Dyanis De Jesús, Creative Strategy Consultant

Dyanis De Jesús has seen how many of the artists she grew up with are part of a vibrant, growing creative economy in Puerto Rico. “A lot of countries that struggle with their economies, even developing countries, are looking at their creative industries (media, design, film, arts, etc.) as a way to drive entrepreneurship because, as a sector, they are a great alternative for economic development.” To diversify and fortify the local creative economy back on the island, De Jesús founded the Puerto Rico Creative Economy Initiative (PRCEI) alongside Ricardo Burgos, Ernesto Cruz, and Sofía Stolberg. The project’s aim is to “connect the creative and cultural industries in the way of creative assets, and promote Puerto Rico as the ‘Creative and Technology Hub of the Americas’.”

De Jesús lived in Puerto Rico until her 20s. Back then, her first entrepreneurial venture was Prototipo—a platform for various creative projects, including a print magazine, meant to capture the art and design scene on the island. Prototipo published seven editions and De Jesús was able to expose this growing Puerto Rican scene at local and international events such as Art Basel Fairs in Miami and Switzerland. Eventually, it caught the attention of global Ad Agency Leo Burnett, with headquarters in Chicago, where De Jesús was offered a role as Creative Director. She remembers deciding to leave Puerto Rico not because of economic pressures, but because she wanted to expand her career, gaining knowledge and experience abroad. She did just that, developing her business and leadership skills and exposing herself to multicultural international markets such as Milan, Italy where she worked for several years.

In 2011, a move to New York City served as a much anticipated reconnect with Puerto Rico, and the time felt right to formalize what she had been doing so far with personal and professional pursuits. This is when a business degree for creatives at Pratt Institute opened the door to the three pillars of her practice: Design Thinking, Creative Economies and Triple Bottom Line. Her thesis project, “Designing Sustainability into Creative Economies” argued that besides economic well-being, creative economies can have a positive impact on society, the environment, and culture. These are the topics that today allow her to contribute back to her country, while she also serves as visiting professor of the graduate program on Design, Arts & Cultural Management at Pratt.

De Jesús lives with her husband in New York City and works as a Creative Strategy Consultant. She flies to San Juan at least once every three months to attend forums, conferences and working sessions supported by her organization PRCEI. She helps educate public and private sectors, and the creative and entrepreneurial community about topics related to design thinking, innovation and creative economies. “One of the things that excites me most about a creative economy is that it’s leaning less on the government and leaning more on the people, our own ideas and resources, to spur innovation and growth” she said.

Her latest venture, ChicaPReneurs, in partnership with Michelle Pérez-Kenderish is a network of women that serves as a bridge between San Juan and NYC to support solo-preneurs working in creative industries acá y allá. They launched in NYC in the Fall of 2014 and already have a community of 20 chicas. On October 2, 2015 both women will be launching a chapter in Puerto Rico, via their participation in the Animus Conference: Women’s Innovation Journey where they are guest speakers.