Fostering US Exchange

Dr. Les Joynes (US)

“ Supporting cultural exchange since 1992, I seek to support and build connections and mutual understanding“

My Objectives

• Support U.S. Exchange Alumni as well as leaders in business, government, civil society, and other diverse fields.

• Support in-person and virtual programming goals of the Office of Alumni Affairs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

• Leverage my 35 years international experience in education, research as well as US Public Diplomacy projects in new initiatives to support U.S. program alumni in professional development sessions.

• Engage alumni in pivot upon their international exchange experiences to contribute as community leaders locally, nationally, and globally.

• Become an alumni ambassador/ envoy to share Exchange Alumni’s events with broader audiences.

• Serve as a Speaker and Panelist at conferences, campus presentations.

• Share articles, webinars and interviews with artists and cultural collaborators.

Profile Les Joynes, PhD

It is an honor to support the mission of the Office of Alumni Affairs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Recipient of the Fulbright-Nehru Professional and Academic Excellence Award, I served as 2022 Fulbright Senior Scholar at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi, where I explored structures that promote mutual understanding across cultures. While on my Fulbright, I developed relationships with leading Indian cultural institutions, universities and museums. I was awarded the SCA-RTP regional grant to conduct workshops at universities and museums in Sri Lanka that promote multicultural collaboration and mutual understanding.

Born in Santa Barbara, California, I possess experience since 1983 in 32 countries. I was awarded the Japanese Ministry of Education and Culture Monbusho Scholarship (1997-2001), the Erasmus Award (France 1995) and the Taiwan Ministry of Education Huayu Scholarship (Chinese language training) at National Cheng Kung University, Tainan. I am also recipient of Fulbright-Hays US Public Diplomacy Awards for Mongolia (2014) and China (2017). Awarded the ACMS/CAORC/US DoS field research fellowship, I conducted the first research on US-Mongolian cooperation in education in arts and culture (2016).

A trained professional coach and mentor, I have created pilot coaching initiatives at Yale and University of Melbourne in Australia. During my Fulbright, I initiated India’s first Youth Mentorship Program in Nagaland (Northeast India) supporting 14-24 year olds in building media literacy, academic and career development and mental health support. Since 2019, I serve as an Executive and Leadership Coach at Columbia University Eugene Lang Center for Entrepreneurship where I coach MBAs and EMBAs from 31 countries. With experience as a consultant advising multinational organizations including Du Pont, 3M, General Motors, General Electric, Dow, Braun, and Bayer, I am a Columbia University Research Scholar on Organization and Leadership.

With a focus on management, education and culture I received my BA (cum laude) in History from Boston University (1986); BA (Hons) Fine Art at Central Saint Martins College of Art, London (1996); M.Sc (International) Management from Boston University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB) Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences in Belgium (1988); MBA specialized in multinational organizational strategy, California State Polytechnic University. With Dr. Abraham Shani co-published on transcultural technology transfer models. (1990); MA Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London (1997); Masters in Fine Art at Musashino Art University, Tokyo (Japan Ministry of Education and Culture Award, 2001); Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Art, Faculty of Art, Environment and Technology, Leeds Metropolitan University. (2001); and Post-Doctorate from the School of Art and Communications at University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. (2017). Exploring intercultural collaboration across diverse modalities, I am a Research Scholar on the Columbia University Visiting Scholar and Scientist Program. My languages include French, German, Italian, Japanese and Mandarin.

Mentoring and Coaching since 2005

• GoldAward Mentor and Professional Coach trained at New York University and University of London.

• Founder of India’s first Mentorship Initiative serving Tribal Communities in Nagaland in India’s Northeast.

• Currently founding a Leadership Coaching Series serving MBAs at California State University.

• Entrepreneurship Coach and Mentor at Columbia University’s Almaworks Start Up Lab, New York

• Founder of the University of Melbourne Doctoral Coaching Series (2020-present). Australia.

Public Diplomacy and Culture Projects in Asia, Americas and EMEA

Exploring new models of furthering public diplomacy I am founder of Diplomacy Studio (www.diplomacy.studio) which explores intercultural collaboration in arts and culture as ways to engage the public in local communities and to promote mutual understanding. And I am also founder of the Inclusive Biennial (www.inclusivebiennial.com) the first art biennial to support creative dialogues around diversity, equity and inclusion.

