De Nichols is a designer, social entrepreneur, and keynote lecturer who mobilizes young creative change makers through the production of interactive experiences, digital media, and social initiatives .

Based in St. Louis, MO, De is the Principal of Design & Social Practice Civic Creatives, a design and strategy collective she founded in 2015 to help cities more boldly develop creative solutions for the civic and social challenges they face. As a national keynote presenter and lecturer, De champions the power of design and storytelling to inspire and equip audiences to spark creative social change across their communities.

Because of her leadership, Nichols has been deemed as a national Ideas that Matter recipient, a two-time Clinton Global Initiative innovator, and a St. Louis Visionary for her community impact. She additionally is a 2017/18 Citizen Artist Fellow of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts  and a 2018 Artist Fellow with the Regional Arts Commission in St. Louis, MO.

Follow De on Social Media

• Instagram @De_Nichols
• Facebook /DeNicholsco
• Twitter @De_Nichols

Websites

• http://denichols.co
• http://civiccreatives.com

Joshua Heim is the Arts Program Manager at the City of Bellevue and was the cultural arts administrator for the City of Redmond. Before that, he spent 10 years in the heritage and museum field, starting his career at Kaho‘oilina, a scholarly journal in Honolulu dedicated to preserving the Hawaiian language and supporting Hawaiian language immersion schools. He went on to work at the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle, where he developed community-based exhibitions and managed the award winning YouthCAN program. 

Heim has taught museology courses and workshops at the Institute of American Indian Arts, Immigration Sites of Conscience and the Northwest Indian College. His interests include new approaches to public art, creative place-making and Washington state’s cultural community. He serves on the 4Culture arts advisory committee and the board of Cultural Access Washington. He has an M.A. in cultural studies from UW Bothell and a B.A. in sociology and anthropology from Lewis and Clark College.

Mexican, Mother, Wife, Dancer, Photographer, Poet and Social Justice Warrior.

Ruby is the Vice President, Equity and Local Arts Engagement for Americans for the Arts. Her portfolio includes external equity strategies and field education, leadership development, local arts advancement, and cohort building for the local arts agency field, arts and culture administrators, and arts marketers. She is the chief architect of the National Arts Marketing Project Conference. She was selected as a 2019 Arizona State University Practices for Change Fellow. She was recognized as an 2019 Inspirational Woman (Arts Advocate) by “And I Thought” Women in Literature. She is a steering committee member for the National Coalition on Arts Preparedness and Emergency Response, serves as Chair of the Gard Foundation, serves on the board for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (Grants Committee/Advocacy Committee) and serves on the WETA Community Advisory Council.

Ruby’s work has focused on equitable access, grantmaking, supporting individual artists, community development, economic development, cultural tourism, marketing and public art. She draws on a varied background that includes corporate affairs, community relations, volunteerism, employee engagement, marketing and communications, and business administration. She served on the Emerging Leaders Council for Americans for the Arts, was the primary contact for the Arts and Economic Impact Study for Central Ohio and recently served as a mentor with Arts Administrators of Color DMV. She is a 2017 National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Advocacy Leadership Institute Fellow, Class of 2017 American Express Leadership Academy Alum and Class of 2010 Next Generation of Leaders Fellowship program. 

Suzan E. Jenkins is a leader in the non-profit arts and culture sector having served in executive positions at the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution and the Recording Industry Association of America.

A Peabody Award winning producer of the radio series Let the Good Times Roll for Public Radio International, Jenkins has been recognized for her leadership and entrepreneurial endeavors, including by the Gazette of Politics and Business, Women Business Leaders of Maryland, Jazz Alliance International, the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival and Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture. As co-founder of the Nonprofit Energy Alliance, Jenkins is the recipient of Washingtonian Magazine’s Green Giant Award. 

Jenkins serves on the Boards of Maryland Citizens for the Arts and Nonprofit Montgomery; as a mentor for Women of Color in the Arts; on the Montgomery County MD Remembrance and Reconciliation Commission; on the Community Advisory Council of WETA and on the American University Arts Management Advisory Council. Jenkins has been a fellow of National Arts Strategies: Chief Executive Program and a former Board member of DataArts, previously known as the Cultural Data Project. Jenkins is an Executive Coach and holds an Honorary Degree in Public Service from Montgomery College, MD; a BS in Psychology and Management, and an MBA from the University of Maryland.