Capital Institute - CAPITAL INSTITUTE | Icebreaker

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Capital Institute - CAPITAL INSTITUTE | Icebreaker

Capital Institute - CAPITAL INSTITUTE

Capital Institute - CAPITAL INSTITUTE

new ways of seeing, thinking, being and leading for the 21st century We are a non-partisan think tank working to...

4 members

Contact info

Link

capitalinstitute.org

Members

Dr. Stuart Cowan

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I grew up in the magnificent coastal temperate rainforests of Vancouver Island, and maintain a life-long passion to understand and sustain living systems. I bring 25 years of experience as a planetary strategist, ecological designer, systems scientist, and regenerative economist. I am a skilled design thinker, researcher, transformations architect, and leader of transdisciplinary initiatives. I currently serve as Executive Director of Buckminster Fuller Institute, where I launched and direct the BFI Design Lab to support open innovation systems to strategically address critical planetary challenges. I am the Co-Founder of Autopoiesis LLC, which applies complex systems models and frameworks to regenerate communities, ecosystems, and organizations with clients ranging from the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs to the International Living Future Institute. I was the architect of the Regenerative Communities Network, a project of Capital Institute, and served as its founding convener from 2018-20. In this role, I supported 15 bioregions on their journeys of place-sourced resilience and regeneration and helped to launch two national initiatives, Costa Rica Regenerativa and Colombia Regenerativa. I served as a Transaction Manager and founding team member with United Fund Advisors, an innovative sustainable community investment fund launched by the Portland Development Commission that has closed $5 billion in transactions and created over 20,000 jobs. While at the innovative non-profit Ecotrust, I led the development of the Reliable Prosperity framework for a sustainable bioregion, which provides a multi-scale map of patterns of natural, social, and economic capital. I am the co-author with Sim Van der Ryn of Ecological Design, which addresses the whole systems integration of ecology and architecture, land-use planning, and product design, and has been translated into 3 languages and received 1,700+ citations. I earned my doctorate in Applied Mathematics from U.C. Berkeley with a focus on Complex Systems and Ecological Economics. I have taught at several universities and presented and facilitated internationally for cities, companies, indigenous groups, government agencies, and NGOs. I serve on the Board of Regenerosity and the Global Solutions Alliance; and am a Global Commissioner for the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance. I previously served as an Advisor to 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People; Common Earth, designated as the Commonwealth of Nation’s regenerative development initiative; and Costa Rica Regenerativa.

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A proven track record of leading growth and driving impactful change across diverse organizations, from founding new ventures to leading global initiatives for Fortune 500 companies. Most recently, as Head of People and Operations at Appsmith, a fully remote Series B SaaS startup (Accel, Canaan, Insight Partners), I led the rapid expansion of our team (from 67 to 150 employees across 14 countries). My priority was to ensure high talent density, high performance, and a collaborative environment for our remote and global team while keeping HR "right-sized" for the stage of our company. As the size of the company and business model changed I was proactive about aligning our people practices and operations with the needs of the business. This means that I worked with my team to implement, update or overhaul, as needed, everything from the company handbook and PTO policy to payroll and benefits providers to performance reviews, recruiting technology, and onboarding templates. Notable accomplishments include building out our GTM function from zero, navigating a 25% reduction in force while maintaining a strong employee satisfaction rating (above 4.5 stars on Glassdoor) and the successful execution of 4 off-sites to foster a high-performance culture in a remote environment. I also played a key role in recruiting and developing executive talent and supporting the launch of the executive team. My company-wide perspective allowed me to effectively identify and address operational misalignments and serve as an informal coach to the founders and executives, contributing to the overall effectiveness of the organization. I am passionate about leveraging my unique blend of experience to help growth-stage companies build high-performing teams, cultivate thriving remote-first cultures, and achieve operational excellence.

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Interested in co-creating economies in service of Life. Wide variety of backgrounds, including recruiting, project coordination, product development, logistics, marketing, sales, business development, finance, commercial credit, and data analysis.

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🌱 Regenerative Leadership | Facilitador en Liderazgo y Diseño Regenerativo | Educador, Mentor, Coach. Facilitando la transformación inspirada en la naturaleza y los sistemas vivos. 🌱