Steve served as the President and CEO for the Washington, DC Economic Partnership, a non-profit organization which promotes business and retail opportunities in the District of Columbia for 5 years.

Prior to joining the Economic Partnership, Steve was the Deputy Executive Director for the Downtown DC Business Improvement District.   There he was responsible for all aspects of the marketing, event planning and retail merchandising of the 140-block area of Downtown DC extending roughly from the White House to the Capitol.

Most of Steve’s career was with The Rouse Company of Columbia, Maryland. There, Steve directed the strategic planning, marketing and communications for many of that company’s urban projects including, Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, the Tabor Center in Denver, South Street Seaport in New York City, Pioneer Place in Portland, the Westlake Center in Seattle and the Arizona Center in Phoenix.

Steve has been a member of the ICSC since 1979.

Fred is also the webmaster for the TEDxWDC website, tedxwdc.com.

Anna Smith, Director, Cultural Exchange Programs

Anna Smith began working at International Arts & Artists in 2004 and became manager of IA&A’s USArts International Training Program later that year. As Director of Cultural Exchange Programs, Anna manages IA&A’s visa assistance program for international interns and trainees visiting the US on J1 and H3 visas, liaison with the United States Department of State and developing new programs that support cultural exchange in the visual and performing arts.

Anna Smith has 8 years of US non-immigrant visa experience and 15 years of arts management experience. Before joining International Arts & Artists she studied and worked in Paris, including assisting production at the Orchestre des Champs-Elysees. Anna graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in French and music. Anna is truly happy to supporting the arts career goals of hundreds of students every year.

Philippa Hughes and David Bonck

Join DC cultural catalyst Philippa Hughes and talent development analyst David Bonck in the search to unlock answers and shift the entire way we think about the world of art and business.  The speakers will also facilitate a post-presentation workshop that will challenge you to bridge the art-business divide in your own life.

Slammed by global recession, creative and corporate economies alike struggle to rebalance.  But what the vast majority of artists and businesspeople fail to realize is that they hold the keys to each other’s success—and survival.

David does talent development for a global research, consulting, and technology firm.  He’s currently helping create an 18-month, Washington, D.C.-based leadership development program for emerging executives.

Philippa P.B. Hughes created the Pink Line Project to inspire creative thinking in everyone, to build community and connectivity, and to open portals to  art and culture for the culturally curious. Philippa runs a consolidated and searchable calendar of all things cool and creative in DC and writes and maintains a widely read blog that highlights the best of DC’s creative scene.

Between 2001 and 2007, Harper has also served as Chair of the Board to The Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery. With her broad, day-to-day duties, Harper worked as the de facto executive director of the organization. In this capacity, she was able to increase the organization’s budget from $60,000 in 2000 to $550,000 in 2007, recruit more than 500 volunteers, and develop a fundraising strategy that has generated $7 million between 2002 and 2006. Located in Capitol Hill, the Cemetery has been a member of Cultural Tourism DC since 2002.

In addition, Harper worked as director for the professional exchange and community sustainability program at The Countryside Institute in New York. At the National Trust for Historic Preservation, she was a member of the management committee at the National Main Street Center, a widely recognized program including neighborhoods in Washington, DC.

Harper holds a BS in Humanities from Missouri Valley College (Marshall, Missouri) and has pursued graduate level work in art history at the University of Kansas, Lawrence and the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Even though Ms. Douglass is no longer in the classroom, art is still her primary vehicle to experience the world we live in.  She enjoys creating work that allows her and her viewers to oscillate between the worlds of being the artist and the audience. Her current work is a meeting place of mathematical equations, patterns in nature, spirituality, color and sound.

Melani N. Douglass currently lives and creates in Anacostia.

For more information log onto:
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www.melaninmomma.com
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As President of Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA) for the past four years, she has led an initiative to catalyze community economic development through the arts. Laura also has held many leadership positions in the community, having been elected to two terms on the Board of Women in Film and Video, as D.C. Bar Treasurer and two terms as a member of the D.C. Bar Board of Governors. In 2012, she will be inducted as the President of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia

The DC Fashion Council, an advisory body made up of a group of designers and industry leaders to promote the fashion industry in Washington, DC to lobby to get Bill No. 17-173 to create the Commission on Fashion Arts and Events passed in DC government. Under the leadership of Ms. Brooks-Cropper, founder and President & CEO of the Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce, spearheaded the lobbying efforts, drafted the language for the Mayor’s Order for the development of the legislation and made the changes to the Bill during mark-up that was passed by the Committee on Economic Development and Full City Council and signed into Law April 15, 2008 (L 17-0148). In 2010, Ms. Brooks-Cropper formed the first Congressional Apparel Manufacturing and Fashion Business Caucus on Capitol Hill.

