WM Emerging Leaders Affinity Group

Topic: Generational Diversity

Mary Cooney

Founder & CEO

Creativia

Early her career Mary was invited by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to facilitate visioning sessions for community leaders embarking on an extensive youth initiative. By using the creative process to integrate improvisation and reflection into a plan of action, people with multiple points of view bonded and committed themselves to shared possibilities for the future. She soon realized that this was a valuable tool for groups of all kinds searching for a shared purpose and mission.

One of Mary’s biggest discoveries came when she started teaching the creative process to non-arts majors in the university. Engineering, chemistry, computer science and business majors began to discover that they were already engaged in the creative process and they were excited. Students became willing to take risks, collaborate with people they didn’t know, and readily share their outcomes.

So, Mary formed Creativia to share this process and its benefits in the workplace. There’s a common misconception that creativity only belongs to geniuses or is nothing more than spontaneity. Yet we all possess the power to create in the workplace, we all have the responsibility to create if the company desires to move forward.

We don’t trust our creativity or put it to work because we see it as unreliable and chaotic. But like the Scientific Method, the Creative Process is a reliable method for entering and successfully navigating the unknown and emerging with transformative solutions to challenges.

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Emerging Leaders Affinity Group
Participate with other professionals in philanthropic activities, engage in leadership and professional development, and build a professional network through social activities. Whether you are just starting your career, blazing a new path, or an established mentor - this group is designed to bridge generational gaps allowing everyone to emerge as stronger leaders.

Chairs
Amy Gerard, AmyGerard@challengergray.com
Amy Ritsema, amy@onsitewellnessllc.com