Dyer, Gregersen and Christensen, education researchers state “Innovative entrepreneurship is not a genetic predisposition, it is an active endeavor...innovators must consistently act different to think different.” In this newly conceived residency at McColl Center for Art + Innovation, inaugural Innovator-in-Residence Jennifer Appleby, draws on the parallels of art, business and innovation to engage in an inquiry with artists and community to fearlessly chart the evolution of professional, personal and community life. Committed to making Charlotte a great place to live, create, work and play, Appleby will engage with artists, Charlotte’s business community, city and county leadership, colleges and universities to ignite a movement that will help the City and the Center tell an even more powerful story about Charlotte and its innovative spirit.
President and Chief Creative Officer of Wray Ward, Jennifer Appleby is a passionate and innovative thinker whose creative ideas and strategic vision have grown her company, her customers’ brands and her community’s offerings.
Appleby joined Wray Ward, an independently owned creative marketing communications firm based in Charlotte, N.C., in 1993 as senior art director. She was promoted to executive creative director in 1995 and senior vice president in 1998. In early 2001, she was named president and chief creative officer and today is the agency owner, making Wray Ward one of the largest woman-owned businesses in the region.
Appleby has been recognized professionally for her business leadership, community service and creativity. She received the 2008 Charlotte Business Woman of the Year Award from Queens University’s McColl School of Business as well as the Charlotte Business Journal’s Women in Business Achievement and 40 Under 40 Awards. She won the Mint Museum of Art’s Spirit Award, the Charlotte Ad Club’s Silver Medal Award, Women in Communications’ ACE Award and ASC’s Mary B.A. Howell Award. She was also named to the US Airways Charlotte USA 20, a list of the city’s most dynamic women.
Appleby is a graduate of Penn State University and a past participant of both the Charlotte Chamber Leadership School and the Innovation Institute at the McColl Center for Art + Innovation.
She lives with her husband and two daughters in Charlotte.