Team
The people behind the connections
Different expertise. Shared purpose.
Creative Collective is a seven-person team working across membership, advocacy, marketing, events, partnerships, strategy, and community building. The roles are different, but the work is connected: make useful introductions, build practical systems, and help more people take part in the places they call home.
Our team brings lived experience from small business, the arts, nonprofit leadership, communications, history, public programming, relationship building, and anti-oppression work. That mix is the point. It lets us meet a business owner, partner, artist, municipality, or community project with more than one way forward.
Meet the team
Find the people behind the work
Choose a name to jump to the full bio. You do not need to know who handles your question before contacting us—we will route you to the right person.
John Andrews (He/Him)
Founder & President
John came to Salem to run a restaurant. What he found was a community packed with artists, independent businesses, and unconventional thinkers—and a whole lot of people running into the same walls. He had 16+ years in food service and event planning, so he knew exactly what those walls felt like: limited time, limited money, and not enough backup. That experience gave him perspective and something to work with.
Today, John works at the intersection of the creative sector, small-business development, tourism, and community building. He connects artists, business owners, community organizations, municipal leaders, and funders across Essex County. Getting the right people in the same room changes things. He spends a lot of time building those rooms.
John calls his approach calculated disruption, and the word calculated is important. He studies how civic, economic-development, tourism, and business-support systems function so he knows when to work within them, when to push back, and when to build a different way through. The disruption is always in service of something: better access, clearer pathways, and a seat at the table for people who should have been there all along.
John leads consulting projects for municipalities and organizations in Beverly, Salem, Peabody, Lynn, and Lawrence. As a House Doctor consultant with MassDevelopment, he works directly with businesses traditional support systems too often miss. He serves on the steering committee for the Essex County Community Foundation’s Creative County Initiative, advises the Salem Main Streets board, and is a member of both the Beverly 400+ and Salem 400+ commemorative committees.
In 2021, the Daily Item named John Person of the Year, and the Salem Chamber of Commerce recognized Creative Collective as Small Business of the Year. In 2023, the North of Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau named John Storyteller of the Year.
Alyssa Conary (She/Her)
Membership Director
Alyssa brings a rich background in nonprofit administration and development in Salem’s heritage sector. Her expertise helps foster a supportive and thriving environment for Creative Collective’s Business Members.
A professional historian with a master’s degree from Salem State University, Alyssa has a deep passion for historical research, consulting, and presenting—particularly on witchcraft and magic in seventeenth-century New England.
Before moving into history and nonprofit work, Alyssa earned a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston. Although she has stepped back from performing, her love for music and the arts continues to shape her perspective on the importance of creative expression in enriching lives and communities.
Alyssa lives in southern New Hampshire with her husband Ryan, their children William and Isabelle, and their cats Jonah, Henry, and Oscar.
Tia Cole (She/Any)
Business Advocate
Tia is the team’s on-staff implementation expert, translating wild and innovative ideas into something tangible and workable. As an interdisciplinary local artist, community organizer, and arts advocate, Tia has a direct line to the needs of working artists. She uses that perspective to help communities understand the benefits of the arts and their impact on regional and economic development.
At Creative Collective, Tia has facilitated public-art projects in partnership with the Lynn Cultural Council, Artist Row Salem, and the Lynn and Salem Public Arts Commissions. She dedicates her time to supporting the creative sector through community building and placemaking. She was a founding board member of Galleries at Lynn Arts, the Brickyard Collaborative makerspace, and Lynn Main Streets.
Tia is also a founding member of Mutual Aid Lynn, a board member for the social-justice group Prevent the Cycle, chair of the Lynn Public Art Commission, and a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Ainsley Keating (She/Her)
Marketing Manager
A Bedford, Massachusetts, native, Ainsley studied psychology and communications with a focus on consumer behavior at Endicott College—a combination that shapes everything she brings to her role as Marketing Manager. She oversees content creation, distribution, and analysis across social media while supporting members with creative projects and showing up at events.
When she is not in work mode, you will find her boxing in the gym, chasing down new music, and exploring her growing passion for art.
Mikki Wilson (She/Her)
Dot Connector
Mikki Wilson is the founder and CEO of Dot Connector Consulting and the creator of DotConnectHer, an invitation-only network for high-achieving women in business. Known as The Dot Connector, she helps entrepreneurs, executives, and community leaders turn relationships into real opportunities through intentional introductions, strategic networking, and human-centered business development.
Mikki’s work focuses on helping women elevate their value, voice, and visibility by leveraging the power of their networks. Through advisory work, community leadership, speaking, and facilitation, she shows people how to build meaningful relationships that create lasting impact, stronger communities, and sustainable business growth.
yeong (per/per/pers)
Creative Strategist & AIE Consultant
yeong is a ghost in the machine: remote, behind the scenes, and always in service. Per keeps the gears turning across back-end operations, marketing, event-web support, digital content, newsletters, and blogs—all while making sure the work stays rooted in something real. yeong’s background in social sciences, philosophy, and business is not just a foundation; it is a lens and a compass.
Per keeps anti-oppression, identities, and empowerment (AIE) at the center of Creative Collective’s work by addressing all forms of oppression and helping ensure every identity, story, and community is seen, heard, reflected, and championed. yeong also brings that framework to independent consulting with higher-education institutions and businesses.
Outside the work, yeong is a culinary explorer and self-declared art-form completionist. Animals are not just part of per life; they are the lifestyle. Essex County is the latest addition to yeong’s world, and per is here for all of it.
Machel Piper (She/Her)
Director of Strategic Partnerships
Machel, founder of Rowan Development, LLC, leads Creative Collective’s strategic partnerships and corporate sponsorships. She is a bridge builder connecting local businesses with the resources they need to thrive. For members, that means more critical funding, broader community reach, and an expanded ecosystem dedicated to strengthening the regional creative sector.
She brings more than 30 years of social-impact and communications experience to this work, both nationally and here in Essex County. Outside the office, she is an artist, Reiki Master, and professional squirrel-whispering enthusiast who advocates for a world gently guided by feline wisdom.
How the team works
One question rarely stays in one department.
Connect the people
We bring members, partners, artists, businesses, institutions, and public leaders into the same conversation when the work calls for it.
Build the system
We turn ideas into practical pathways, communications, programs, partnerships, and repeatable tools.
Stay with the work
We combine strategy with implementation because useful community work depends on both.
Start with the right team
You do not need to know who handles your question.
Tell us whether you are exploring membership, a vendor opportunity, a partnership, consulting, an event, or something else. We will route you to the right person.
