Kelli Pearson is currently a Marie Curie Early Research Fellow with the Innovative Training Network SUSPLACE (http://www.sustainableplaceshaping.net) funded by the EU. She is researching the role of art & culture in stimulating effective place-based leadership. In past work, she specialized in facilitating and designing stakeholder engagements, analyzing regional economic opportunities, and developing strategic pathways towards sustainable, resilient communities, regions, cities, and organizations. She focuses on governance, MSME development, culture and creative cities sector, regional cluster, policy, and value chain analysis, sustainable tourism, and integration of ecosystem services and green infrastructure. Kelli has been involved in sustainable economic development and community engagement for over 15 years. During 2008, she joined the Economic Transformations Group (etgnow.com), working on-site in Chile (2008), Slovenia (2011), Suriname (2011-12), Nepal (2011-13), Guyana (2013), and Philmont, NY (2014-15) as a project manager and expert in sustainable tourism, stakeholder engagement, and local sustainable economic development. Additionally, she led ETG’s acclaimed project to develop a long-term sustainable economic strategy for the City of Cleveland in 2010 (Sustainable Cleveland 2019). Kelli also brings her dynamic experience as a business entrepreneur and civic leader in Savannah, Georgia for seven years where she created a highly successful café, events venue, and cultural community center. She is skilled in research, facilitation, presenting, project management, project design & development, communication, and knowledge management.