Michael O’Bryan

Career Studies

Michael O’Bryan is a practitioner and researcher in the fields of community development, organizational culture, and human well-being. He is the director of learning at the Village of Arts and Humanities and an innovation fellow at Drexel University’s Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation. He is on the boards of the Samuel S. Fels Fund and the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Mr. O’Bryan is the founder of Humanature, a consultancy working with nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies to transform how they understand and support human development, interaction, and performance. Past and current clients include NeighborWorks America, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the Strada Education Network, and the United Negro College Fund. Mr. O’Bryan has spoken about his work at such venues as Cornell University, SOCAP, and the Apollo Theater in New York.

Mr. O’Bryan joined the faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2019. He is also a lecturer in city planning at the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design and serves on the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’s Commission on the Arts.