Arizona
Over 36 years, Matt Lehrman turned a career that started as an advocate for big business into a mission for all voices to be meaningfully heard. Today, as Co-Founder and Managing Director of Social Prosperity Partners, he inspires people in communities, companies, and causes to meaningfully hear each other.
The Long Island, NY native started as a Washington, DC lobbyist after earning a double degree in government and sociology from Oberlin College in Ohio. He worked for the Mortgage Bankers Association and National Association of Realtors before pulling up stakes and moving to Arizona as a newlywed in 1988.
After joining the corporate sales team at Citibank in Phoenix and later serving as Marketing Director for Bank of Scottsdale, Matt’s career turned towards nonprofit management where his experience in sales and public policy played a big part in his subsequent successes as an advocate for arts and culture in Arizona.
He was appointed Marketing Director of Scottsdale Center for Arts in 1995 and helped that organization exceed $1 million in annual ticket sales for the first time that season, and then surpass $3.4 million in ticket sales just five years later. He also led the marketing for the launch of SMoCA, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, in February 1999.
In the aftermath of the tragedy of 9/11, Matt conceived and founded Alliance for Audience & ShowUp.com, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization, to pursue collaborative audience development initiatives on behalf of Greater Phoenix’s, and ultimately Arizona’s, entire arts and cultural sector. As Founder and Executive Director, he pioneered new technology-driven approaches to promoting arts and cultural attendance, selling discount tickets, and analyzing aggregate data on cultural participation. For his innovative leadership, Matt became sought after across the US and by communities internationally for guidance in organizing multi-party collaborative initiatives.
Matt was a 2007 participant in Stanford University's joint Executive Program for Non-Profit Leadership in association with National Arts Strategies.
In 2012, he was appointed a Faculty Associate at Arizona State University's Herberger Institute for Design & the Arts where he taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses in marketing, business management, and entrepreneurship.
He served as Arizona Theatre Company's Interim Managing Director for 13 months beginning in September 2014, to guide the beloved State Theatre Company through a dire period of financial, governance, and management instability.
In partnership with long-time friend and former Scottsdale City Manager John Little , he founded Social Prosperity Partners to facilitate courageous conversations that inspire companies, causes, and communities towards resilience, innovation, and collaborative action.
In addition, Matt presents original workshops to CEOs, business owners, and key executives as a national speaker to VISTAGE®, the world’s leading business advisory, and executive coaching organization.
Matt and his wife are empty-nesters whose children reside in New York and Boston. With a passion for food, travel, and making new friends, they look forward to expanding their world travels, which most recently have included Spain, Cuba, Israel, Italy, Scotland, England, Thailand, and France.
Let's Talk Possibilities
It's time to break the mindset of crisis & disruption.
“The future is unknowable, but it’s incredibly malleable.”
Join your fellow nonprofit leaders in an immersive exercise in strategic visioning that stretches you to think of yourself and your organization in ways beyond the constraints and challenges of today. Give yourself permission to explore such questions as:
What is our extraordinary?
How will the world be different in 10 years?
What must we always protect/What should we be open to change? and;
What more can I/we contribute to the health, vitality, and collaborative spirit of our community?
Instead of a “best practices” lecture or a "show & tell" panel, this incredibly lively session takes full advantage of the precious & energizing gift of togetherness. Come prepared to engage in a fast-connecting way to generate valuable ideas for yourself and your organization while also revitalizing the nonprofit sector’s spirit of purpose and community.
This program (available as a keynote, breakout, workshop, or retreat) is empowering for staff, board members, and volunteers in service to nonprofit organizations of every size and scope.
From Conflict to Conversation
Must disagreement be disagreeable?
Amidst unprecedented disruption and uncertainty, there’s never been a more necessary time for community leaders to learn how to tackle complex and sensitive issues in ways that make people feel heard, respected, and empowered.
Inspiring and wholly actionable, Matt Lehrman animates the principle that where people work together courageously, their potential is unlimited.
Takeaways include:
How to Find Shared Values
6 Facets of Emotional Intentionality
A Different Kind of Community Conversation
Redefining Courage
How to Satisfy What People Want Most
and more!
Ideal for conference keynotes (live & virtual) and also adaptable for half & full-day workshops, webinars, and leadership retreats.
Revive Your Customer Conversations
Emerging from disruption, business leaders are challenged not merely to reassemble back to pre-pandemic positions – but to reconfigure toward new possibilities. Nowhere is that imperative more opportunity-rich than in your company’s relationship with its customers.
Matt Lehrman shares an innovative and pragmatic approach to catalyzing your company's ability to DELIGHT, ENTHRALL, AWAKEN & INSPIRE loyalty & customer engagement.
Takeaways include:
Start with responsibility & accountability
Caring for staff = Caring for customers
5 essential dimensions of customer engagement
Train your team for "emotional intentionality"
How to recover damaged customer relationships and more!
Available for conference keynotes, workshops, webinars, and retreats.
Call to discuss how we can you help find the right speaker(s) for your organization.
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