Dana Beth Ardi is an American entrepreneur,

venture capitalist Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which hav ...

human capital Human capital is a concept used by social scientists to designate personal attributes considered useful in the production process. It encompasses employee knowledge, skills, know-how, good health, and education. Human capital has a substantial ...

ist, author, and

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

collector. Considered an expert in the field of

talent management Talent management (TM) refers to the anticipation of required human capital for an organization and the planning to meet those needs. The field has been growing in significance and gaining interest among practitioners as well as in the scholarl ...

and

organizational design An organizational structure defines how activities such as task allocation, coordination, and supervision are directed toward the achievement of organizational aims. Organizational structure affects organizational action and provides the foundat ...

, Ardi is the author of ''The Fall of the Alphas: The New Beta Way to Connect, Collaborate, Influence—and Lead.'' She is best known as a corporate

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

, which is a human capital practice she developed.

Early life and education

Ardi spent her childhood in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York. She developed an interest in art at an early age, when her father, Jack Silverstein, owned a

haberdasher In British English, a haberdasher is a business or person who sells small articles for sewing, dressmaking and knitting, such as buttons, ribbons, and zippers; in the United States, the term refers instead to a retailer who sells men's clothing, ...

y that was greatly embraced by the art community. Ardi started taking courses at

MoMA Moma may refer to: People * Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist * Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician * Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher Places ; Ang ...

, a period where she joined a handful of museum groups and began to self educate herself. In 1967, after the

1966 Flood of the Arno River The 1966 flood of the Arno ( it, Alluvione di Firenze del 4 novembre 1966) in Florence killed 101 people and damaged or destroyed millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. It is considered the worst flood in the city's history since 1557. Wi ...

, Ardi traveled to

Florence, Italy Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, where she volunteered as a mud angel, recovering and restoring damaged art throughout the city. Following her experience in Florence, she studied

Renaissance art Renaissance art (1350 – 1620 AD) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occ ...

and art history at the

University of Siena The University of Siena ( it, Università degli Studi di Siena, abbreviation: UNISI) in Siena, Tuscany, is one of the oldest and first publicly funded universities in Italy. Originally called ''Studium Senese'', the institution was founded in 1240 ...

. Ardi earned a Bachelor of Science from the

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

, and a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum a ...

and Doctorate from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

Career

After receiving her PhD, Ardi began a career in

special education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

, working in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and New York, and serving as an assistant professor of education at

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

's Graduate School of Education. In 1983, she was hired by

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...

Productions, which marked the start of Ardi's career in traditional and developing media. In 1994, Ardi was hired by R.R. Donnelly and Sons, where she led the company's new media initiatives, and, in 1995, she was appointed managing director, Partner, and Global Practice Leader at

TMP Worldwide Radancy, formerly known as TMP Worldwide Advertising & Communications, LLC, is an independent technology company that provides SaaS for recruitment and talent acquisition. Headquartered in New York City, the company has 14 offices in the United Sta ...

, an executive search firm. At TMP, Ardi focused on human capital and organizational design. She left the company in 2000. Subsequently, she joined Jerry Colonna, Bob Greene and Fred Wilson at Flatiron Partners, a well-known early-stage venture capital fund, where she developed the now-standard practice of including the value of human capital into the overall determination of corporate worth. From 2000 through 2009, Ardi served as a partner and managing director at JPMorgan Partners/CCMP Capital, LLC, a private equity firm. Ardi left the company to found Corporate Anthropology Inc., a human capital and advisory firm which provides recruitment and organizational consulting to start ups, investors and corporate clients.

Involvement in contemporary art

Ardi is a noted contemporary art collector and a mentor to contemporary artists and gallerists. Her personal collection includes works by

Kelley Walker Kelley Walker (born 1969 Columbus, Georgia) is an American post-conceptual artist who lives and works in New York City. He uses advertising and digital media to make "paintings" using screen printing and/or digital printing technologies.http://www. ...

Tracey Emin Tracey Karima Emin, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Associate of the Royal Academy, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawi ...

, Aaron Curry, Sarah VanDerBeek,

Dana Schutz Dana Schutz (born 1976 in Livonia, Michigan) is an American artist who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Schutz is known for her gestural, figurative paintings that often take on specific subjects or narrative situations as a point of depar ...

Martha Rosler Martha Rosler (born 1943) is an American artist. She is a conceptual artist who works in photography and photo text, video, installation, sculpture, and performance, as well as writing about art and culture. Rosler's work is centered on everyday ...

Seth Price Seth Price (born 1973 in Palestine) is a New York City-based multi-disciplinary post-conceptual artist. He lives and works in New York City. Early life Price was born in the village of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, Palestine in 1973. His p ...

Wolfgang Tillmans Wolfgang Tillmans (born 16 August 1968) is a German photographer. His diverse body of work is distinguished by observation of his surroundings and an ongoing investigation of the photographic medium’s foundations. Tillmans was the first photog ...

Amy Sillman Amy Sillman (born 1955) is a New York-based artist, known for process-based paintings that move between abstraction and figuration, and engage nontraditional media including animation, zines and installation.Farago, Jason''The New York Times'', ...

Anne Collier Anne Collier (born Los Angeles, 1970) is an American visual artist working with appropriated photographic images. Describing Collier's work in ''Frieze'' art magazine, writer Brian Dillon said, "Collier uncouples the machinery of appropriation so ...

Josh Smith Joshua Smith (born December 5, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Entering the NBA straight out of high school, Smith played nine seasons with the Atlant ...

, Heimo Zobernig, Carter Mull, Sarah Crowner, William Wegman, and

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

. Ardi is a fellow of the

Royal Society of the Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

, and is an officer on the Creative Arts Council of the

Museum of Modern Art in New York The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

. Additionally, she is a member of the Leadership Council of the

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

Recognition

Ardi, who wrote the column ''Ask Dr. Dana'' for ''

The Industry Standard ''The Industry Standard'' is a U.S. news web site dedicated to technology business news, part of ''InfoWorld'', a news website covering technology in general. It is a revival of a weekly magazine based in San Francisco which was published betwe ...

'' from 1998 - 2001, is a mentor for Springboard Enterprises, a "highly-vetted expert network of innovators, investors and influencers who are dedicated to building high-growth technology-oriented companies led by women." She has been a keynote and featured speaker at conferences and seminars worldwide, including events presented by ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', Digital Hollywood, and the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

Selected works

* ''The Fall of the Alphas''. October 2013. St. Martin's Press, New York. (288 pp
Macmillan

References

External links

Corporate Anthropology Advisors

Museum of Modern Art

New York Foundation for the Arts

Royal Society of the Arts

Springboard Enterprises

Women's Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ardi, Dana Beth American women investors American venture capitalists American art collectors Women art collectors 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American philanthropists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people University at Buffalo alumni Boston College alumni JPMorgan Chase people 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century women philanthropists American women philanthropists