Christopher M. Shrum, PhD, MPA, is Professor at Pratt Institute and lead faculty in Creative Enterprise Leadership for Arts and Cultural Management.  In addition to his academic work, Dr. Shrum is an independent consultant working in community economic development, workforce development, the arts, tourism, and organization change.  For more than 20 years Dr. Shrum has assisted over 200 nonprofit organizations, tribal governments, community groups, municipalities, and private business realize a strong economic, social and cultural future by fostering civic engagement, leading program development, and advancing community-based initiatives.  During that time, he has leveraged more than $250 million in philanthropic investment and public grants to help transform community.  He has been certified in grants administration to ensure compliance of federal standards, as well as effective management and reporting of public monies.

As a community economic development professional trained in creative enterprise leadership, Dr. Shrum has dedicated much of his career to cultivating vibrant economies by bridging culture, community and commerce. He has been recognized nationally for his work in cultural economic development and creative industries, primarily related to artisan guilds and niche manufacturing.

As president of Eastern Maine Development Corporation, Dr. Shrum provided strategic oversight of a three-county workforce investment program.  As a consultant, he designed a series of innovative workforce development initiatives in niche manufacturing, civil trades, film and digital media, and hospitality. He has assisted such organizations as the Ford Foundation, Wallace Funds, National Endowment for the Arts, and United South and Eastern Tribes.  

Currently, Dr. Shrum assists Tribal communities across the United States establish vibrant economies through investment in culture.  His work in Indian Country is dedicated to advancing Tribal sovereignty through a wide range of capacity building initiatives, community planning, cultural development, and asset-based development strategies.

Dr. Shrum has led a series of large-scale community visioning processes associated with creative placemaking, downtown revitalization and adaptive reuse related to the development of cultural facilities.  He was awarded the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Tourism for his role in establishing the American Folk Festival for Bangor, Maine.

Dr. Shrum holds a PhD in human and organizational development from Fielding Graduate University. He also earned a master’s degree in public administration from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in arts administration from Northern Arizona University.

Elizabeth Meyer, MS, is an independent non-profit consultant focusing on data development and analysis to support strategic planning, grant writing, and program evaluation. Ms. Meyer founded Complementary Consulting LLC in 2018 after 25 years as an Executive Director. She has served on multiple boards and councils. She holds a Master’s Degree in Psychology with a focus on Social Program Evaluation from the University of Vermont.  

As a grant writer Ms. Meyer has secured funding from federal, state, and municipal governments, public schools, United Ways, and corporate and private foundations.  Over last four years, Complementary Consulting has worked as a subcontractor for David Steven Rappoport Consulting doing grant research and writing. Together, our work has resulted in awards totaling $7,000,000.

Other major Complementary Consulting projects:

• A child care center feasibility analysis for the community of Alburgh, Vermont and the development of two grant proposals for start-up funding.  This child care center is now on the way to being built.
• On-going data development and analysis to support strategic planning, grant writing, and program evaluation for Spectrum Youth and Family Services, a Burlington-based non-profit housing 13 programs.
• On-going data management and analysis for the Winooski School District to inform decision-making at all organizational levels related to students’ academic and social/emotional development.

Susan Holton is a Senior Designer/Art Director with proven success developing and implementing a broad range of revenue-generating visual communications, from conception to launch. She leverages business vision, creative strategy and project management to deliver unique, sophisticated and high-impact design solutions for print and online deliverables. She partners cross-functionally to build consensus and ensure projects meet milestones, deadlines and budget. Susan is currently Senior Advertising Designer at the Bradford Group and previously was Senior Marketing Designer at Tribune Media Services, a division of The Tribune Company. She holds a B.A. from St. John’s College (Annapolis, MD), an A.A. the American Academy of Art (Chicago, IL) and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has won numerous awards including two Tribune Media Services–Employee Excellence Diamond Awards, three Design USA–American Graphic Design Awards, and a Certificate of Recognition from Neenah Paper