Team
Creative North Shore is the community/lifestyle division of Creative Collective LLC.
Creative Collective LLC connects creativity, community, and commerce across the North Shore. As a collective of creative professionals, small businesses, organizations, and individuals we coordinate a series of events, traditional and non-traditional marketing initiatives, resources, and best practices to define why creativity matters in all aspects of life. We do this by providing opportunities and online marketing, detailed calendar listings, media coverage, advocacy, event creation/ management and consultations to help promote local artists, nonprofits, and small businesses.
John Andrews (He/Him)
Founder & President
John Andrews is a locally renowned creative thought leader who directs the consultancy arm of Creative Collective. He is the go-to idea guy for implementing intricate creative projects, navigating new ground with municipalities and city leaders, figuring out clever solutions to complex logistical problems, and connecting the dots between artists, dreamers, organizations, and decision-makers in cities across industries by getting everyone in a room together and making them talk to each other.
As founder and Executive Director of Creative Collective, he spends his waking hours educating people on how the intersection of the creative workforce and economic development impacts and benefits communities throughout Essex County. He leads in managing and facilitating projects for municipalities, organizations, and businesses that understand the importance of creating better opportunities at this intersection.
John was awarded Person of the Year (Daily Item) and Small Business of the Year (Salem Chamber of Commerce) in 2021 and 'Storyteller of the Year' by North of Boston CVB in 2023. He also sits on many boards and committees, including the Salem Public Art Commission, the ECCF Creative County Initiative, and the NextGen Philanthropy Initiative. He strategically aligns that work with consultancy projects completed in Beverly, Salem, Peabody, Lynn, and Lawrence.
Alyssa Conary (She/Her)
Membership Director
Alyssa Conary comes to us with a rich background in nonprofit administration and development in Salem's heritage sector. Her expertise fosters a supportive and thriving environment for all our Business Members.
Alyssa is a professional historian with a master’s degree from Salem State University. She has a deep passion for historical research, consulting, and presenting, particularly on witchcraft and magic in seventeenth-century New England.
Before delving 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 and Henry.
Tia Cole (She/Her)
Special Projects Manager
Tia Cole is the on staff implementation expert who takes the team’s wild and innovative ideas and translates them into something tangible and workable. As an interdisciplinary local artist, community organizer, arts advocate, Tia has a throughline to the needs of working artists which she continues to use to educate the community about the benefits of the arts and its impact on regional and economic development.
In her role at Creative Collective, she has facilitated multiple public art projects in partnership with the Lynn Cultural Council, Artist Row Salem, and both the Lynn and Salem Public Arts Commissions. She dedicates her time to supporting the creative economy through community building and placemaking. She was a founding board member of Galleries at Lynn Arts, the Brickyard Collaborative makerspace, and Lynn Main Streets.
She 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.
Elena Rodgers (She/Her)
Special Projects Manager
Elena Rodgers serves as Special Events Director at Creative Collective, bringing thirteen years of event management expertise to her role. She holds a degree in communications with a minor in justice and law administration, discovering her passion for event planning during a music festival internship in Bangor, Maine.
Since 2022, Elena has demonstrated exceptional success managing the Haunted Happenings vendor program, showcasing her skills in vendor relations, logistics coordination, and problem-solving. Her expertise includes overseeing complex site layouts accommodating up to 130 vendor spaces while ensuring seamless integration with other Common events and activities.
Elena has developed robust systems for vendor selection, space allocation, and day-of-event management. With deep family roots in Salem, where she was also married, Elena brings both professional expertise and personal connection to her work creating inclusive spaces for artists and entrepreneurs to thrive.
Before joining Creative Collective full-time, Elena spent five years in the freelance event industry, developing her service-oriented approach to community building and her belief that everyone deserves spaces to connect and recharge.
EVENTS
There really is no better way then to show off highlights of what the creative economy can bring to the community than using events as a platform to showcase the professionals that work in the creative space on a daily basis.
From Drive-Ins to Horror Festivals to flash mobs to pop up art installations, Food Truck Festivals and everything in between we are always following industry trends for the most successful way to run events that compensate artists/creatives and benefit the community through creative placemaking.
ADVOCACY
By fostering local creatives with a network and platform to showcase their skills and talents we facilitate creative networking, gather comprehensive event listings, consult, market and stand as a central curation point for all the wonderful cultural things currently happening, and those on the horizon around Salem. Our members sit on all the major creative and cultural boards and committees ensuring that the creative professional always has a voice at the table. As a member of the Creative Collective we are also able to extend beyond Salem if it is beneficial to the artists/creatives we support.
COVERAGE AND MARKETING
Arts and creativity are visual. The coverage, promotion and marketing of all the amazing things that are created, performed needs to be equally as appealing to the eyes, ears and soul. Through a series of best marketing practices and high quality professional photography, videography, social media coverage and writing we have introduced hundreds of thousands of people to the depth and diversity of the creative scene in Salem and beyond. Our collective of professionals assemble and tell the stories that traditional media tends to shy away from. The combined tools help to shape the new narrative of creativity on the North Shore.