In addition, these organizations have successfully identified ways to retain and support new and established designers and assist design students transitioning from school to career. Her dedication to DC’s fashion community is evident in her service. Before the successful charter of the Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce, a 501c6 non-profit trade association, she started the process to implement activities outlined in the Bill to include introducing fashion youth programs into various Parks & Recreation Centers and Boys & Girls Clubs. She is currently working to create the first DC Fashion Incubator program that will assist emerging designers and fashion small business owners. Her other accomplishments include the Fashion Forum 1: Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Fashion Capital, Program Advisory Committee Member-The Art Institute of Washington, DC Advertising and Fashion & Retail Management Program, Teen Beauty/Etiquette Workshops for Teen Girls (Private Parties), Keynote Speaker- DC Fashionista Group Meet-up July 2007 Meeting & International Ethical Fashion Show for Avani Ribbon September 2007 for World Bank, District Sample Sale projects (Hotel Helix), Fashion Freedom Rally on Freedom Plaza September 24, 2007, FLY-STYLE December 2007, Men’s Style Lounge February 2008, Fashion Roundtable discussions with DC Economic Partnership, GWFCC Outreach Spotlight Series 2008-2010, GWFCC Business Workshops 2009-2010- Fashionably Biz on H Street awarded $5,500 business plan competition, DC Camp Runway (Fashion Camp-trained over 150 youth each summer) 2008-2010, Project Fundway- awarded $5,000 scholarship 2009-2010, Peru fashion trade missions 2009-2010, DC50 CW Network FBL Expo 2009-2010 over 3,000 people at Washington Convention Center, Pink Fashion Rocks!, VIP Fashion Shows- over 100 events, conducted over 300 lobbying meetings for the fashion industry and connected several designer members to revenue generating clients, press, start business and jobs and providing business support services to GWFCC members. Congressional Fashion Caucus on Capitol Hill March 2010 and conducted four issue forums on Capitol Hill with Rep. Diane E. Watson, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Nadler, Senator Landrieu, Senator Burris, U.S. State Department, White House USTR, Nanette Lepore, Betsey Johnson, Fern Mallis, Stan Herman, Yoehlee Tang, Giorgio Gucci- descendent of the House of Gucci. See www.gwfcc.org for more business accomplishments.

In addition, Christine has been asked to sit on various Host Committees and as a featured guest to help execute various Best of DC events, such as the Sweet Charity, Heart of America Foundation, Chocolate Fashion Show from 2009-2011; featured panelist for the “The Balancing Act: Is There Such a Thing as Doing Too Much?” for The Red Tent Symposium for Women based on “The Rent Tent: A Novel” by Anita Diamant hosted by LiL SoSo Productions; and a guest monologist for the hit playwright “ The Vagina Monologues” by Eve Ensler for the 2011 V-Day Campaigns held in Silver Spring, MD. Lastly, Christine has been recognized as a Who’s Who of in Black Washington, DC the Second Edition and the Global Directory of Who’s Who Honoring Executives & Professionals for her leadership and accomplished work.

As an artist, Bilonick has shown in local art spaces such as Transformer, Civilian Art Proejcts and Honfleur Gallery as well as nationally. Recently, she has participated in art fairs such as the recent (e)merge art fair and the Source Theater Festival in DC. For more information about her artwork, visit: http://kristinabilonick.net

His firm, Lee and Associates (Lai) has propelled 25-years worth of smart, sustainably-driven designs in the public realm—redefining the planning and design processes of new communities and cities throughout the District, and the world. As the Architect of Record for the Pentagon 9-11 Memorial—Jeff led a multidisciplinary design team in the creation of a sacred space that brings a non-prescriptive and sensorial approach to healing and reflection. His concept Master Plan for Mecca’s hometown redefined the urban capabilities of a holy city—and received the Royal Family approval for construction. His team’s Cultivating the Edge design for the Magok Waterfront Competition, in Seoul, Korea, was an ASLA-Merit Award winner, and a contemporary masterpiece of design innovation, connecting land, water, and commerce into a living laboratory of green infrastructure and sustainability.

Jeff’s commitment and knowledge of this region—and cultures abroad—have created a practice within a practice, where his advice and perspectives are sought out by local, national, and foreign governments. His dedicated energies in public service, as a landscape architect have catalyzed new perspectives in how residents, community, and decision makers see the profession.