• Fulbright Senior Scholar in Arts and Cultures of South Asia at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi. (2022)

• Field research in Rajasthan, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, created Fulbright workshops in Andhra Pradesh. (2022)

• Research on storytelling and identity of the Naga People in the Northeast at the border region with Myanmar. (2022)

• Fulbright workshops on higher education at Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM). (2022)

• Visiting faculty at Visva Bharati University in Santiniketan (2022)

• US-China collaboration in the arts and culture, the Inside Out Art Museum, Beijing. (2017)

• DoS/ ECA sponsored presentations on intercultural collaboration, Mongolia. (2015)

• US-Mongolian Youth Arts Outreach, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (2024)

• US-Indian Youth Arts Outreach, Nagaland, India (2022)

• US-Bhutan collaboration workshops (in preparation 2022)

• US-India collaboration in performance (West Bengal, 2022)

• Invited as Visiting Professor of the Royal University of Bhutan in Takse. (2024)

• US-Brazil-Turkey Collaborations (Bauhaus, Singapore 2009)

• US-German-Australia Collaborations (Bauhaus, Berlin 2009)

• US-India collaboration in arts and performance (New Delhi, 2022)

• US-Russia collaboration (St Petersburg, 2017)

• US-Mongolia Collaborations (Ulaanbaatar, 2014)

• US-Korea Collaborations (Seoul, 2012)

• US-Brazil Collaborations (Sao Paulo, 2012), University of Sao Paulo Post-doctoral research.

• US-Singapore Collaborations (Singapore, 2009). Singapore Citation Award.

• US-France-UK Collaborations (France 2009) Harlem Arts Alliance Award

• US-Japan Collaboration, Japan Ministry of Culture MeXT Scholar (1997-2001)

• International Exchange in the Arts (Poland, 1992, 1993) and France (1995)

Service to Boards and Committees

• As current Fulbrighter now advising Sir JJ School of Art on Curriculum Design for their transition into a national university.

• In 2022 initiated a Youth Mentorship Program to serve rural communities across Nagaland.

• As Fulbrighter am Fellow at the Highland Institute, Kohima Nagaland on researching Naga culture in India.

• Editorial Committee and Executive Selection Member for the Peer Reviewed Journal ProjectAnywhere, University of Melbourne, Australia

• Executive Board Member, Seventh District Foundation (Charity for Children's healthcare), New York

• Grant Selection Committee for CEC Artslink Artist Selection (Artists from former USSR bloc countries)

• Grant Selection Committee for CEC Artslink Arts Administrators (Curators and Museum Administrators)

• Grant Selection Committee Harlems Artist Alliance, New York

• Grant Selection Committee for Nordic Artists Center, Dalsasen, Norway

• Chair, Youth Mental Health Committee, Highland Institute, Kohima, Nagaland, India

• Chapter Chair, Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals, New York

• Art and Anthropology Committee, Royal Anthropological Institute, London

• Anthropology and Environment Committee, Royal Anthropological Institute, London

• Museum Committee, College Arts Association, New York

• International Committee College Arts Association, New York

Other Fellowships and Awards

• Fellow, The Highland Institute, Kohima, Nagaland (2022)

• CEC ArtsLink Foundation Grant, St. Petersburg, Russia (2017)

• Renmin University of China Merit Award, Beijing, China (2017)

• Taiwan Ministry of Education (MOE) Language Scholar National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan (2016)

• Wheatley Foundation Fellow, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK (2016)

• Fellow, University of the Arts London Research Center on Transnational Art, Identity and Nation (2015)

• Harlem Arts Alliance Grant, New York (2010)

• Queenstown Council, Singapore Citation Award, Singapore (2009)

• Edwin Austin Abbey Fellowship, National Design Museum, New York (2009)

• Bauhaus Foundation Fellow, Dessau, Germany (2009)

• Nagasawa Printmaking Residency, Awaji, Japan (2006)

• Musashino Art University Jury Selection Award (2001)

• Japanese Ministry of Education and Culture Scholar (Monbusho) (1998-2001)

• Japanese Ministry of Education and Culture Japanese Language Scholar (1997-1998)

• Academic Honours, Central Saint Martins College of Art, London (2006)

• Erasmus Scholarship, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-arts, Paris (1995)

• King Sturge Award for Sculpture, London (1995)

• Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) in London (2015-present)

• Fellow, Royal Anthropological Society (RGS) London (2015-present)

