STAFF DIRECTORY
LISA CARNEVALE
Vice President of Innovation Initiatives
Lisa is the Vice President of Innovation Initiatives at Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. She leads the Innovation Team, overseeing the state’s Innovation Resources. Her position also supports the work of the Science and Technology Advisory Council.Since 1997, Lisa has worked in strategy, organizational development and communications. During these years, she started new nonprofit organizations in emerging economic sectors, led innovative initiatives in both Seattle and Providence, and helped numerous nonprofits and civic entities tackle impact through policy and engagement. Lisa melds her years of experience as a communicator, advocate and entrepreneur to provide forward-looking strategy and execution for start-up organizations, innovative companies, nonprofits and civic agencies. Over her career, she has engaged in roles that have included community building, lobbying, executive leadership, interim leadership, organizational development, and director of strategy and communications.
Lisa’s leadership includes co-founding and directing Partnership for Creative Industrial Space, a nonprofit real estate development organization focused on the creative reuse of industrial and manufacturing mills in Providence; leading RI Citizens for the Arts from an all-volunteer effort to a nationally-tied advocacy voice for the arts in the political realm; and, shaping a young coalition of tobacco-free leaders around policy positions and organizational structure at American Lung Association of the Northeast. Lisa most recently founded and led the growth of DESIGNxRI, a nonprofit economic development organization serving as a catalyst for the design sector in RI. As a consultant at MYRANDA, Lisa has worked with clients ranging from early-stage high tech and international business-to-business manufacturers to nonprofit organizations, advocacy networks, place making initiatives and small businesses.
Lisa received her B.A. in Communications with a concentration in Public Relations from Rhode Island College. She also studied at the California State University at Fresno. She is currently the Chair of the Design Review Committee of the Capital Center Commission in Providence and a business mentor through RIHub VMS.
