An entrepreneur, consultant and public policy advocate, Valerie Keller’s work focuses on bridging sectors and industries. As CEO of a social enterprise she explored sustainable models for economic development including field research and pilot programs serving more than 20,000 in the poor regions of the U.S. along the Gulf Coast. She also established healthcare facilities and real estate developments for urban revitalization. In the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, Valerie co-founded two coalitions in the U.S. representing hundreds of government agencies, corporations and NGOs to enact federal systems reform in housing and healthcare, securing tax credits and policy incentives to address market failures and stimulate public-private partnerships. She has provided expert testimony before U.S. Senate and House Committees and served as regional broadcast media guest host and commentator. Valerie has raised $100M USD and served on more than a dozen governing and advisory boards.

As an Associate Fellow of the Saïd Business School she is focused on engaging corporates and institutions for initiatives across the school. Her current research, book and papers focus on re-architecting networks, innovations in crisis response and public-private partnerships and the demand for socially responsible goods and services.

She is founder and CEO of Veritas, a boutique advisory based in New York City working in the Americas and Europe helping high-growth businesses that also have social or environmental impact to launch and scale.

Valerie holds an Executive MBA with Distinction from the Saïd Business School and is a recipient of various achievement awards from the private and public sectors including JP Morgan Chase 20 Under 40, Change Agent Network’s Humanitarian of the Year award and Women Who Mean Business.

Research interests:

•  the role of business in civil society
   radical rearchitecture of systems and networks
   innovations in public-private partnerships
   global risks and disaster response coordination between sectors
   evolutions in corporate social responsibility
   entrepreneurship and economic development
   models of urban revitalization via arts, housing, transportation, civil services
  

Working papers:

 ‘Catalyzing impact via re-architecting networks: case studies in impact film innovations’ with Marc Ventresca, Faculty Fellow, Oxford Institute for Science, Innovation and Society; Senior Scholar, Stanford University Center for Innovation and Communication.
 Keller, V. ‘The Role of Philanthropy in Anticipating and Responding: Is emergency disaster relief a philanthropic strategy?’ report presented at U.S. National Philanthropy Summit convened by the International Community Development’s Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, October 2009.
 Keller, V. ‘Urban Revitalization via Innovations in Public-Private Partnership’ report with grant presentation prepared for U.S. Congress, Economic Development Initiative of U.S. Housing and Urban Development agency, March 2009.
 Keller, V. ‘Lessons Learned: Ensuring the Delivery of Donated Goods to Survivors of Catastrophes via Cross-sector Collaborations and Technological Innovations’ report presented to U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; report to U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Emergency Communications, Preparedness, and Response, July 2008.
 Keller, V. ‘Scaling Economic, Environmental and Social Impact via Public-Private Partnerships between Corporations, Governments, Universities, and NGOs’ report to the International Business Exchange of Service des Échanges et des Stages Agricoles dans le Monde (SESAME), April 2008.
 Keller, V. ‘Smart Growth: Transit-Oriented Development’ report with public-private partnership grant presentation prepared for U.S. Congress, Economic Development Initiative of U.S. Housing and Urban Development agency, February 2008.
 LaSala, H. and Geoff Gjertson with Valerie Keller. ‘Fabricating a Pedagogy While Mending Tears’, paper presented jointly to National Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Annual Meeting, March 2006.