• Founder of the US-Bhutan Arts Association (2021-present)

• Fellow of the Highland Institute in Nagaland, India (2022-present)

Selected Papers and Publications and Studies Arts and Culture

2024 Joynes et al Assembled Voices: Representing Taiwan’s Artists Identities (in progress)

2024 Joynes, L et al ). Emerging models for teaching &curriculum development New York: Critical Practices.

2023 Joynes, L The Slipperiness of Memory in the Post Soviet, University of Indiana.

2020 Tohoku: Reflections on Memory and Disaster, Chithravathi (Magazine) Kerala, 2022.

2020 Review of Reclaiming Artists Research, Journal for Artistic Research, London (2020)

2019 Interfacing Technology with Site” ISEA International Symposium of Electronic Art, Gwangju, South Korea

2018 New Institutional Models: China’s Cultural Landscape by Mid-Century, Long Museum, Shanghai, China

2018 Going Beyond: Art as Adventure (2018) O’Neill, R and Werner, J (eds.), Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars.

2015 Anywhere v.1. (2015), Melbourne, Australia: University of Melbourne and Parsons School of Art, Media and Technology, New York.

2015 Inside Out Art Museum, New York: LeRoy Neiman Foundation [catalogue].

2014 Art and Research at the Outermost Limits of Site Specificity, Newcastle, Australia: University of Newcastle

2011 Octopus, Journal for Visual Culture. Irvine: University of California, Irvine, US

2008 Bauhaus-Dessau, Bühnenstudios der Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau [Internet], Germany

1999 “Some Say the Did, Some Say they Didn’t,” Art in America, New York

1997 The New Pathetic: Art in London, Springer, Vienna Austria

Selected Papers and Publications and Sciences and Managment

2007 Global Competitive Strategies in Environmental Systems [Research study] , New York   

2004 “Intelligent interface to genomics and future legislation: US and Iceland

2004 “Legislation of genetic testing in the US and Iceland”

2003 “Bringing Intelligent IT interface to human healthcare” Japan 

2003 “Clinical research development in human aging” Tokyo, Japan

2002 “The Human Genome”: Areas of Light and Shadow (Kon et al, Shokabo, Tokyo)1998 Scientific Journal editor, Tohoku University, Japan

1991 “Emerging materials applications in sound: use of Polycarbonates for Digital Audio” Germany

1991 Resourcing Tetra-butyl hydro-peroxide for radical polymerization initiators, Client Europe

1990 “Managing The Technology Transfer Process: Parallel Learning Mechanism” Dankook University Press, Korea

1990 Competitive Strategies in Fiber-optic technologies, Brussels, Belgium

1990 ”Radiative mineral spectrometry and refraction technologies,” Brussels, Belgium

1989 “Petroleum and derivatives competitive Analysis: Europe,” Fortune 100 Client, US

1989 Introducing eco-recyclables into automobile manufacturing,” Netherlands

1987 “Competitive Assessment of European Management Programs, Boston University, MA

Global Research Projects

2020-2020 Columbia University, New York, NY Visiting Research Scholar. Course training in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within organizations.

2020-2021 US Department of State and Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs,  Washington DC Citizens Diplomacy Action Fund Project Colombia.

2022-pres Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award, New Delhi, India Research on collaboration and performance. Hosted by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi. Additional Hosting by Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan West Bengal, US Department of State/Fulbright sponsored field research in the Kingdom of Bhutan (2022).

2020-2020 Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. Presenter on US-Mongolian cooperation. Fostering intercultural cooperation and research on local diversity and identity in Mongolia.

2020-2020 CEC Artslink, New York, NY. Artist Selection Committee and Jury 2020. Responsible for selection of artists and art managers from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia within US art museums and cultural organizations.

2019-2019 US Department of State, Washington DC and ZERO1, San Francisco, American Arts Incubator/ US DoS workshop training for cross-cultural fieldwork.

2018-2018 Institute for Cultural Industries, Peking University, Beijing, China. Visiting Professor in Cultural Entrepreneurship. Engaged design-thinking and creative skills to teach a master-level entrepreneurship course on cultural entrepreneurship, museums and foundation creation and building cultural organizations.

2017-2017 Fulbright-Hays US Public Diplomacy Award, Beijing, China Recipient of Mission China Award Fulbright-Hays US Public Diplomacy Mission China Award I directed the first US-China collaboration in performance. Supervised filmmaking team creating innovative performances at the Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum featuring first US-Chinese performances on the Great Wall of China.

