Hello,
I'm Jennifer.

I'm a creative:

a facilitator, thought-leader, business generalist, artist and community builder.

I am a networker, collaborator, educator, and life-long learner.

As a holistic process designer and an entrepreneur, I focus on how good work gets done and how healthy, successful projects / businesses / programs are made. I am passionate about the intersections of the future of work, the future of learning, and the future of living, as they pertain to and engage with the larger social and economic ecosystems at play and in flux.

Core Competencies

Organizational Design & Development
Strategic Planning
Program / Project Design & Management
Team-building and Leadership
Public Speaking
Change Management and Mediation
Brand Strategy / Messaging

Writing
Facilitation
Business Development
Financial, Business, and Marketing Literacy
Supervising and Mentoring Teams
Research & Analysis
Systems and Design Thinking

Experience

better_

NEW INC at The New Museum

Edwards & Skybetter

Point Park University

JenEd Productions

Destination Maternity Corp.

County College of Morris

Organizational Design, Strategy and Brand Management Agency specializing in strategic and structural support for projects wherein multiple disciplines or sectors intersect.

CO-FOUNDER (2018 - present)

Design and guide processes related to business creation, organizational development, program and content creation, and managing institutional growth and strategy; Client narratives include:
- The National Center for Choreography at the University of Akron: initially engaged to lead the Center's first board retreat, better_ was then hired to create NCCAkron's visual brand (logo and brand strategy). We were then asked to lead additional board retreats and lead their 5-year strategic planning process. Currently still a client, since our engagement the Center has increased its endowment and nearly doubled its operating budget.
- Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival: better_ manages the online archive vertical 'Themes | Essays' of the Dance Interactive, for this 87-year-old, National Landmark. We are the originators / director and producer of PillowVoices, a podcast that has listenership on 4 continents and across the US. We engage with scholars and thought-leaders in the industry to build a culturally relevant and forward-looking space for discourse.
- Zero K: better_ was engaged to develop the business and brand strategy for this start-up which is both an awareness-raising and Software as Service (SAS) company, focused on bolstering the locally-sourced aspect of the greater national, environmental movement. This is an ongoing project for better_.

The first museum-led incubator, NEW INC lunches ventures that sit at the intersection of art, design, social innovation and technology.

FACILITATOR FOR CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP (2016 - 2017)

Designed and optimized learning experiences for members. Developed a year-long professional and organizational development program, inclusive of curriculum, surveys and tracking mechanisms.
Used process design and design thinking to help members structure business entities, develop strategies for funding, market research, pitching ideas and maintaining holistic brands.
Coached and mentored the (40 full-time and 40 part-time) member-teams from idea - to - launch of their projects.

Organization Development and Change Management Consultancy specializing in the arts, cultural, and higher education sectors.

CO-FOUNDER, PRINCIPAL (2011 - 2017)

Designed and guided processes related to organizational development, program creation, and managing institutional change or restructuring; Client narratives include:
- The Georgia Institute of Technology: Co-created strategic roadmap for Office of the Arts, streamlined the curatorial process, created a new commissioning program, built deeper understanding of the utility of the artistic process within a technological institution.
- New York University: Built consensus within seventeen schools and programs housed at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, facilitated key hires, moved a project forward that had been in committee for the five years prior to engagement.

The Conservatory of Performing Arts (COPA) at Point Park University is the largest conservatory dance program in the country ranked in the top ten, serving over 350 dance majors.

VISITING ARTIST (2015 – 2016; Spring 2017)

Designed, moved through committee, and implemented senior capstone curricula in Entrepreneurship and the Arts that is now a required course for all graduating dance majors. Taught curriculum to students and professors. Co-wrote, with the department chair, a 5-year review of the program.
Taught courses in entrepreneurship, culturally relevant dance history and improvisation.

Production company founded to house various creative projects developed by Jennifer Edwards.

FOUNDER, ARTIST (2000 - 2015)

Developed projects including: I FEEL SAFE WHEN, a collective storytelling and community-building project;
Developed an iOS app called “Grounded,” produced a short film series, by the same name
Produced an award-winning spoken word album titled “exposed;”
Produced national spoken word and performance art tours

A learning center, within the flagship Madison Ave. (New York City) store, dedicated to the health, wellness and education of pregnant women.

LEARNING CENTER MANAGER (2006 - 2008)

Consulted on construction and materials for the learning studio;
Developed classes offered;
Supervised team of educators, scheduling, and client relationships.

The first community college to offer a 2 year, Associates Degree of Fine Art, (AFA), The County College of Morris dance major focuses on intensive technical training and artistic development, and is designed to transfer students, seamlessly, to a four-year (BFA) program.

PROFESSOR (1999 - 2005), INTERIM DEPARTMENT CHAIR (2004)

Taught courses in ballet and modern dance technique as well as choreography (2004-05).
As Interim Department Chair, supervised team of 4 Dance Professors; planned participation in national festivals and directed curriculum development.