"The MADman"
William P. Marino, entrepreneur, community organizer, writer, and public servant, is a founder of The Creativity Lab. In addition, he leads the Lakewood-West Colfax Business Improvement District and is a champion for 40 West Arts District in Lakewood, Colorado. Prior to creating The Lab and spearheading the BID and 40 West Arts initiatives, Marino built and sold three companies in the publishing and technology sectors, served as a two-term planning commissioner, and chaired numerous task forces on economic development, community planning, and land use. As a lifelong student of creativity and quantum physics, he seeks unifying solutions through a process he calls “purposeful friction”—a collision of contrasting views—which despite inevitable uncertainty, unleashes the potential for ground-breaking outcomes. Recipient of the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts John Madden Leadership Award in 2015 and the Americans for the Arts Michael Newton Award for Leadership in 2018, Marino earned his BA degree in language arts from the University of Central Florida, attended the University of South Florida for graduate studies in Linguistics and Seton Hall University's Masters of Strategic Communications and Leadership Program. A published author and frequent speaker on entrepreneurship, business strategies, and community engagement, Marino sits on the boards of 40 West Arts, Metro West Housing Solutions, West Colfax Community Association, Rocky Mountain Wildlife Alliance, and a number of start-up companies.
Why is Marino The MADman? MAD is an acronym, a simple reminder and guiding principle for his life: "Make A Difference."
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“Sensei Y-Not"
Kevin Kazuhiro Yoshida, entrepreneur, architect, and designer, joined with Marino to co-found The Creativity Lab in 2015. Yoshida, a Denver native who received his architectural degree from the University of Southern California, returned to practice architecture in Colorado in 1994. He has earned a reputation as an insightful designer who upholds both ethics and aesthetics. He is focused on developing relationships with people and organizations that share the core values of questioning, challenging, and disrupting the status quo. As an active advocate for his community, Yoshida serves as the Board President of the Lakewood-West Colfax Business Improvement District, as a member of the Board of Directors for 40 West Arts District, as planning commissioner for the Golden as an appointee to Colorado Creative Industries, an division of Colorado’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
Why is Kevin " Sensei Y-not"? Ideas that change our world often start with challenging the status quo and asking: "why not?"
