Richard is a professor of Business and Creativity at the Rotman School. Prior to joining the Rotman School, he taught for nearly two decades at Carnegie Mellon University and has been a visiting professor at MIT and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. His books include three best sellers: The Rise of the Creative Class (Basic Books, 2002), The Flight of the Creative Class (Harper Collins, 2005), and his newest book, Who’s Your City (Basic Books).

Jim brings more than thirty years of business and public policy experience to the Institute. He began his career in marketing management with General Foods (now Kraft) and Unilever. For most of his career he has consulted to senior decision makers in areas of business strategy as a partner in The Canada Consulting Group and The Boston Consulting Group, and in his own firm. Along the way, Jim served as CEO of a specialized insurance firm. In his role as Executive Director of the MPI’s partner organization, the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity, Jim has advised local cluster initiatives in food processing, resource products, and financial services. He has advised the Government of Ontario on tax policy, post-secondary education, and innovation strategies. Federally, he has assessed public policy in the areas of innovation strategy, small and medium enterprises, and tourism policy. Jim graduated from the University of Toronto, St Michael’s College with a bachelor’s degree in Political Economy and the University of Western Ontario with an MBA (Dean’s List).

Kevin has held faculty positions at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and for over a decade worked with technology in the insurance industry as a manager of strategic projects. His research interests include the relationship between firm performance and information technology and the impacts of technology, tolerance, talent, and quality of place on regional growth and prosperity.

David came to the MPI to lead a keystone project designed to guide Ontario into the future. A consultant by nature and training, his interests are at the intersection of strategy and execution, applied psychology and the valuable role organizations play in enabling human capital. He has undergraduate degrees in Adult Education, Psychology and English Literature. After several years of work in the financial services industry, David completed an MBA at the Rotman School of Management, where his studies focused on strategic management and Integrative Thinking. In his personal time, David enjoys helping to build thinking skills and leadership potential in young leaders. He writes a blog about innovation and leadership on the MaRS website.

Kimberly manages the MPI office, which includes supporting the management team, interacting with clients, planning events and handling media relations. She has extensive experience in administration and office management, especially within government. She has held senior administrative positions at the municipal and regional levels, having served as an assistant to Former Metro Chairman Alan Tonks, Former City of Toronto Deputy Mayor Case Ootes, and a number of city councillors. In her personal time, Kim has helped organize and volunteered on numerous municipal and provincial election campaigns, and she is currently training for her fourth marathon.

As Assistant to the Director, Marisol manages Richard Florida’s calendar, plans events, and handles media relations. Marisol brings with her a valuable array of communication skills and international portfolio experience from her years at the University of Toronto’s University Relations office. She holds an undergraduate degree from the Rotman School of Management, and is currently pursuing an M. Ed in International Higher Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Her central research interest is higher education in Latin America. Marisol is committed to the arts and the creative process. In her spare time, she paints with acrylics.

As a population geographer and economist, Karen’s research interests include migration, immigration and aging, focusing on refined spatial scales and nativity differentials. She has held a Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population postdoctoral fellowship at McMaster University where her research program examined aging in place of the older population in Canada. She has a B.A. (Economics) from the University of British Columbia and an M.A. (Economics) from the University of Toronto. Karen completed a Ph.D. (Geography) at McMaster University; her dissertation was comprised of four quantitative research papers examining the international and internal migration dynamics of Canada’s foreign-born population. Karen King’s complete C.V.

Kathrine Richardson recently completed her Ph.D. in Economic Geography at the University of British Columbia. She specializes in the mobility of the international creative class, with a focus on regional migrations within North America and transnational migrations between the Americas and the Asia Pacific. While finishing her Ph.D. dissertation, Dr. Richardson simultaneously developed and executed a key study for the Government of Canada that examined why the international creative class was drawn to Vancouver’s biotechnology cluster. Before coming to Canada as a Canada-U.S. Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Richardson worked as an economic planner for the Governor’s Office, State of Oregon, where her work focused primarily on the collaborative creation of a strategic plan and vision for the state of Oregon. Dr. Richardson also has a M.C.R.P. in Community and Regional Planning and a M.S. in Public Policy and Management, both from the University of Oregon.