Understanding Your Full Creative Economy to Look to Recovery

Cézanne Charles has more than 20 years of experience working at the executive and senior management level within the creative industries (nonprofit and for-profit) in both the United States and the United Kingdom. She is the co-founder and director of rootoftwo, a research and practice-driven hybrid design studio that engages in civic future-making, using design methods to facilitate people to imagine and shape collective visions of desirable futures that are more just, resilient, inclusive and adaptive. rootoftwo creates tangible artifacts, spaces, experiences, and strategies so we can better perceive ourselves, the here and now and the future differently.

For the past 11 years, Cézanne served as Director of Creative Industries at Creative Many, where she led the design and implementation of the company’s creative industries research. Here, Cézanne also designed and directed programs that provided the knowledge, funding, networks and advocacy needed to help empower the practices of artists, designers and makers within the state, with a core focus on Detroit. Cézanne serves on the Stewardship Board for the UNESCO City of Design initiative, the Board of Directors of Allied Media Projects, the Downtown Detroit Partnership’s Creative Partnership Advisory Council, the Zoning Advisory Group of the Detroit Planning Commission and the Michigan Council of Arts & Cultural Affairs. She has a Master of Public Affairs (formerly public administration) from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan.

Jessica is the Private Sector Initiatives Program Manager with Americans for the Arts. Prior to this position, she acted as the Membership and Resources Manager for the Nonprofit Association of Oregon (NAO), providing oversight of NAO’s statewide membership program while curating and reinventing its online platform of nonprofit management best practice resources. Prior to NAO, Jessica spent nearly five years working with Portland’s local business committee for the arts, Business for Culture & the Arts (BCA), delivering programs that engaged employees from BCA’s 200+ business members, managing all marketing and communications strategies, and retaining and cultivating corporate and community partnerships. Jessica has also served in development roles at Metropolitan Youth Symphony and Literary Arts; and has freelanced as an independent web designer and developer.

Working with an entrepreneurial approach, Maryann Lombardi has spent the past 20 years at the intersection of culture and commerce. She is at the helm of the Districts new Creative Affairs Office, where she is working to improve policy, sustain and scale the local creative economy, strengthen the entrepreneurial infrastructure, and work with partners to improve equity and access to opportunity. Previously as the Chief Creative Economy Officer, she managed Mayor Muriel Bowser’s 202Creates creative economy brand and built the 202Creates portfolio of resources and programs for creative entrepreneurs. She was also the Executive Director of Lisner Auditorium and Partnership Development at The George Washington University, where she worked with her team to reorganize, rebuild and grow the organization. Previously, as the Director of Creative Economy for UMass Amherst, working with the City of Springfield and University administration, she established and implemented economic development and cultural activities to create jobs and improve downtown development in Springfield. Before moving to MA, she spent ten years in New York City as an independent theater producer producing Off Broadway and regional tours. Maryann has an undergraduate degree from The University of Michigan and graduate degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is a member of the Private Sector Network Council with Americans for the Arts, part of the National Mentor Network with Seed Spot, and speaks regularly on workforce development in the creative economy, entrepreneurship, and community building.

Erik Takeshita is passionate about advancing the role of art and culture in building stronger communities. Erik is currently a Senior Fellow at ArtPlace America. He previously served as Portfolio Director for Community Creativity at the Bush Foundation and Director of Creative Placemaking at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). Erik also ran an arts center in Honolulu, HI and served a Senior Policy Aide to the Mayor of the City Minneapolis. Erik was trained as a potter, holds a master’s degree from the Harvard Kennedy School and lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two daughters.

www.artplaceamerica.org

Twitter: @etakeshita