Inclusion by Design
Strategic Design & Development
Helping people and organizations lead better through genuine relating and thoughtful creation. Culture forms from the start; the missing people and perspectives, the unspoken stakeholders, unconscious biases, and unnecessary segmentations can end a team before a project or initiative launches. The awareness, mindset, and skills necessary for this critical work can be accessed and must be adopted urgently. Technology will not solve our problems for us. Indeed without conscious effort, technology will cause significant damage to humanity. Engaging folks in strategic creative processes to design for inclusion in all aspects of organizations, experiences, and products, transform culture from the inside out. Authentic collaborations and artful coordination are possible from this emergent space, both necessary, at scale, for the grand challenges we presently face as a global community.
Amber Brandner
(quick bio she's a creator, mentor, facilitator, producer, program developer, tech founder, artist, doer, being.)
Amber Brandner guides founders and investors on a path of embodied leadership. An advocate and co-creator of the new economy, she creates space for inclusive culture to develop and collaborative innovations to emerge. Currently an Entrepreneur in Residence at UCSD and previously NEAR Foundation. Founder of the first Blockchain Incubator at UC San Diego, absoluteSUM is the origin place of "Inclusion by Design". Leadership experience with TEDx, National Science Foundation, World Economic Forum Global Shapers, and Singularity University reinforces the understanding that global action requires a cohesive narrative and hyper-local integration. As a consultant and mentor, she has helped countless founders find and tell their stories, connect to their "why", build community and take the next step on the path of creation.
CURRENTLY
CREATING
CAMPSOCIAL
Empowering communities to self-organize, with rewards and recognition for social behaviors.
All Of Us
All of Us Podcast is a place where we learn to take care of ourselves and each other, so we can build communities where all of us belong. Supported by Camp Social and ETH Denver.
absoluteSUM Consulting
Programming, Product, and Production through a unique lens tying together creative, strategy, and storytelling. Currently contributing to Global Unity, Impact Measurement.
Human Connection and Belonging in the Coordination
Voice at ETH Denver / DAO Denver / DeSci.Denver
A conversation with Amber Brandner, Gary Sheng, Gloria Kimbwala, Russell Ballard, and Rachel Brissenden
ABSOLUTESUM
An initiative bringing communities together in a collaborative process exploring blockchain technology guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The San Diego Live Well Challenge included an evening expo, forum, collaborative hackathon, and incubator program in partnership with the University of California San Diego.
AbsoluteSUM has led hackathons at Chicago Blockchain Week, partnered with CIS to bring more students to blockchain, and supported nonprofits such as Pencils of Promise in designing a collaborative and educational exploration of blockchain technology.
Amber Brandner led preproduction partnerships, sponsorship, programming, marketing, and branding. Amber also produced and facilitated absoluteSUM programming.
PRESS
Leader Spotlight Podcast Interview
Amber Brandner joins host Annette White-Klososky to discuss the importance of building inclusive communities, the power of our living our truth, as well as her own personal journey to becoming a leader in the spotlight.
SD Voyager Interview
Life has been a golden thread of monumental moments, often only seen for their significance in a retrospective fashion when connected with the larger narrative, which indeed is ever changing. I find myself propelled in this life by curiosity, wondering what our story will be and what influences our collective belief in what is possible....
21 Cryptos
a three page feature in the August 2018 issue of 21 cryptos decentreladies interview with iris discussing inclusion in blockchain and the effort of absoluteSUM.
Purdue Alumnus
Winter 2017 issue
Interviewed by purdue university alumni publication. a feature discussing the life and work of amber Brandner.
PROGRAMMING + PRODUCTIONS
LED BY CURIOSITY
NEAR x Singularity
NEAR EIR
As a NEAR EIR created a series of web3 education panel discussions and launched NearSpace a mastermind-style internal innovation space for the NEAR Community. I grew a small team of EIRs to assist in supporting grant applicants, and collaborated with business development, education, and grants channels. strengthening the ecosystem, and leading the Growth and Transparency Report.
