Sample Podcasts
COLLECTIVE WELLBEING & INNOVATION
Featured guest on podcast Brain for Business, which takes the lessons from evidence-based academic research in the brain, behavioural and organisational sciences - neuroscience, psychology, behavioural economics and more - and brings them to life for a business and organisational audience. Listen Here
CULTURE, IMAGINATION & THE ROLE OF TECH TRANSFER, 2022
Listen on Spotify. TECH TRANSFER IP / AUTM on the AIR is a weekly podcast about the impact of research commercialization and the people who make it happen. The 9/28/22 episode “Curiosity and Innovation” with Theo Edmonds AUTM on the Air
CULTURE INSIGHTS IMPACTING OUR DIGITAL LIVES, 2023
In his popular podcast on management in an Experience Economy, , Shawn Nason sits down with Theo Edmonds to talk about transformational creativity, courageous imagination, and leadership. Listen Here.
CATCHING THE NEXT WAVE PODCAST, 2022
Conversation with two kind and curious people Aga Szóstek and Łukasz Szóstek on their Catching the Next Wave Podcast where we cover #culturefuturist intersections. https://catchingthenextwavepodcast.com/episodes/1102-theodore-edmonds
Sample Publications
7 STEPS FOR IGNITING THE BRAIN CAPITAL INDUSTRY
Brain health also plays an increasingly critical role in an economy predicated on “brain capital” (which encompasses an individual’s social, emotional, and cognitive resources). The world is increasingly relying on brain capital, where a premium is put on brain skills and brain health. Along these lines, we define a brain capital industrial policy as a public sector strategy that focuses on building economic resilience through an emphasis on cultivating citizens’ brain health and brain skills to contribute to an innovative and thriving economy.
Read Full Paper at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy
CULTURAL WELLBEING INDEX, 2021
The purpose of this study was to validate an inclusive, holistic, evidence-based index to measure the impact of organizational culture on employee wellbeing. The study was awarded the Trailblazer Award for Research & Innovation by the University of Louisville. https://www.articlegateway.com/index.php/JOP/article/view/4542
COLORADO SMALL BUSINESS RESILIENCY INDEX, 2022
“By convening experts in business, public health, innovation, and data science we have created an index that measures and predicts the resilience of small businesses within the state of Colorado in response to COVID-19,” - Wendy Lea, CEO, Energize Colorado. Read the full report and announcement here: https://lnkd.in/ecTjmH8m
BRAIN CAPITAL & AI
With the rapid emergence of large language models like ChatGPT, alarm bells are sounding loudly about the risks of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) — both for what we know about its capabilities, and what we do not. Yuval Noah Harari, famed historian, suggested that AI has “hacked the operating system of human civilization.” He, of course, is referring to our brains as our operating systems, influencing how we make decisions and behave — both individually and collectively. Our collective brains are referred to as societal “brain capital.”
READ: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/toward-brain-new-deal-harness-potential-artificial
BRAIN CAPITAL & ENVIRONMENT
The environmental determinants of brain health are foundational to this model, as brain health is key to navigating the modern world and thriving. Key brain skills include green skills, creativity, adaptability, digital literacy, and ecological intelligence. Green brain capital intends to be politically pragmatic, economically aware, and lifespan-focused. Growing green brain capital will require transformations across hierarchical levels in social-ecological systems, ranging from individuals to sub-populations to entire societies.
READ: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/brain-capital-key-sustainable-future
GLOBAL BRAIN CAPITAL ALLIANCE, 2022
The Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA), one of the founding partners of the Brain Capital Alliance hosted the working conference Brain Capital: The Power of Imagination and Creativity at its HQs at Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The conference was organized in collaboration with Theo Edmonds and University of Colorado Denver Imaginator Academy and took place on 06 July 2022. Download the report here.
DESPAIR & FUTURE OF AMERICA
This policy paper proposes a new federal interagency task force to address our nation’s crisis of despair as a critical first step to sustainable economic recovery. The task force would both monitor trends and coordinate federal and local efforts in this arena. We identify five key areas the task force could monitor and help coordinate: data collection; changing the public narrative; addressing community-wide despair as part of the future of work; private-public sector partnerships; and despair as a national security issue. READ: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/addressing-americas-crisis-of-despair-and-economic-recovery/
Sample Presentations & Projects
January 2020: Creating Cultural Wellbeing. Presentation for the Aspen Challenge.
Chicago Innovation Exchange Inaugural Keynote, 2016. University of Chicago
Culture Intelligence is our collective capacity to create meaning and value in our lives by working across differences of human experience. In organizations, this is comprised of three measurable areas: Creativity Capital (Head); Belonging Capital (Heart); Collaboration Capital (Hands). In this session, Theo Edmonds, and Natasha Tsakos open Day 2 of the Imaginator Summit
NOTE: Password to Watch Video: CAPVRC
Fall 2023: New Student Orientation at CU Denver College of Architecture and Planning. Supporting presentation notes and links to concepts referenced are available here.
March 2016: Cultural Futurism, Making Creativity Investable & Exponential Potential of Artists. Keynote presentation at Connecticut Arts Day in the Capitol Building, Hartford, CT. Hosted by Kristina Newman-Scott, Director of Culture, State of Connecticut. Sponsored by the Cigna Foundation, Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.
CITIES SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS, 2023
Created a main track series on WONDER for the US Department of State’s Cities Summit of the Americas. More here
IMAGINATOR ACADEMY
Business Infrastructure for Courageous Imagination. Launched in 2023 to take advantage of this unique opportunity in history for up-skilling people in creative industries as brain capital builders. Imagine the transformation possible with artists on every innovation team, in every company, everywhere! LEARN MORE: https://www.imaginatoracademy.com/
December 2018: Creative Placehealing. Keynote for HighTech/HumanHealth Summit at Aarhus University, Denmark. Presentation begins at :40 into the video.
February 2015: Creative Catalyst: Artists Working at the Nexus of Culture and Marketplace. TEDxUofL
Poetry Performance, 2018