I use creativity to influence and deeply engage the viewer while strengthening democratic pluralism.
Pre-pandemic, I did so as co-founder and Creative Director for the Mexican social impact venture Colectivo Cine Social using cinema to strengthen civil society at film experiences garnering global media attention. I did it when curator and producer of regular professional networking happenings called El Zorro Supper Club CDMX. Before this in Washington, DC and Cleveland, Ohio, I used creativity as a tool for good when a start-up executive leveraging virtual reality for impact, when a lawyer volunteering to use tech and art to confront gentrification, or when an AmeriCorps VISTA using activist art to empower citizens and civil society to break the cycle of extreme poverty in Cleveland, Ohio.
I do this now as co-founder of a shared value ecosystem initiative for sustainably developing deindustrialized areas of the US. I use it as the executive producer of a 2026 feature documentary on identity, legacy, and sustainable impact. And I do it while helping the Mexican NGO PSYDEH since 2013 to see creativity as a value proposition, core to a dynamic working environment, impact programming, and marketing.
CREATIVE IMPACT AS VALUE PROPOSITION
Creative impact is a core PSYDEH value proposition: we view creative processes and expressions as essential tools for building the relationships needed to make a sustainable impact. Every aspect of our work reflects this value proposition in action. For example, creativity embodies question-thinking and active listening (generative looping)–essential to a learner’s mind that sees the other, embraces wonder, and recognizes possibility.
CREATIVE IMPACT & THE WORKPLACE
PSYDEH has cultivated a work environment embodying architecture critic Mario Labó’s description of Italian designer-manufacturer Olivetti: “[a] place of work ruled by progress, guided by justice, and fired by the light of beauty”.
CREATIVE IMPACT IN PROGRAMMING
With 2021-2025 programming, PSYDEH uses technology to enhance creative endeavors to drive economic development, women empowerment and democracy strengthening. This includes organizing women producing handmade artisan goods to supply global demand for the authentic, as well as storytelling as a leadership development mechanism, a recognition and power winning tool, and a feedback giving and taking instrument. Indeed, as I explain in my USA-based Feedback Labs article “To know is to be known: storytelling is foundational to actionable feedback“:
“There is power in telling our stories: Who we are, what we think of ourselves and others, and what they think of us. All of these elements shape our world view. Learning to tell and share our stories helps us know better and communicate our [truth]. Sharing stories also informs how others view us and interpret what we share, i.e., marketing. They bind us to one another. And narrative training improves our ability to give actionable feedback. Yet, we often lack the skills, experience, and platform we need to own and tell our narratives.”
In 2019, our rural and Indigenous women partners shared how their stories and narrative traditions are crucial to their heritage and their daily lives, yet these are often exploited, misrepresented, and misunderstood by both Mexicans and foreigners. Our response was a 2020-2021 narratives e-book initiative in English and Spanish we call “Narrativas” (Stories). It has 68 high-quality “narrative-oriented” photographs and 30+ stories of women leaders and their network of collectives all told directly or arranged by the women themselves. This product attracted the the digital experience company Adobe as a transformative partner, and we hope to replicate the initiative in 2025-2026.
CREATIVE IMPACT IN MARKETING
PSYDEH uses visual media to promote the stories behind our necessarily complicated work to the world. See for example the 2026 feature documentary, this 2023 video ad for new company partners, this six-part 2022 series explaining PSYDEH’s impact in women staff and partners’ own words, or this 2023 case study on our award winning (2024 Anthem Award) transformative partnership with the global tech company Viasat. Our unique capability in this area is celebrated by Fast Company and in articles by Diginomica and Adobe.
