Wordsmith, facilitator and creative lead, Jonathan has built his work-life around helping organizations do the next initiative well. He believes that a critical ongoing need in every organization is the capacity to launch well, and the thoughtful vision, strategy, planning and execution that get it done.

The exploration in how to do this led to an MBA in strategy and marketing from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. Seeing a gap in how we strengthen our capacity for change, Jonathan developed strategic processes to help organizations take on new endeavors.

Jonathan has named within and across many industries, including consumer brands like Coke, technology brands like Apple, technical and manufacturing (including the medical device leader, Medtronic), two hospital systems, startups, a range of nonprofits (from front-line change organizations to the arts), publishers and educational organizations.

In addition to naming, Jonathan continues to consult and speak on on brand strengthening, communications planning and campaign development. 

Before his knack for names became an passion, Jonathan received national recognition for his ads, brochures, radio spots, annual reports, displays and promotions, and has been honored by Communication Arts, AIGA, GraphicDesign USA and AR100, among others. He was also recognized with two national awards for his children’s book.

Jonathan was born and raised in Japan, and in addition to being fluent in the language, he has a passion for unagi and onsen. He serves on an education enrichment board and an arts board. Jonathan and his family of four sail and travel (and sometimes travel in order to sail) whenever they can.