First things first.  I have a day job, and it is a great one.  I have the privilege to be the the Vice President of Innovation, Learning, and Engagement at the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science, an awesome and surreal place to work.  In this role, I help drive the development of new services and partnerships - on and offline - for the museum to reach new audiences, create new revenue streams, and help the Museum achieve its mission of nurturing critical thinkers of all ages.

While I may be new to the world of museums, I have spent much of my career in the worlds of digital and innovation.  I have over two decades of innovation experience across sectors, working with executives, social entrepreneurs, and policy-makers on how to unleash our innovative potential, and apply design thinking and digital forces to the way we live, work, and create value for others and ourselves.

I have helped establish innovation labs for government agencies, consultancies and companies, tried to reimagine the future of industries from insurance to beer, and worked with firms from pharmaceuticals to phones to help them avoid becoming the next “Blockbuster Video” of their industry.  I have created and run initiatives to help start-ups, launched [barely successfully] a start-up of my own, and generally nudged various giant companies to act a bit more like start-ups themselves.  I have pushed policy with think-tanks, drafted resolutions for the UN, helped social innovators stay innovative, and designed new services with some of the most creative minds in business and the social sector.  I have succeeded in various efforts, and failed in more.

I hold an MPA in innovation and entrepreneurship policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, an MSc in Technology and Human Affairs from Washington University in St. Louis, and a BS in Computer Science from the College of William & Mary. I am a founding member of the Innovation Work Group, and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Advancement of Arts, Manufacturers, and Commerce, where I led their project on “The Glory of Failure”.  I am an amateur winemaker, a lover of things cooked slowly, and a father often in quest of sleep.