He was awarded the Excellence in the Arts Award by the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAACC), the largest Asian American organization in the US. And in 2007, was inducted by the American Society of Landscape Architects, into the Council of Fellows (FASLA). Jeff currently serves as a Board Member to the University of Virginia’s Jefferson Scholar’s Foundation, and Advisory Board to the Dean of the UVA A-School—his Alma Mater.

“I believe that balance in the landscape will inspire balance in the self.  Our legacy will be to help ensure that it does.”

—Jeff Lee, FASLA

His awards include “Rising Star of the 21st Century” from the Museum of American Glass, the Virginia Groot Foundation Award for Sculpture, three Artists Fellowship awards from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the Mayor’s Art Award. His work is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery, the Mint Museum, the Fuller Museum, the Katzen Art Center of American University, the Milwaukee Art Museum and Vanderbilt University. He has a current solo video show at the Taubman Museum in Roanoke, Va. He will also have a large scale video installation at the Katzen Center at American University next year.

Dr. Jackson’s research expertise includes neighborhood revitalization and comprehensive community planning, the politics of race, ethnicity and gender in urban settings, and the role of arts and culture in communities. Her work has appeared in academic and professional journals as well as edited volumes in the fields of urban planning, sociology, community development and the arts. http://www.urban.org/expert.cfm?ID=MariaRosarioJackson She has been a speaker at numerous national and international conferences focusing on quality of life, changing demographics, communities and cities of the future, and arts and society. She earned a doctorate in Urban Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles, an MPA from the University of Southern California and she is adjunct faculty at Claremont Graduate University.

http://geniusrocket.com || http://twitter.com/peterlamotte

Jon’s new venture, Reel Plan (reelplan.com), consults with filmmakers on the festival circuit. His “festival tips” blog is read by hundreds of filmmakers every week, and through his work, has bridged the communication gap between competing film festivals, so all can share film information, sponsor strategies and filmmaker data.

As a filmmaker, Jon’s notable past projects include: “Cyberslut,” the first gay-themed short film to screen at over 50 festivals and broadcasts worldwide; “Signs,” a national 48 Hour Film Project award winner, and “Offline,” a modern dating parable.

Before creating DCFA, Mr. Gann created theGannAgency (marketing and design services) and GannFilms (video and film production) — continuously run commercial enterprises since 1989. tGA has provided web programming services through in-house and contract programmers and designers since the early 1990s. From 1996-2000, he spun off iGann.com, a division specifically created to serve the growing dot-com market, and was instrumental in the launch of man major web initiatives, including AOL, MCI, Network Solutions, Capital.com and others.

He is the founder of Busboys and Poets, a restaurant, bookstore, fair trade market and a community where racial and cultural connections are consciously uplifted; A space where art, culture and politics intentionally collide; and A place to feed your body, mind and soul.  Busboys and Poets is named after the great poet Langston Hughes, who was known as the “busboy-poet”.  Since its inception Busboys and Poets has been a magnet for book talks, community gatherings, panel discussion and networking.  Currently there are 4 Busboys and Poets in DC, MD and VA.

In the summer of 2009, Shallal opened Eatonville Restaurant, a southern themed restaurant with artwork, murals and food that pays homage to Zora Neale Hurston. Shallal’s businesses are B Corporations that adhere to sustainable business practices.  He has received numerous awards including the Mayor’s Arts Award and the Mayor’s Environmental Award.

Shallal has founded or co-founded several peace and justice organizations and holds leadership positions in numerous others. He is the treasurer for the Institute for Policy Studies and the Chairman of Think Local First DC, a local business association.  He also sits on the board of several arts and peace organizations and continues to make his hometown of Washington DC a more livable community. http://busboysandpoets.com

Dr. Paul So is a physics professor at George Mason University and the co-director of the Center for Neural Dynamics at the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study. So’s recent research interests include network dynamics of neurons, the fundamental properties of nonlinear systems, and nonlinear techniques in analyzing neuronal data.  So is also the founder of the Hamiltonian Artists in Washington DC, which is a new non-profit art organization with its mission to build the next generation of innovative artists and effective visual art leaders by providing them with professional development opportunities and by advancing their entrepreneurial success.

Art, storytelling, and open access to information are concepts that have permeated Laurenellen’s life (including her detours into television and radio production). Her passion for playing with (and advocating for) these ideas led her to serve on the board of the DC Advocates for the Arts, recently got her named a “Creative Innovator” by iStrategyLabs, and earned her the Awesome Foundation’s support in getting the District’s first street zorb on the move.