Dabney Hailey

Dabney Hailey, Founder + Principal of Hailey Group, is deeply motivated by the transformative possibilities of art experiences—particularly when we look and think together—to help us improve how we relate to one another and tackle our toughest challenges. She is the premier thought leader on the innovative application of Visual Thinking Strategies within business.

Deeply trained in this research-based methodology (originally developed for museums and schools), she honed her craft as a VTS expert across university disciplines during more than a decade as the Gruber ‘66 Curator at Wellesley College’s Davis Museum and Director of Academic Programs at Brandeis University’s Rose Art Museum. These contexts enabled her to bring her art expertise to robust learning and core ideas in a broad range of disciplines, from Anthropology to the hard sciences, and from Business to Social Policy.

Intrigued by these successful connections, she took a leap into the business world by founding Hailey Group in 2014. Dabney and her team became pioneers in the application of arts learning to organizational behavior: they developed Visual Thinking Strategies, a museum pedagogy, into a leadership, communication, and innovation toolkit for businesses, from small companies to Fortune 500s. She regularly designs workshops for MIT’s Sloan School of Management’s Executive Education programs, the Center for Collaborative Creativity (the Hive) at the Claremont Colleges, and the Institute for Real Growth.

With Hailey Group team members Philip Yenawine and Corinne Zimmermann, Dabney cofounded VTS@Work, the first program to deeply train and certify professionals in VTS facilitation and its application on business and other materials. Dabney and Corinne, with colleague Dr. Joel Katz, adapted this program for continuing medical education credit for physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals through Harvard Medical School; that course is Training Eyes, Minds, and Hearts: Visual Thinking Strategies for Healthcare Professionals.

Dabney also works in higher education, serving as co-director of the Harvard Medical School course, Training the Eye: Improving the Art of Physical Diagnosis. She co-taught Advanced Human-Centered Design with the Sontag Center for Collaborative Creativity at the Claremont Colleges. Much earlier in her career, she enjoyed teaching museum studies and art history courses at Northwestern, Boston University, and Brandeis. She holds a B.A. from Hendrix College and an M.A. from Northwestern University.

Dabney loves engaging audiences and is delighted to be known as a dynamic public speaker. She has spoken at SXSW EDU, Innovation Leader’s Impact conferences, HRLF, UXPA, FRED Forum, Stanford’s d.school, the Institute for Real Growth, and for many private leadership gatherings and conferences.