Erika Gregory

Managing Director, N Square Collaborative

Bio

Erika Gregory is an accomplished catalyst for social innovation. Over the last 25 years Erika has led creative approaches to some of most crucial social challenges of our time—from reducing the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation to providing excellent education opportunities for children in poverty.

Now in her role as the Managing Director of N Square Collaborative, the brainchild of five of the world’s largest peace and security funders (Skoll Global Threats Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Ploughshares Fund, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation) Erika leads a team that is exploring cross-disciplinary, collaborative approaches to nuclear weapons threat—from engaging technology innovators to recasting the way nuclear weapons are portrayed in popular media.

Part R&D lab, part venture fund, N Square’s approach reflects Erika’s experience building organizations and leading innovation programs for clients in the private sector, government, philanthropy, and the public sector in the US, Asia, and Europe. Erika’s recent TED Talk, "Generation Possible: Innovating the Way to a World Free from Nuclear Threat by 2045" lays out a vision for today’s rising leaders to end a century of dependence on nuclear weapons.

A graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama and a master facilitator of group process, Erika has co-founded two companies: Collective Invention, a boutique social innovation firm, and The Idea Factory, a strategy and innovation center. In the early 2000’s, Erika also supervised the replication of San Francisco-based Idea Factory model in Amsterdam, London, Paris, and Singapore.

Erika and her family are founders of the A Home for Juana project to build homes for impoverished women and their families in Guatemala, her daughter’s birth country.