Creative Evolutions

06/02/2026

05/31/2026

Another MOMENTUM attendee we're excited to see is Avery Anderson, a creative leader, journalist, and advocate for storytelling that matters!

"My work spans theatre, media, and community engagement, all with a deep commitment to innovation and accessibility. Whether I’m shaping the artistic vision of a theatre, writing compelling narratives, or reimagining audience engagement, I believe in the power of stories to connect, challenge, and inspire."
-Read more: https://lnkd.in/eAYw4A2P

Their experiences in the arts will bring a lot of value to the MOMENTUM Convening taking place at the University of Bahamas on July 14-15. We have more choices than we think we do. Will we see you? https://momentumrevolutions.com/

05/30/2026

You know the Who's WHO of our fabulous host universities and speakers.....We have the WHERE, the WHY of MOMENTUM 2026, and we're evolving the HOW as we go....

But MOMENTUM is a collaborative series of gatherings June-September, expanding the choices we have for Board and Governance Models. We know that ideas and innovations from local arts and culture thought leaders can translate to other regions, and so we want to celebrate the individuals attending!

➡️ At our Oklahoma convening, we can't wait to hear from , the Executive Artistic Director of !

Emily joined the staff of OKC Rep in September 2022 as the Director of Development and moved into the role of Managing Director in July 2023. In July 2024, she assumed the role of Executive Artistic Director, following the departure of outgoing Artistic Director, Kelly Kerwin. Prior to joining OKC Rep, she worked in the Development Department at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma.

Before moving to Oklahoma City in 2020, Emily worked in New York City as a Development Consultant and Fundraiser for performing arts companies such as MCC Theater, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and The Little Orchestra Society. She was the General & Company Manager for the commercial off-Broadway world premiere of The View Upstairs and has independently produced staged readings and full productions of dozens of new plays.

Emily is also a practicing playwright. Her short works have appeared as part of reading series produced by Lone Star Theatre Co., The PlayGround Experiment, aWe Creative Group, and New York Madness. Her full-length work includes Dumpster Fire (She NYC Festival 2018), Undrown’d: Seeking Asylum (co-written with Benita de Wit, Columbia Stages), Switzerland (Lone Star Theatre Co.), Moonlighting (Lone Star Theatre Co.), and Track Twelve(FringeNYC). She is also a frequent participant in events at OKC's own Fringe Festival, Theatre Crude.

Emily has a Bachelor of Arts in Performance Studies from the Northwestern University School of Communication with specialties in critical studies, adaptation of narrative for the stage, and multimedia performance. She also holds a Master of Arts in Italian Language and Media from Middlebury College and a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Management & Producing from Columbia University. She is currently a member of the faculty for the University of Oklahoma - Arts Management and Entrepreneurship Online MA program.

➡️ We'll see you June 26 & 27th! We have more choices than we think we do.

05/28/2026

Field Notes from , Co-Founder and Managing Collaborator of Creative Evolutions:

While MOMENTUM spans five cities this summer, the need for choices is rooted in the conversations with nonprofit leaders that and I have every day. Here are examples just from the last two weeks:

➡️ Three examples of long-standing staff being laid off due to very real financial challenges, but those staff were notified that they were being terminated immediately, no severance, no insurance, and walked out of the building like they are criminals. Their dedicated term of service to the team and their community ended in the most destructive way possible. Ecosystem and long term relationship destruction.

➡️ Three examples of longstanding staff leaders who have never really been evaluated or nurtured by their boards suddenly given an 'annual evaluation' that included aggressive low marks and criticism by a superior or board leader or board committee, along with huge lists of things that they are expected to fix asap. The true result of that action? Those leaders are packing their bags and preparing their exits, since 'clearly I'm not wanted here'. Ecosystem and long term relationship destruction.

➡️ Three examples of over-stretched and over-worked staff stopping all work and preparing for a big board meeting, with a feeling of pressure and borderline terror, because surprise surprise the country is on fire, people are burned out, and finances are really challenging. The board, who could conceptually be the saviors and greatest assets in this situation, instead have been positioned as the judges who are seated to condemn the staff, or at best to sympathetically (but with no skin in the game) decide what staff are going to be let go and what programs to end. This setup is draining these organizations, and again poisoning long term relationships and the overall ecoystem.

Any of that sound familiar?

That's just in the last two weeks - these dynamics happen constantly. It doesn't have to be this way. We have so many more choices than these.

Creative Evolutions continues to develop and train people on how many other choices they have, and set up tables for people to come up with their own new choices as well!

➡️ Join us for one of our MOMENTUM convenings (the first one is in Oklahoma next month!) and be part of laying out these better ways! https://momentumrevolutions.com/

05/23/2026

When everyone on your team works remotely across the country and often the globe, you treasure gathering in person.

Doug and Calida agreed at the beginning of Creative Evolutions to connect in person once a month, and it's like lightning in a bottle to try to capture the energy that comes from those spaces when they're together.

New Co-Founder photo shoot within the 24-hour span that they're also counting down to our first of five MOMENTUM convenings?

They got it.

05/21/2026

Please welcome to the MOMENTUM stage our partner Dr. Robert Blaine III and the , who are hosting our second MOMENTUM 2-day convening this summer!

💫 How it started
Robert was President of the board for CE's first Executive Search *as* Creative Evolutions back in 2022. and Jones, M.M. connected with Dr. Blaine over the passion he brings to every aspect of his work and continued nurturing a relationship until…

💫How it's going
Calida visited Robert and his family in Nassau, Bahamas, where he now serves as the President of their University, and he immediately offered to elevate our vision for global impact with MOMENTUM!