2016-2016 US Department of State sponsored ACMS Fellowship, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. As Research Fellow initiated, planned and executed the first research on Arts Education in Mongolia. Lead research team in Ulaanbaatar and liaised with US Embassy, three national universities and the Mongolian Minister for Culture. Produced comprehensive research supporting cross-cultural exchange between the United States and Mongolia.

2015-pres University of Melbourne and Parsons School of Design New York, and Melbourne, Australia. Editorial Board, ProjectAnywhere, 2015-present. Executive member of the Board working with Board-members from the US, UK, Australia, UK, Germany supporting exciting global events, a peer-reviewed journal supporting research and advanced scholarship.

2015-2017 University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Post-doctoral research on identity and transcultural collaboration in Brazil. Awarded Post-doctorate Escola de Comunicações e Artes, Universidade de São Paulo

2015-present Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain London, UK. Member of the Art and Anthropology Committee (Fellow 2015-present). Responsible for scholarly journal review, building international cooperation.

2015-2015 Cambridge University Centre for Research in Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities, Cambridge, UK. Presenter on intercultural collaboration. Seminar on intercultural collaboration and performance arts

2015-2016 Young Researchers Conference, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Conference Chair, 2016. Responsible for Conference with participants from eight countries. Building sustained communities of practice and professional development amongst researchers in the social and life sciences.

2014-2014 Fulbright-Hays US Public Diplomacy Award, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Recipient of the Fulbright-Hays and CEC ArtsLink Awards to lead an overland expedition to Northern Mongolia to research the nomadic Tsaatan Reindeer herding communities of Northern Mongolia. Led five - member team from Germany and Mongolia. Liaised with Cultural Affairs Specialists at US Department of State and local organizations to produce the first US-Mongolian collaborative performances which featured at the Zanabazar National Museum of Fine Art.

2013-2013 Research on performance and local Brazilian cultural identities, shamanism, and ritual.Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, Sao Paulo, Brazil. University of Sao Paulo, Brazil Workshop on performing identity. Brazilian Museum of Sculpture, Sao Paulo, Brazil

2011-2011 Eugene Lang Center for Entrepreneurship, Columbia University, New York, NY. Research in Entrepreneurship at Columbia Business School. Teamed with second year MBA team to advise the Mayor’s Office in the City of New York. Liaising with Accenture and MTV,  led creative initiatives for university involvement in NYC television initiatives. Conceived masterplan for NYC-wide television programming involving four universities and the creation of a sponsored chair for faculty.

2008-2009 Bauhaus Foundation, Dessau, Germany and Singapore. Producer and Choreographer. Bauhaus Foundation sponsored research on community. Directed performance series inspired by Southeast Asian rituals.                

2007-2007 Nordisk Kunstnarsenter Dale, Norway. Artist selection team. Artist-in-Residence centre funded by Norwegian Ministry of Culture.

1998-1998 Inaugural Taipei Biennial,  Tokyo, Japan. Curatorial Assistant for Inaugural Taipei Art Biennial.

1997-2001 Japan Ministry of Education and Culture Scholarship (MEXT), Tokyo, Japan. Conducted research on Japanese culture, aesthetics. Led curatorial and exhibition projects in Tokyo. Exploring new models for undergraduate teaching. Awarded university honors.

1988-1989 California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA. Co published research on systemic models for technology transfer (1990) with leading organizational behavior specialists Dr. Abraham Rami Shani Associate Dean of Faculty and Research at California Polytechnic State University. Graduated top of class in International Strategy.

1986-1988 Boston University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussels Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, Boston and Brussels, Belgium (1986-1988) Advanced training in building cross-cultural cooperation within global organizations (M.Sc. 1988).

Professional Affiliations

College Arts Association Coach and Mentor in Education, New York

Columbia Business School Leadership Lab, Columbia University

Columbia University Visiting Scholar and Scientist Program, New York

Exchange Alumni, Washington DC

Fulbright Alumni Network, Washington DC

GoldAward Mentor, University of London, UK

Graduate School Alliance for Education in Coaching (GSAEC)

International Coaching Federation (New York Chapter)

National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

New York University School of Professional Studies Coaching Program Alumnus

Renmin University of China, Beijing

Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain, London, UK (Fellow)

Royal Asiatic Society, London (Fellow)

Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain (Fellow)