Principal
CurrentJohn Cusano co-creates collaborative partnerships with organizations that aspire to navigate this century’s interconnected challenges with creativity, introspection, and innovation. His approach embodies the values of inquiry, equity, and engagement, grounded in the principles of collective meaning-making, self-organizing systems, integral studies, and human development. Cusano’s role spans the margins of facilitator, advisor, partner, and consultant. He can recommend key associates when additional guidance, expertise, or support is needed.Collaborative work with organizations:– Deepens knowledge of overall circumstances by broadening and enhancing a collective awareness and comprehension of the intricacies of context, history, and relationships,– Engages myriad domains of knowing by involving a diversity of voices, feedback, and experience that builds trust, expands relationships, and makes sense of relevance through multiple lenses,– Assesses the influences, consequences, and limitations of current organizational structures and processes to evolve more effective ways of working together and– Employs collective values-wayfinding as a dynamic strategy to support decision-making and map threshold concepts and actions to activate aspirational goals for the future.He served 11 years as the Community Development Coordinator at the CT Office of the Arts (DECD), where he engaged constituents statewide to inaugurate a network of regional service organizations. He served as executive director, consulted for nonprofits and municipalities, and directed his art gallery as the first tenant in the SoNo redevelopment (South Norwalk, CT). A Civic Ambassador with Everyday Democracy, he co-designed and -facilitated the ‘Facing Racism in Stamford’ public dialogue series and the Collective Action for Equity network for the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County. He has a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design and a Master of Arts in Consciousness Studies.