DEFINING HEALTH
PROJECT LEAD
We are interested in reimagining the routines of everyday life – how we eat, sleep, live, get from place to place, socialize, and entertain ourselves – with health and wellbeing as explicit design goals.
We live in an era characterized by the steadily growing prevalence of chronic diseases that are closely connected with lifestyles, or people’s everyday behaviors. These behaviors, however, occur in contexts — the built environment that surrounds us, the products and services we buy and use, our socioeconomic status and resources, and cultural norms.
This design project examines the broader, national trends — and opportunities — at a personal and local level in Barrio Logan, and, as such, generates insights on the possibilities and challenges.
GLOBAL SHAPERS
PRODUCER. CURATOR. PARTNERSHIPS.
Women's Entrepreneurship Day (WED) is a day on which the work of Women entrepreneurs is observed and discussed held at University of San Diego, this is a United Nations Initiative. See other Global Shapers event and initiatives here.
C4H UCSD
REDESIGN
Worked closely with C4H Director, C4H Associate Director, along with a lead developer to rethink and redesign C4H highlighting the portfolio of projects. In addition to a website redesign, the Defining Heath research and film project. Produced a launch event of the new innovation center with an immersive art exhibit. Created branding materials for Health Futures Lab. Contributed to Earth 2.0 sessions.
NEARSOFT SUMMIT
IDEATION LAB + FACILITATION
"Working with Amber helped us build a framework to understand the value of community in building products through crowdsourcing. We discovered there is much to learn about communicating your stories and that you have to understand the value of what you are about to create. She is always looking for the best approach to reach the organizations' goals while sparking serendipity with our peers to achieve the goal in mind. Amber is forward thinking, with an out of the box mentality and full of energy."
Claudio Cassio
Nearsoft Head of Internal Innovation
TEDxAFC
CO-DIRECTOR
TEDxAmericasFinestCity 2012 Volunteer Coordinator for the La Jolla Playhouse main event.
Creative Director for the 2013 TEDx Salon events CoDirector of TEDxAFC main event 2013.
ABSOLUTESUM
PRODUCER + FACILITATOR
We explore the AbsoluteSUM, by engaging communities in creative problem solving while embracing emerging technologies such as blockchain. Absolute solutions are conceptualized during all-in challenges where ideas are developed. Incubators are established with University partners and digitally connected around the globe with the ongoing support of a global community, mentorship, resources, and access to relationships with accelerators.
re'flect KPBS series
DIGITAL PRESENCE + BRAND DEVELOPMENT
re'flect, successful aging defined, is a mini- docuseries that highlights six vibrant older adults living life by their terms originally broadcast on KPBS San Diego in January 2017. Director Heidi Rataj
SAN DIEGO STARTUP WEEK
PRODUCER
An initiative bringing the Startup community of
San Diego together for informative, inspiring, and engaging events.
INNOVATORS COLLECTIVE
PRINCIPLE + FACILITATOR
Experiential learning labs foster collaboration and create space for innovation. Bringing the dynamism of the new economy to companies large and small through interactive hackathon-style workshops, growth hacking experiments, and digital media storytelling.
Crowdfund UP
COPRODUCER + FACILITATOR
A collaborative crowdfunding initiative bringing resources, social media and mentorship to a cohort of entrepreneurs preparing to Crowdfund there ideas. Teams went on to collectively raise over
$1 Million in Cohort 1. Over saw production of 6 crowdfunding campaign videos and creative assets.
West X PopUP
PRODUCTION TEAM
Technology and Art collide in a hidden space brought to life through the lifeforce of the night. Creation with the talented folks of Canvas Chicago.
UNDERPIN APP
Cofounder at Underpin, a tool to explore the world through the lens of communities you love and connections you trust.
We are Social Creatures
