Dana Beth Ardi | |
---|---|
Born | Dana Beth Silverstein New York City, US |
Alma mater | State University of New York at Buffalo Boston College |
Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, Corporate anthropologist, author |
Board member of | AMC Entertainment, Inc. (2009–2012) Officer, Creative Arts Council, Museum of Modern Art, New York Advisory Board, Grapevine (UK) Leadership Council, New York Foundation for the Arts |
Spouse | Dennis Ardi (m. 1973) |
Website | corporateanthropologyadvisors |
Dana Beth Ardi (née Silverstein) is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, human capitalist,[1] author,[2] and contemporary art collector.[3]
Considered an expert in the field of talent management and organizational design,[4][5] Ardi is the author of The Fall of the Alphas: The New Beta Way to Connect, Collaborate, Influence—and Lead.[6][7][8] She is best known as a corporate anthropologist, which is a human capital practice she developed.[9][10][11]
Ardi spent her childhood in Manhattan, New York. She developed an interest in art at an early age, when her father, Jack Silverstein, owned a haberdashery that was greatly embraced by the art community. Ardi started taking courses at MoMA, a period where she joined a handful of museum groups and began to self educate herself.[12] In 1967, after the 1966 Flood of the Arno River, Ardi traveled to Florence, Italy, where she volunteered as a mud angel, recovering and restoring damaged art throughout the city.[13][14] Following her experience in Florence, she studied Renaissance art and art history at the University of Siena.[15] Ardi earned a Bachelor of Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and a Master of Education and Doctorate from Boston College.[16]
After receiving her PhD, Ardi began a career in special education, working in Boston and New York, and serving as an assistant professor of education at Fordham University's Graduate School of Education.[17] In 1983, she was hired by McGraw-Hill Productions,[18] which marked the start of Ardi's career in traditional and developing media.[19] In 1994, Ardi was hired by R.R. Donnelly and Sons,[20][21] where she led the company's new media initiatives, and, in 1995, she was appointed managing director, Partner, and Global Practice Leader at TMP Worldwide,[22] an executive search firm. At TMP, Ardi focused on human capital and organizational design. She left the company in 2000.[23] Subsequently, she joined Jerry Colonna, Bob Greene and Fred Wilson at Flatiron Partners,[24] a well-known early-stage venture capital fund, where she developed the now-standard practice of including the value of human capital into the overall determination of corporate worth. From 2000 through 2009, Ardi served as a partner and managing director at JPMorgan Partners/CCMP Capital, LLC, a private equity firm.[10][25] Ardi left the company to found Corporate Anthropology Inc., a human capital and advisory firm which provides recruitment and organizational consulting to start ups, investors and corporate clients.[26]
Ardi is a noted contemporary art collector and a mentor to contemporary artists and gallerists.[15] She is a fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, and is an officer on the Creative Arts Council of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Additionally, she is a member of the Leadership Council of the New York Foundation for the Arts.[27][28][29][30]
Ardi, who wrote the column Ask Dr. Dana for The Industry Standard from 1998-2001,[31] is a mentor for Springboard Enterprises, a "highly-vetted expert network of innovators, investors and influencers who are dedicated to building high-growth technology-oriented companies led by women."[32] She has been a keynote and featured speaker at conferences and seminars worldwide, including events presented by The Wall Street Journal, Digital Hollywood, and the Harvard Business School.[33][34][35][36][37]