 

• MFA -  Art Studio | Social Sculpture - University of Kentucky

• MHA - Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine

• JD - Tulane University

• BA -  Theatrical Directing and Art Studio - Transylvania University

CERTIFICATIONS

• Certified Strategist - Section 4

• Improving Business Through a Culture of Health - HarvardX

• Lean Startup for Social Impact - Acumen

• Aspen Executive Seminar

SELECT APPOINTMENTS & HONORS 

• National Board of Directors, Americans for the Arts, 2023 - Present

  • Co-Chair, CEO Search Committee, 2024-Present

  • Executive Committee & Director at Large, 2024- Present

• Visionary, Path to Public Innovation Initiative within the Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities Program, 2024

• National Advisory Board, Business Collaborative for Brain Health, 2024-Present

• Lead Organizer, Work to Wonder Track (Plenary Session + Workshop) for the U.S. Department of State’s Cities Summit of the Americas. 2023

• University of Colorado Denver Representative for Biennial of Americas, Mexico City Art Week (2023) and Concordia Americas Summit, Miami (2022)

• Global Advisory Board, Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association, 2022-Present

• Lead Culture Strategist for Energize Colorado’s Small Business Resiliency Index, 2021-2023

• Member, Brookings Working Group on America’s Crisis of Despair and Economic Recovery, 2021

• Epic Trailblazer Award for Research & Innovation, University of Louisville, 2021

• Top 10 Business-Arts Partnerships in the U.S., Americans for the Arts (Multiple Years)

  • Underestimated People of Purpose, 2021

  • Humana, Inc., 2017

  • General Electric, 2015

• Bingham Fellow, Leadership Louisville, 2016

• Southern Living Magazine, 50 People Changing the Face of the South, 2014

SELECT RECENT PUBLICATIONS

• Lead Co-Author, Leadership Horizons in Culture Futurism & Creative Placehealing, Trauma Informed Placemaking Textbook, Routledge. 2024

• Co-Author/Curator, Cross Atlantic Creativity Congress, Salzburg, Austria. 2023

• Co-Author, 7 Steps for Igniting the Brain Capital Industrial Strategy, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. 2023

• Co-Author, Brain Capital is Key to a Sustainable Future, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. 2024

• Co-Author, Toward a Comprehensive Brain Deal to Harness the Potential of Artificial Intelligence, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, 2023

• Co-Author, How Cities Can Boost Brain Capital, Psychiatric Times. 2023

• Co-Chair, Roundtable Series on Creativity & Brain Capital, Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sample report available here. 2022-2023

• Co-Developer & Culture Lead, Colorado Small Business Resiliency Index Whitepaper. Energize Colorado. 2022.

• Co-Author, I've Lost My Callouses: A Phenomenological Investigation of Music Therapists Who Left the Profession. Journal of Music Therapy. 2022

• Lead Co-Author, A Framework for Integrating Arts, Science, and Social Justice into Culturally Responsive Public Health Communication and Innovation Designs, Health Promotion Practice Journal. 2021

• Principal Investigator & Co-Author, Quantitative and Qualitative Measures to Assess Organizational Inclusion: A Systematic Review, Journal of Business Diversity. 2021

• Principal Investigator & Co-Author, Cultural Wellbeing Index: A Dynamic Cultural Analytics Process for Measuring and Managing Organizational Inclusion as an Antecedent Condition of Employee Wellbeing and Innovation Capacity, Journal of Organizational Psychology. 2021

SELECT KEYNOTES & TALKS

• Is Innovation Grief Healthcare’s Biggest Challenge?, Prime Health Innovation Summit, November 2024

• Futurist Insights: Unlocking Human Creative Potential in Teams & Systems, International Leadership Association, Future Forward Leadership Summit. August 2024

• Creativity America, Weave with MIT Media Lab. May 2024

• The Future of Creativity in the American Enterprise, New York Public Radio Session for UN Brain Week, United Nations General Assembly. September 2023

• Cultural Wellbeing and Creativity, The Wellbeing Project Summit with Omega Institute & Harlem Wellness Center. September 2023

• Merging Arts with Creativity Sciences for Entrepreneurial Action, American Psychological Association’s Division 10 Working Session with Americans for the Arts. Washington, DC, August 2023

• Creative Brain Capital, 3rd International Conference of Possibility Studies, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland. July 2023

• Creative Brain Capital, Brain Capital Week Silicon Valley, Santa Clara University. June 2023

• Wonder Out Loud is a Powerful Thing, Arts Midwest Leadership Retreat. May 2023

• The Future of Creativity,  CREACT4MED North African/Southern Europe Mediterranean Conference, Barcelona, Spain. November 2022

• Reclaiming a Sense of Wonder in the American Enterprise, U.S. Department of State’s Cities Summit of the Americas, Denver, CO. April 2023

• Social Prescribing with Arts, Colorado Business Committee for the Arts at the Denver Natural History & Science Museum, 2023

• Courageous Imagination in Public Health (+ Workshop), Colorado Public Health Summit. 2022

• Culture Futurism, Wellbeing and Economic Development,  Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association, CREACT4MED Annual Conference. 2021 (Virtual)

• Emerging Role of the Arts in Innovation Across Industry Sectors, Yangtze River Art Week, Tsinghua University Cultural and Creative Development Research Institute, Chongqing, China. 2021 (Virtual)

• Reimagining How We Gather to Learn, Work and Celebrate in a COVID-19 World, Aspen Institute, National Convening for Aspen Challenge w/ Bezos Family Foundation. 2020 (Virtual)

• How Culture Shapes Population Health, High Tech-Human Health Summit, Aarhus, Denmark. 2018

PERSONAL PASSION PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT

• Miss Myrtle & The Razzle Dazzle Belle Bang Bluegrass Band - Children’s book about systems change advocacy, creativity, culture, and health equity.

• Culture Kudzu -  Book of poetry excavating earned wisdom from navigating personal and professional identities across fifty years as a GenX, neurodiverse, queer person from Appalachia working across the American enterprise.

• Wondervation: Corporate Leadership in the Wonder Economy – Business leadership book translating multidisciplinary research into a compelling compass for bridging creative industries and brain science with the future of work.