“I think that the Bahamas has one of the richest, deepest, and most expansive cultures. To invest in the sustainability and future of cultural growth, organizations need the structures, support, and capacity to carry it forward. This convening with MOMENTUM supports organizations in being innovative in their structuring." -Dr. Robert Blaine III

💫More About MOMENTUM in the Bahamas
MOMENTUM 2026 will hold its second full session at the University of the Bahamas on July 14-15, 2026. Sessions will run from 8 am to 5 pm on both days, with optional networking and cultural events on the evenings of July 13 and 14.

Sign up to hear about Speakers when they're announced! https://momentumrevolutions.com/

The 2026 topic is EXPANDING CHOICES FOR BOARD MODELS, with the objective of generating a set of deeply considered alternatives to common or traditional non-profit board structures.

After registration, participants will receive updates on preread materials and invitations to provide information to the central information pool. Materials and ideas generated in the Bahamas will be assembled and passed forward to attendees at the next event two weeks later.

MOMENTUM 2026 is presented by Creative Evolutions, in partnership with Theatre Communications Group. https://momentumrevolutions.com/

05/19/2026

This was one of the best conversations I've had in a long time. Quanice G. Floyd is one of those people who makes you want to keep building. So listen to this episode, laugh as hard as we did, and then...press go.

Now...let's get down to business.

🫂 Friends, I really need my/our community right now.

MOMENTUM is a vision that started in conversations with Doug and me. We turned those conversations, articles, panel discussions & moderations, experiments, discussions, moments of showing up in the world at everyone's events, and convenings into a real, live laboratory. These living laboratories will live at 4 institutions across the US and the Caribbean this summer. This moment is asking more of us.

💡 We’re facing a hard truth that we've been sitting with for decades: what we’ve been doing isn’t working for everyone. Not everyone has access. Not everyone is able to flourish. And how are our boards and systems structured? They weren't quite designed to truly center the communities we say we serve. There are better ways to do this work.

🔆 So we have a choice: continue as we are, or do something radically different.

💥 MOMENTUM is our living laboratory—a space to imagine, build, and test new models. A place where we bring in new voices, new perspectives, and new ways of thinking. But ideas alone aren’t enough.

I need you. We need you.

I need my community to show up and signal, in action, that you’re truly ready for change. That you’re willing to invest your time, your energy, and yes, make sacrifices—to help us build something better. Something we can pilot, refine, and use to transform how nonprofit arts and culture work in all of our communities.

Why?
Because we deserve better.
And more importantly, we can and must do better.

💪 Let’s build a future where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, create, and imagine a different world.

Pick one of the 2-day MOMENTUM convenings from the link below, register, and allow yourself time, energy, space, and JOY. There will be JOY surrounding these convenings. There will be art celebrated. There will be performances by local talent of each city and country, *and* possibly some Creative Evolutions creative practices, too!
😊

https://momentumrevolutions.com

05/07/2026

One session at each MOMENTUM location will be led by regionally-rooted innovators and entrepreneurs
💥See all our Speakers at MomentumRevolutions.com 💥

Please help us welcome Carolina Ortiz, one of our Minneapolis rooted Speakers, to on August 5-6!

Hailing from Zacatecas, Mexico, Carolina embodies the spirit of resilience and determination.  Carolina’s passion for social justice is deeply rooted in her personal journey as a DREAMer. Her advocacy is not just a vocation but a lived experience, drawing strength and motivation from her own encounters and those of her community.

Carolina’s impactful footprint extends far beyond her role as Associate Executive Director at , encompassing a profound depth of environmental advocacy, coalition management, and steering key legislative initiatives. Her unwavering dedication and leadership within COPAL have been instrumental in fostering growth and steering the organization towards impactful change.

As a distinguished figure, Carolina is recognized for her expertise in legislative matters, media advocacy, and adeptness in navigating the complex terrain of Minnesota’s Legislative process serving as a key player in passing many pieces of legislation into law. Her prowess as a frequent speaker amplifies her role as an influential voice, representing not only COPAL but also the aspirations of marginalized communities.

Carolina's exceptional ability to cultivate relationships, locally and nationally, underscores her capacity to effect change on multiple fronts, marking her as a cornerstone in the pursuit of equitable and just societies.

💥 MomentumRevolutions.com 💥

05/02/2026

was a guest on last week, and they didn't waste any time jumping into the real conversations around art and money and governance.

Listening live, I was left with many big questions, so here's a teaser (until her episode is live!):

💢How much are you willing to sacrifice when it comes to who's funding you?💢

💢Follow for an invite to the Culture Hour!

💢Check out MomentumRevolutions.com to dive directly into the choices we already have around new models of Board Governance--and add your own💢

04/26/2026

*Listen-along with CE on Tuesday, April 28th at 7pm ET

Calida Jones is a guest on Quanice G. Floyd's podcast Black Arts Admin B*tch Culture Hour and they're getting right into the heart of MOMENTUM:

⚡ Dismantling traditional governance structures in arts & culture
⚡ Who gets to lead and who’s been left out
⚡ Why Momentum Conference is rethinking how decisions get made

RSVP here to listen live or watch when the episode is out -- but don't you want to hear our Co-Founder Calida live and unedited? 😎

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/baab-culture-podcast-happy-hour-live-april-2026-tickets-1987824161578?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true