Group
Listen Forward. Adapt Strategically. Build What Matters.
Approach
EchoBuild™: Strategic Architecture for Transformation
EchoBuild™ is a strategic approach rooted in observation, pattern recognition, and adaptive design. It reflects two decades of experience navigating complexity across sectors—conservation, finance, arts, philanthropy, and emerging tech.
At its core, EchoBuild helps institutions:
-
Listen deeply across systems and stakeholders
-
Recognize what’s shifting, not just what’s stated
-
Align intent with action through portfolio design and decision frameworks
-
Act before certainty, while staying attuned to learning
-
Build infrastructure that flexes, evolves, and sustains impact
Why Echo?
Because transformation doesn't start with answers—it starts with awareness.
The name comes from how strategy must listen, reflect, and resonate across an organization. Echoes aren’t static. They adapt to their environment. So should strategy.
My Role
I serve as a thought partner and embedded strategist, guiding teams from abstract vision to structured execution. Whether building global innovation hubs, aligning a $3B operation, or shaping AI ethics policy, I work at the intersection of systems, narrative, and decision-making.
In my practice, strategy is not a static document. It is a responsive architecture.
A way to hear what’s emerging and build what it needs.
Work
Transformation is a process.
Fed by curiosity
Built on creativity
Rooted in trust
Sustained by patience
Change is temporary. Transformation lasts.
From Ad Hoc to Aligned
National Geographic Society
“Strategy is how you choose what to build—and what to walk away from.”
The organization’s program portfolio had expanded through opportunistic development, with limited transparency around decision-making, few shared components, and no standardized criteria for success. A cross-functional effort was led to establish the first enterprise-wide framework for program creation and evaluation—defining core components, clarifying deliverables, and aligning proposals with mission and measurable outcomes. Flagship initiatives like Photo Ark, Out of Eden Walk, and Genographic were restructured under this model, bringing coherence to programming and shifting the culture toward greater strategic rigor and clarity.
Transforming Enterprise Decision-Making
Sallie Mae
“Large systems only move when you ask the right questions.”
During a period of major regulatory and market shifts, the enterprise faced a critical need for clarity around institutional performance and strategic risk. Strategic intelligence tools were developed, including segmentation models, competitive frameworks, and performance dashboards that informed senior leadership and board-level planning. These efforts drove $400M in new growth, improved retention rates, and clarified investment priorities across a portfolio exceeding $3B. The work highlighted how adaptive strategy and targeted data systems can unlock growth even in constrained environments.
From Journal to Global Platform
International Society for Arts, Science, and Technology
“Legacy alone doesn’t shape the future—strategy does.”
With six decades of publishing at the nexus of art, science, and technology, the organization faced a strategic inflection point: its legacy was strong, but its institutional form no longer matched the scale or urgency of global creative challenges. A comprehensive transformation effort repositioned Leonardo from a journal to a modular global platform. The Leonardo Labs framework was introduced to systematize innovation across residencies, fellowships, and research hubs in 134+ countries. A new 2025–2030 Strategic Plan translated legacy into momentum—turning a publisher into an engine for transdisciplinary collaboration, policy influence, and future-oriented inquiry.
ABOUT
Curiosity beyond category.
That is what fuels my work transforming systems and unlocking what’s possible.
I’ve led billion-dollar portfolios, launched global programs, and built institutional frameworks that turn vision into action. My work has spanned philanthropy, finance, conservation, education, and emerging technology—because the problems worth solving rarely stay in one lane.
Today, I serve as Chief Strategy Officer and Editorial Director at Leonardo, the internationally renowned organization at the intersection of art, science, and technology. I guide global strategy, design future-facing programs, and shape research that reaches over 130 countries.
What ties it all together is a belief in strategy that listens before it leads. That adapts with intention. That builds what matters.
I call my approach EchoBuild—a framework shaped by decades of cross-sector experience. It helps organizations make sense of complexity, align teams, and implement change that lasts.
I currently serve on the U.S. board of Wildlife Direct, recently completed a ten-year term with the Iranian-American Community Center, and quietly squirrel away words I hope to publish one day.