Featured Speaker: Jeff Bluestone
Chief Executive Officer of Sonoma Biotherapeutics and A.W. and Mary Margaret Clausen Distinguished Professor at the Diabetes Center, University of California, San Francisco.

A monthly conversation series exploring the role creativity plays in advancing knowledge beyond the arts.

The project focused on accomplished individuals working in fields often considered “non-artistic,” examining where, how, and when creative thinking operates in disciplines such as science, intelligence, and research.

The idea for Hang Time emerged from a recurring challenge observed through years of board roles within performing arts organizations and a university context, alongside personal experience producing events and films: the difficulty of articulating the value of art beyond aesthetic pleasure or social enrichment. Creativity is frequently treated as an inborn, indefinable quality possessed by a select few, rather than as a core skill underpinning excellence across disciplines. Hang Time sought to challenge this assumption by foregrounding creativity as a fundamental driver of innovation in every field.

The series launched with conversations in the sciences, featuring leading figures including Jeff Bluestone and Dr. Lauren O’Connell. Subsequent sessions expanded into intelligence and investigation, with speakers such as former Army investigator Emanuel Pleitez, followed by a planned conversation with former CIA analyst Anne Hardiman.

Across its run, Hang Time fostered thoughtful, lively discussions that illuminated how creative thinking functions at the highest levels of professional practice. The project demonstrated that creativity is not peripheral to serious work—it is central to discovery, problem-solving, and leadership across domains.