Rob Luzynski Email & Phone Number

With the addition of new staff and some exciting opportunities for the organization, my role at The Stewardship Network has shifted to a focus on running our Member Communities Program. This model for collaborative stewardship has been tried and tested for over 20 years, and I am honored to have the opportunity to help support the program by bringing new coordinators into the network, providing ongoing support for member communities and their partners, and facilitating synergistic relationships between people and ideas in the pursuit of on-the-ground impact.

Ann Arbor, Mi

In this position, I was responsible for our communications + outreach strategy and execution, running technical support for our website and CRM systems, coordinating and facilitating our monthly webcasts, and providing direct support to our coordinators and facilitating our annual Coordinator Summit. As with many nonprofits, I have worn a lot of hats as a part of a small organization, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

In my current role at MeanRed, I assist our founder and director Jen Lyon in researching talent, developing relationships with artists and venues, and booking shows as a part of our Detroit programming.

Detroit, Michigan, United States

In this role I managed the digital marketing strategy and execution for MeanRed Productions, a music promoter and production company focused on markets in New York, NY and Detroit, MI. I assist with social media scheduling, copywriting and editing, talent booking, run of show, video production, partnership coordination, and various other tasks related to media and event management.

Detroit, Michigan, United States

I write a weekly column for the Detroit Metro Times about local music news along with my colleague, Joe Zimmer.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

I started Nu Lo in the winter of 2015 as way of booking music shows without using my own name. Since then, we have thrown 8 shows with a total of 27 separate musical acts. What began as a purely musical venture has become more than that. A part of our mission is to donate a portion of our proceeds to environmental non-profits, and to provide outreach opportunities to these organizations for recruitment and building support. With a generous grant from the optiMize Social Innovation Challenge, I was able to work on Nu Lo full time for the summer of 2016. I've continued this pursuit part-time since August of 2016 and continue to do so today.

Highland Park, Michigan, United States

As a part of the SCOC program at Soulardarity, I work to support Soulardarity's pursuit of energy democracy in Highland Park and beyond by attending events, capturing media, participating in trainings, and doing outreach for the organization. I am also responsible for creating my own self-lead project with the support of Soulardarity staff.

Detroit, Michigan, United States

As a mediator at Science Gallery Detroit, I was responsible for becoming familiar with the exhibition and the scientific concepts that they embodied and effectively communicating those scientific and artistic concepts to our audiences. Ranging from young children to older adults and everywhere in between, I was able to develop my skills as a facilitator and communicator while being a part of an inspiring and forward-thinking organization that is on the cutting edge of science education and programming.

Thanks to a new grant that was awarded to my research professors, Sara Soderstrom and Todd Schiffeling, I was able to rejoin their research team, housed under U of M's Organizational Studies Department, with support from the ERB Institute, to continue the research I helped with last summer which centers around stakeholder engagement in sustainability initiatives within organization and companies. The project is a case study of the Environmental Defense Fund's Climate Corps program, an innovative approach to a summer internship and corporate/organizational sustainability opportunity for master's students across the U.S. and in China.

Detroit Michigan

As a program assistant for the ALA 250 course offerings, I assisted in reviewing syllabi, course planning, facilitating classes, and grading papers for 3 sections of the course: Critical Issues in Sustainability, Critical Issues in Mental Health, and Critical Issues in Detroit.

Detroit

The Floriculture crew within the City of Detroit's General Services Department is responsible for managing the public flower installations across the city, mainly in parks and medians. As a floriculturist I played a supervising role as crews were sent out, and did all the work related to maintenance such as growing, planting, watering, weeding, etc. Working for the city was an incredibly rewarding experience and I will be thinking about and processing the lessons I learned for years to come. The workplace dynamics were exciting and challenging, which taught me a lot about interpersonal relations and the art of managing teams.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

During the Fall '16 semester I facilitated a course at the University of Michigan called Critical Issues in Sustainability, ALA 250 Section 004. The course was offered through the Applied Liberal Arts department which is housed with the the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. I was graciously offered this opportunity through some of my colleagues at optiMize, and it was one of the most fulfilling jobs I've ever had. The course was structured as a speaker series followed by a discussion, with assignments that included reflections and a team project at the end of the course. Our speakers included prominent figures in the SE Michigan Environmental realm, including Mike Schriberg who was a professor of mine at U of M. This experience opened me up to the possibility of pursuing teaching as a profession, and regardless of whether that is the path I take the things that I learned through this experience will stay with me in whatever field I pursue.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

As a research assistant in the Department of Organizational Studies at the University of Michigan, my duties included literature reviews, interview transcriptions, conducting interviews, data analysis, survey creation and distribution, and coding for interview/survey responses. Our research project focused on a prominent environmental organization's internship program, which matches graduate students with major companies and organizations that wish to conduct sustainability research and implement recommendations provided by the intern. We hope to learn more about the social dynamics of this type of work, and what makes for a successful intern/project.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

