Travis Sheridan: Fostering Innovation and Building Community

Travis Sheridan has spent the past 20 years designing knowledge and innovation communities in 15 cities across six countries and four continents. Passionate about building environments that lead to economic mobility and social change, Sheridan earned an undergraduate degree in psychology with a minor in conflict and peacemaking and a master’s in organizational behavior. He also completed the coursework toward a doctorate in organizational leadership. 

Sheridan spent the better part of the last decade with Venture Café, a nonprofit organization founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that has since evolved into a network of gathering spaces across the globe to foster innovation and build community. After overseeing Venture Café’s global expansion, he became chief community officer at Wexford Science + Technology, a real estate development firm that builds innovation districts around the United States.

Sheridan was a guest speaker at NAFSA’s eConnection program, where he shared his perspectives on fostering innovation and healing through community building.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

You’ve traveled considerably in your work. What have your international experiences taught you?

A lesson that I learned from Tokyo was to never underestimate the significance of a seemingly insignificant connection. I walked around Tokyo, and there’s 25 to 30 million people. I felt incredibly lost in a crowd. I had attended a Halloween party while I was there for business, and standing on a balcony on the 49th floor of this high-rise, I was talking to two people who