Leadership

Steve is the founder of (add)ventures and an Emmy award-winning producer and writer who oversees all aspects of our firm’s strategic and creative campaigns.

His creativity, marketing savvy and innovative vision have been rewarded with Inc. 500 status (Inc. Magazine’s list of the 500 fastest-growing companies); a Blue Chip Enterprise Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; an InnerCity 100 award (a list of the top 100 fastest-growing inner-city companies in the United States); and numerous international awards for creative excellence. Additionally, DiversityBusiness named (add)ventures one of the Top 500 Diversity-Owned Businesses in the United States, and Steve has been honored as the Small Business Association Minority Business Owner of the Year.  

Prior to founding (add)ventures, Steve helped build an in-house advertising and public relations agency at EMC Corporation that – in just three years – fueled explosive growth for the company from near startup to a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange.

Steve’s insights on business often appear in the media, including prominent news outlets, such as the Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Journal Constitution and Total Retail. His personal creative insights and humorous perspectives have appeared in popular consumer media outlets, including Parents, Parenting and Redbook magazines. He also serves as a regular contributor on The Huffington Post and Business Insider, and is a member of the Forbes Agency Council.

In the community, Steve devotes significant time and passion to giving back – both personally and professionally. He is particularly engaged in youth empowerment through education and athletics – serving as a volunteer soccer, basketball and baseball coach at the youth, middle school and high school levels.

Steve is a graduate and active alumnus of Boston College where he is a member of its 1863 Society, a Flynn Fund contributor and former board director of its 125,000-plus member Alumni Association.

Mary taps her strategic skills to collaborate with client partners on crafting solutions to their communications challenges, particularly in the areas of strategic and content marketing, public relations and digital strategies. She is adept at leading client partners through our firm’s SOLVEsessions® – comprehensive brainstorming sessions designed to identify and evaluate information needed to build consensus – and creating road maps for enhancing the brands of companies and organizations.

Prior to her leadership position at (add)ventures, Mary led public relations and marketing campaigns at Southcoast Health System, where she applied her keen strategic sense to shaping and implementing effective media relations, community relations, crisis management, and marketing programs.

Mary is a firm believer in community and civic involvement, and mentoring young communications professionals. She is a graduate of Leadership Rhode Island and a member of the Public Relations Society of America, the Providence College President’s Council. She has served on event committees for Hasbro Children’s Hospital, the March of Dimes, Adoption Rhode Island, the Joe Andruzzi Foundation, Tufts University Alumni Relations and The Wheeler School.

Mary earned a bachelor’s degree in English and Political Science from Tufts University and a master’s degree in business with a concentration in marketing from Providence College.

Wayne’s talent for aligning the creative direction of a project with the strategic goals of a client partner, and his ability to build collaborative relationships enable him to effectively lead the creative process at (add)ventures. His design expertise – combined with an innate ability to simplify complex communication challenges – helps client partners achieve their marketing and branding goals through visual communications, including marketing campaigns, print and digital publications, collateral materials, videos, websites and interactive media.

Before joining (add)ventures, Wayne was the art director for a publishing company, where he oversaw three monthly national publications and led the design for the company’s trade show and sales collateral needs. His background also includes expertise in packaging design.

Wayne has served as an adjunct professor for continuing education at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) since 1997 – teaching a range of classes within RISD’s Graphic Design Certificate program. He is a graduate of Leadership Rhode Island and earned a bachelor’s degree in illustration from Rhode Island School of Design.

As chief operating officer, Joe oversees organizational development and works to improve our firm’s overall processes and procedures while supporting new business efforts and providing oversight for the (add)ventures Miami office.

Prior to joining (add)ventures, Joe was the chief administrative officer for the Rhode Island State Police where he managed all aspects of staffing, budgeting and programming for the organization. From funding and appropriations to strategic planning and training, Joe – who was the third highest-ranking member of the state police – led “big picture” operations. His career with the Rhode Island State Police spanned 23 years.

Joe has served as an assistant instructor for the Bryant College Executive Development Center, a board member of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, editor of Rhode Island Trooper magazine; and was a Board of Trustees member for Ocean Tides.

A graduate of Leadership Rhode Island, Joe earned his bachelor’s degree from Roger Williams University, a master’s degree from Salve Regina University and is a graduate of the FBI’s National Academy.

Tracy has an incredible attention to detail - both for design quality as well as the nuances of proactive relationship building. She has built a process that enables client partners to feel connected to the entire creative journey from concept to post-project analysis, as well as feel part of our (add)ventures family. She first started partnering with us in 1998 and has grown to be an integral member of our leadership team.

Prior to joining the (add)ventures team, Tracy owned her own digital imagery business, where she worked with designers and photographers to improve and digitally enhance their photographs. She started her own business after gaining more than ten years experience with  a leading Rhode Island offset printing and mailing service company. There, she started as a graphic artist and evolved to manage the entire prepress department, where she oversaw the system for digital imagery and color correction. As a prepress manager, Tracy was on the forefront of new digital imagery technologies that, today, have revolutionized the digital imagery, production and design industries.

Tracy is a graduate of Leadership Rhode Island and earned a degree in photography at the Rhode Island School of Photography. 

An Emmy Award-winning media professional, Scott leads our video and animation team where he conceptualizes, produces and directs videos for our client partners. He employs a unique combination of production expertise and leadership acumen to drive innovative brand campaign content – bringing stories to life, exposing human elements of the brand and creating a connection with consumers.

Scott has a proven track record of producing engaging content for Fortune 25 and Fortune 100 organizations with diverse deliverables. With Scott at the helm of the video and animation team, (add)ventures has earned a number of prestigious industry awards.

Prior to joining (add)ventures, Scott was the vice president/director of photography at a video firm in Providence, and served as a media consultant for Bryant University. Scott also served as a Civil Affairs liaison in the U.S. Army for 14 years.

Andrea concentrates on enhancing client relations and developing strategic marketing and branding campaigns that deliver results. She plays a key role in advising client partners on marketing strategies with a specialized focus on professional recruitment and brand management. Her marketing objectives are designed to achieve brand loyalty through stakeholder communication campaigns and to inform, inspire, recruit and retain brand stakeholders.

Prior to joining (add)ventures, Andrea was an owner and president of i.d. Group, Inc., a Providence-based advertising agency where she oversaw all operations concerning client relations, budget and media planning, and the development and implementation of strategic branding and marketing campaigns. Andrea has provided senior-level marketing services to clients in the financial, educational, retail, manufacturing and high-technology markets.

She is a graduate of Leadership Rhode Island and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island.

Lisa utilizes her expertise in user-experience design to inspire user-centered solutions for our client partners. She provides future-forward leadership to guide others in the application of advanced technologies and integrates user insights into the design of branded experiences. Prior to joining (add)ventures, Lisa was a manager of user experience research at Sapient Corporation and lead of human factors discipline at global design company IDEO. Lisa holds a bachelor’s degree in human factors/engineering psychology from Tufts University and a master’s degree in industrial psychology/human factors from George Mason University.

Richard leads and collaborates with cross-functional strategic and creative teams to deliver innovative and elegant design solutions to a range of client partners. He also helps develop holistic brand experiences across multiple channels and provides art direction from conception to completion. Prior to joining (add)ventures, Richard served as a consultant for a range of organizations in consumer, technology and service industries. Richard holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Massachusetts College of Art and Design and has continued his education at Rhode Island School of Design.