I had the incredible opportunity to be a part of the optiMize Social Innovation Challenge as a Summer Fellow in the summer of 2016. While I was a fellow, I was a part of an inspiring community of visionaries dedicated to pursuing their visions. We worked collaboratively, learned together, and overall became better entrepreneurs and better people. My project, Nu Lo, was awarded a grant and a living stipend, and the company still continues to operate today.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

As a Gallery Attendant, my responsibilities include: supervising the gallery, doing repair work, installing/taking down/handling art work, visitor interaction, and giving tours.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

As an intern in UMS's Department of Education & Community Engagement, my responsibilities have included: Event staffing, event planning, providing and collecting feedback, ushering, customer service, event logistics, artist services, representing UMS, etc. UMS is an amazing organization with a reputation for putting on world-class productions, which are supplemented by pre and post show events that try to educate and engage the student body at the University of Michigan and the Public as a whole in UMS' seasonal offerings, something that gives me a great sense of fulfillment and has given me invaluable experience related to the organizational and logistical requirements of building and maintaining such a presence in the art world.

Ann Arbor, Mi

It has been a pleasure to have been a part of 3rd Rail since it's conception in early 2015, though I must give credit where it is due to all of the people that kept it going while I was in New Hampshire earlier that summer. Special thanks goes out to Charles Samuels and Katherine Pekala in particular for the endless amounts of work that they have put into the collective, without their tenacity we would be nowhere. My position at 3rd Rail has been that of a member, attending meetings and helping to staff events/make group decisions as well as performing at some events, and as an event organizer, where I have brought together artists and musicians on several occasions through our time as a collective. I'm very proud to have been a part of this organization, and I recommend that everyone checks out the website and does what they can to support this amazing group of tenacious young artists.

Commerce, Michigan

As a summer job I have been working on the fence crew at a construction company that specializes in excavating and grading. Through this experience I've interacted with many different groups of people and had the chance to experience manual labor first hand, while also gaining some insights into the logistics and requirements of construction projects. The intricacies of working in construction are immense, and the culture that surrounds the field is fascinating to me. I am often thinking of ways in which the construction process could be made more sustainable, and how people who don't generally engage in critical discussion about their jobs' impact on the planet could be convinced to do so.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

I assisted the director of the festival, Leslie Raymond, in planning and executing the film festival's tribute to the late George Manupelli, who founded the Ann Arbor Film Festival in 1962. Work included contacting participants, event planning, coordinating technical support, emceeing the event, and various planning and support throughout the festival. This experience was both personally and professionally fulfilling for me. I was able to gain some great experience in event coordination and to network with many people in the field, but most importantly I had the opportunity to pay tribute to the legacy of the festival's founder who was a remarkable individual. Having the chance to interact with his friends and colleagues and to hear the stories of their youth and their memories with George was an amazing experience for me, and I was truly honored to have been able to work on this project.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Under the supervision of Executive Director Leslie Raymond, I was responsible for helping to coordinate the tribute to the founder of the Ann Arbor Film Festival, George Manupelli. It was an honor to become familiar with his work and to connect with his friends and loved ones from over the years, and I was humbled and grateful for the opportunity to work for such an esteemed film festival through the recommendation of my former boss at the Penny Stamps School of Art & Design, Mark Nielsen.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

TeneT Art Collective is a group of artists and musicians based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Beginning as a Zine put together by University of Michigan Students in January of 2013, the collective soon started holding monthly release parties where the members'​ art, writing, music, and performances were showcased to audiences ranging from 80-300+ people. In late 2014 and early 2015, the group transitioned from a "party"​ atmosphere at their events to a more finely curated experience, holding art "progressives"​ where audiences would travel from house to house in a single night, each house showcasing a certain art form or group of people (performance, video, music, etc.). Events ranged from gallery shows to grotesque performance pieces and everything in between. Audiences were sometimes led from house to house by the TeneT marching band, Leg Champii and the Special Knees (organized by Isaac Levine). A more in depth description of the collective and it's projects can be provided upon request. My role in TeneT was mainly event managing, as well as contributing to the zine and to performances. The group as a whole was the creator of ideas, and it was my job along with others to help these ideas come to fruition. This was my first experience at event coordination, music booking, event logistics, and other areas of expertise that were necessary in making each event run smoothly. TeneT was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done and I'm eternally in debt to all of my colleagues and to the people that attended our events for making those early years of arts organizing and creating an unforgettable experience.

Bachelor’S Degree, Environmental Science

Activities and Societies: Awarded the Outstanding PITE Major award, along with my wonderful colleague Nicholas Jansen Concentration.

High School

Activities and Societies: National Honors Society, Varsity Ice Hockey Team, WLN Recycling Club, NHS Community Service Award, Creative.