Dr. Shelley Best

Award-Winning Keynote Speaker

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Cultural Architect

Creative Disruptor®

Disrupt what divides. Reimagine what’s possible.

Dr. Best works with leaders navigating change and burnout. She helps organizations adapt without breaking the people inside them.

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Trusted By

What Leaders Call Her In To Do

When organizations face sustained pressure, change often fails—not because leaders lack vision, but because systems become brittle.


Dr. Shelley Best helps institutions restore clarity, trust, and adaptive capacity during moments when the stakes are high and the margin for error is small.

Drawing on systems thinking, creative practice, and mindful attention, her work supports leaders in:

  • Thinking clearly under pressure

  • Navigating change without fragmentation

  • Building cultures that adapt without burning people out

Why Organizations Invite Dr. Best

Dr. Best helps leaders:

  • Think clearly when conditions feel compressed

  • See systemic patterns that are difficult to name from inside the work

  • Restore capacity without oversimplifying complex realities

The Creative Disruptor® Framework

A Roadmap for adaptive leadership, cultural repair, and Bold Change

As organizations face division, burnout, and declining trust, Dr. Best offers a proven framework for recovery and reinvention. The Creative Disruptor® Framework helps leaders and institutions build adaptive capacity by integrating creativity, systems awareness, and human-centered leadership.

This framework is used by:

  • Corporations and cross-sector initiatives

  • Foundations and philanthropic institutions

  • Universities and leadership programs

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How Organizations Work With Dr. Best

Keynotes Engagements

Catalytic talks that create shared language, insight, and momentum

  • A. From Brittle to Adaptive

    How Organizations Learn to Change Without Breaking

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    Organizations often fracture under pressure. This keynote offers a clear framework for understanding why—and how leaders can build cultures that adapt, respond, and evolve without eroding trust.

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    Audience takeaway:
    Leaders gain language, clarity, and practical insight into how adaptive capacity—not control or urgency—drives long-term performance.

  • B. Leading Through Change

    Clarity, Trust, and Capacity in Times of Disruption

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    This keynote helps leaders steward change in ways that build coherence rather than fear or fragmentation.

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    Audience takeaway:
    Leaders gain tools to navigate uncertainty while maintaining alignment, morale, and forward momentum.

  • C. Sustainable Leadership

    How to Lead Without Burning Out

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    Burnout is rarely a personal failure. This keynote reframes burnout as a systems issue and offers practices that support clarity, trust, and long-term effectiveness.

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    Audience takeaway:
    Leaders leave with a grounded understanding of how stress impacts decision-making and how sustainable leadership practices support healthier teams and institutions.

Leadership Retreats

Immersive experiences that support renewal, discernment, and strategic clarity

  • A. The Phoenix Path

    A Retreat for Changemakers

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    An immersive retreat supporting leaders in releasing depleted patterns and reconnecting to purpose, discernment, and strategic direction.

  • B. Lead with Creativity

    Leadership Retreat

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    A retreat focused on building adaptive cultures through creative intelligence and collaborative problem-solving.

  • C. Executive Advisory & Residencies

    Ongoing partnership for leaders navigating complexity

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    6–12 month advisory engagements

    Institutional residencies for deep culture change

    Designed for senior leadership and cross-sector initiatives

All engagements are grounded in Dr. Best’s Creative Disruptor® Framework.

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Speaker Resources

Planning an event? These resources provide everything you need to evaluate and feature our speakers with confidence.

Speaker Page

Bio, expertise, audiences served, and signature programs.

Event Partner Pack

Essential details for organizers, including program outlines, logistics, and audience outcomes.

Media Sheet

A snapshot of “Why Book This Speaker Now” along with timely topics to cover.

Download Speaker Resources

The Work in Motion

Endorsements & Testimonials

  • “Dr. Best taught us about a framework that changed how we think about pressure, burnout, and decision-making. Months later, her insights are still shaping how we lead and work together.”

    — Victoria Christgau, CEO, Connecticut Center for Non-Violence

  • “If you consider yourself a disruptor, this must-read guide contains everything you need to know if you want to see art used as a tool to bring people and communities together. To lead the charge or join the proverbial shift, dive in and get all the gems!”

    June Archer

    Best Selling Author, TV Personality & Disruptor

  • “Dr. Best has a rare ability to develop leaders while honoring mission. Her coaching helped me build stronger relationships, lead more strategically, and expand our organization in ways that feel both sustainable and values-aligned.”

    —Jendai Miller, CEO, Angel of Edgewood

  • "By showing how art can be a driver of both economic and social impact, this must-read guide challenges us all to strengthen our inner creativity and stimulate critical thinking; this is a wonderful roadmap to becoming a positive force for change for ourselves and those around us."

    Ashleigh Miller

    Owner & Co-founder, Shopzuri.com

  • “Dr. Best's insights on creative disruption have profoundly shaped how we engage community.”

