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Doug Henton, founder and president of the Silicon Valley-based firm of Collaborative Economics, knows how to think economics, strategize regionally, and draw together civic alliances for the improvement of American communities.
In the early ’90s, he managed the start-up of the Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, a strategic planning effort involving more than 1,200 leaders. Joint Venture is now recognized as a national model of business-led regional development. Henton continues today as senior advisor to the project, guiding its Annual Index of Silicon Valley. Henton was an early ally of the late John W. Gardner in forming and launching the Alliance for Regional Stewardship. In 2008 he became a co-author of the California Green Innovation Index sponsored by Next 10 ) Stressing always the collaborative approach, Henton’s advised the California Economic Strategy Panel and led the team that created the Monterey Bay Futures Network to ease that region’s adjustment to the Ford Ord base closing. He has spurred collaboratives in Santa Barbara, Sacramento and San Diego and, on the international scene, advised Adelaide, Australia on its new integrated urban development and economic strategy. Other clients include the James Irvine Foundation and Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. Henton founded Collaborative Economics in 1993, after a decade at SRI, where he directed local, state and regional economic strategy projects spanning from Florida to California. As assistant director of SRI’s International Center for Economic Competitiveness, Henton advised the President’s Commission on Industrial Competitiveness, the Western Governors’ Association and federal agencies. He also directed major projects on the economic future of Hong Kong, the technopolis strategy in Japan and regional development in China. With colleagues Kim Walesh and John Melville, Henton wrote Grassroots Leaders for the New Economy: How Civic Entrepreneurs Are Building Prosperous Communities, published in 1997. The book concludes that while the old order of civic leaders may be fading, new globally-oriented leaders are simultaneously emerging. In their newest book, Civic Revolutionaries: Igniting the Passion for Change in America’s Communities, the trio associates today’s regional and civic leaders with America’s founders, providing multiple examples of effective citistate-wide initiatives. Last updated September 2, 2008 |