Madelynn is an international strategist and facilitator working with innovators, entrepreneurs and executives to build, activate, and scale open innovation ecosystems for a more equitable and sustainable future. She is currently Managing Partner at Armillaria, a systems design lab working with individuals, organisations, and communities seeking to create a more thriving world.
A career "community architect", she has worked with dozens of organizations to bring about ethical models of economic development, product design, and manufacturing. She has extensive expertise working across nonprofits, startups, grassroots movements, corporate innovation labs, and government initiatives.
Prior to Armillaria, she led community education and communication efforts at Fictiv, a distributed manufacturing platform that serves many of the world’s leading automobile, aerospace, and consumer electronics companies. An early leader and advocate for the Maker Movement, Madelynn was a founding member of Freeside Atlanta, Atlanta's first maker facility, and has been director, board member, and advisor to a plethora of global maker programs and organisations, with a particular focus on democratizing the means of education and production in marginalized communities.
She serves on the board of MakerNet, which connects individuals, organisations, and communities with the learning, skills, and opportunities to make things that transform the world, and as an advisor to Promise Hub, an entrepreneurial incubator in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda. She is a sought-after speaker, and workshop facilitator on open innovation, the maker movement, advanced manufacturing, and appropriate technology. She has spoken at events across the globe, including SXSW, MLOVE, Connected Conference, Maker Faire, TechFestival, Pirate Summit, and more.