    — Rev. F. Lydell Brown, CEO, 224 EcoSpace (Arts Incubator)

  • “I’ve known Dr. Best for more than three decades and witnessed her evolution as a creative disruptor in every aspect of her life and service. Through this book she shares insight to some of the practices that have allowed her to nourish her soul so she could stay in the work of innovation and changemaking without causing harm to those she’s been called to serve. This book is a powerful resource for those with a commitment to build communities of belonging while fostering civility in our world.”

    The Reverend Bernard Richardson, Ph.D

    Dean of Howard University Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel

  • “Tired of the status quo? In Creative Disruption, Rev. Dr. Shelley Best shows you how innovative ideas, art, and everyday actions can equip you to make a difference. This is a must-read for anyone who wants art to be a force for good and positive change in the world!”

    Stephen Lewis

    President, Forum for Theological Exploration

    www.fteleaders.org

  • “This book is a must read for those who want to better understand why diversity, equity and inclusion matters in the arts. As ballerina-of-color in a BIPOC company, we live the experience of creative disruption every time we step on the stage. This book celebrates the work artists like us are doing and encourages other creatives to use their art to pursue the dream of a world where everyone is valued, and everyone has the chance to experience seeing themselves reflected on the stage.”

    Victoria Jaenson, Ballerina

    Company member

    Collage Dance Collective

Featured Media

Fox 61 – The Power of Purpose and Creative Disruption

In this feature from Fox 61, Rev. Dr. Best shares how creativity, leadership, and cultural repair intersect during times of disruption.

This work is now scaling nationally, supporting institutions ready to move beyond rhetoric toward renewal.

Featured Work

New Release:

Art as a tool for community transformation

Dr. Best’s new book, Creative Disruption, is a bold blueprint for using art, voice, and vision to drive sustainable social change. It’s a must-read for creatives, advocates, and civic leaders ready to lead with heart and power.

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TEDx Talk:

Creativity as a Force for Urban Renewal

What if the key to healing our cities isn’t policy—but poetry, paint, and performance?

In this powerful TEDx Talk, Dr. Best shows how the arts can heal what division has broken, rebuild trust, and reimagine public life through creative leadership

Who This Work Serves

•          Corporate and cross-sector leadership teams

•          Foundations and philanthropic institutions

•          Universities and leadership institutes

•          Executive retreats and senior convenings

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About Dr. Best

Rev. Dr. Shelley D. Best is a nationally respected spiritual leader, cultural strategist, and the visionary behind the Creative Disruptor® Framework—her signature approach to rebuilding communities through the power of art, imagination, and justice.

As the President & CEO of TubmanWalker, Dr. Best leads one of the most dynamic philanthropic movements of our time, advancing reparative models that center belonging, creativity, and equity. A TEDx speaker, minister, award-winning artist, and author of Creative Disruption: A Guide for Arts Activists and Changemakers, her work helps institutions move from rhetoric to renewal—shifting how we think about leadership, cultural repair, and who gets to shape the future.

Whether she’s on stage, in community, or the boardroom, Dr. Best brings an unmatched ability to mobilize vision, voice, and values—turning creative insight into courageous action.

Notable Features and Impact

  • $25M+ raised for community transformation and equity initiatives

  • 12 cities impacted through Creative Disruptor® programs

  • 1,000+ leaders trained in equity-driven wellness, leadership, and cultural development

  • Featured on national platforms in philanthropy, arts, culture, and economic innovation

  • Led initiatives in corporate, government, and grassroots sectors

  • TEDx Speaker — “The Sacred Disruption”

  • Founder, TubmanWalker — Leading systems change through arts, equity, and innovation

  • Author of Creative Disruption — A guide for arts activists and changemakers (Coming Jan 2025)

  • Creator of the $20M Venture Philanthropy Reparations Fund

  • 30+ years in cross-sector leadership across ministry, nonprofits, and civic innovation

Engagement Philosophy

Rev. Dr. Shelley D. Best partners with organizations that are navigating real responsibility, complexity, and consequence. Her work is intentionally designed for well-resourced corporate and cross-sector leadership environments, often supported by foundations or institutional partners.

Rather than delivering one-off inspiration, Dr. Best’s engagements are structured to catalyze lasting change. Each engagement is grounded in a proven framework and tailored to the realities leaders face—compressed timelines, competing priorities, and sustained pressure.

This work is practical, rigorous, and immediately applicable, supporting leaders in restoring clarity, strengthening trust, and building the adaptive capacity required for long-term effectiveness.

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Ready to Disrupt for Good?

Invite Dr. Best to deliver a message that meets the moment — and moves your people forward.

Invite Dr. Best to Speak

Speaker Resources

Planning an event? These resources provide everything you need to evaluate and feature our speakers with confidence.

Speaker Page

Bio, expertise, audiences served, and signature programs.

Event Partner Pack

Essential details for organizers, including program outlines, logistics, and audience outcomes.

Media Sheet

A snapshot of “Why Book This Speaker Now” along with timely topics to cover.

Download Speaker Resources