Sabrina Sullivan

Brainstormer, Change Agent, Concerned citizen, Consultant, Environmentalist, Idea generator, Job-seeker, Scientist, Student

A recovering strategy consultant that has returned to the world of academia to challenge my own thinking and spend time learning from great thought leaders and fellow students. Being all about new ideas and striving to have "polymath" on my business card one day, I am all about innovation & ideas, design thinking, foresight (can't get enough of scenario planning and futurism), and a sustainable world and future for us and generations to come. Currently, I am pursuing a dual degree (MBA / MS) in Global Sustainable Enterprise and Complex Systems at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I am also a salmon, Native culture outlines that individuals embody characteristics of animals, and through work with native leaders, my animal was discovered. Electric, focused, and wholly creative, a Salmon’s energy is palpable. A natural motivator, a Salmon's confidence and enthusiasm is infectious. Soon, everybody is onboard with the Salmon – even regarding lofty ideas. This animal has a need for purpose, meaning and goals, and has no trouble finding volunteers for its crusades. A salmon swims upstream, staying strong in the face of a challenge. However, salmons are never alone. Generous, intelligent, and intuitive, a salmon is a team-player. Needless to say, I am up for the challenge that comes with tomorrow’s challenges and creating positive change in the world.

Leaving this world a better place. This is reflected in various aspects of my life. From being a serial volunteer, to a complex systems junkie, it is all focused on building a "toolkit for good".

Is choosing a "major" an appropriate approach to deal with an interconnected, complex, uncertain and non-linear world and future? Have we fundamentally created a world that purposely siloes thinking, decision-making and expertise? In many way, yes. But, we need to turn this on its head. We need polymaths, systems thinkers and those with the foresight and view to the future. As such, we need to think about how we foster this learning in schools and in other institutions (e.g., government, business). By creating multi-disciplinary fields of study, asking not what you want to be when you grow up but rather pursue life-long inquiry into the world and our communities, we create a society of critical thinkers, where men or women can do great things in many fields. We create a world positioned to fuel the next great thinkers (e.g., Da Vinci). Let's be precocious about ideas, learning and understanding connectivity, and thus poised for the future and making it a sustainable one at that.

Complex Systems Science, Consulting, Design Thinking in Business & Life, Foresight, Learning, Painting, Strategy, Sustainability, Systems Thinking & Sustainable Strategy Development, Volunteerism

We all need inspiration. No one blazes full steam ahead, every minute, every day, without a bit of drive. TED offers that day to day inspiration. TED has become a regular feature of my everyday: from watching for my own mental pleasure, to exposing my students to new ideas to challenges their thinking. Not only this, but through a great network of change agents, I found a role as a Board Member and "Inspiration Instigator" on the TEDxWinnipeg board. TED is quickly becoming part of my very fabric. You don’t have to be an astrophysicist to be fascinated from insight into the sky above. You don’t have to know a speaker intimately to feel personally connected to their impassioned plea on a personal level. Ask why? Show no fear? Be Childish. That’s what TED has and continues to create as gospel. Think relationships over transaction. Create a movement, not a campaign. Be driven by purpose. TED and its talks discover and sustain excitement around our people, our communities, world, & ideas

Illustrating children's books. Collaborating with my mom to write the story and my doing the visuals, we do it for fun (often using her crazy childhood as inspiration) and leave it at that.