PHOTO ABOVE: January 2020 Keynote Speaker Torrey Maldonado ’96, Linking the Chapters of Life

PhD, President, Figure 8 Thinking, LLC

We are all hardwired to be creative—it is just a matter of exercising it consciously and consistently. Creativity must be your competency to navigate today’s ambiguity and all that the future of work has in store. In this interactive talk, Natalie Nixon, VC ’91 and author of The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation and Intuition at Work, will help you map out 4 basic mindset shifts so that you are best prepared for the road ahead with optimism and confidence.

Natalie Nixon ’91, PhD changes lives through ideas so that people get paid their worth, make an impact, and build their creative confidence for years to come.

As president of Figure 8 Thinking, LLC, she advises leaders and executive teams on how to achieve transformative business results by applying creativity and foresight. Clients have included Comcast, Citrix, Living Cities, VaynerMedia, and Bloomberg.

As a hybrid thinker, Natalie consistently applies her background in cultural anthropology and fashion. She began her career in education and as a hat designer. She later worked in global apparel sourcing for a division of The Limited, Inc. Prior to Figure 8 Thinking, she was a professor for 16 years. Natalie is an early-stage investor at two social impact ventures. She’s valued for her ability to work at the intersection of commercial value and stakeholder equity.

Natalie has lived in Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Israel, and Sri Lanka and is proficient in Portuguese and Spanish. She’s a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and is certified as a Foresight Practitioner by the Institute for the Future.

When she’s not dancing up a storm in hip-hop class, she’s fine-tuning her foxtrot, salsa, and tango on the ballroom floor. She lives in her hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her husband, John Nixon, and she’s the proud stepmother of Sydney.

After receiving her BA in Anthropology and Africana Studies from Vassar College, Natalie obtained an MS in Global Textile Marketing from Thomas Jefferson University and a PhD in Design Management from the University of Westminster.

YOUR Creativity L.E.A.P.

In this interactive talk, Natalie Nixon will help you map out 4 basic mindset shifts so that you are best prepared for the road ahead with optimism and confidence. Introduction by Carlos Alamo, Dean of the College.