| Brad Fortier studies why humans behave the way they do — and uses that understanding to change how teams, organizations, and communities work together. He holds an MA in interdisciplinary studies from Portland State University, where he researched the neuroscience and social psychology of improvised theater. He is a published author and Bloomsbury Press contributor, a 30+ year improvised theater practitioner, and a facilitator whose work has spanned refugee communities in the US and EU, healthcare systems across Oregon, and boardrooms at Fortune 500 companies. His clients and partners include: Nike | Logitech | OHSU | CareOregon | Oregon Health Authority | Oregon Humanities | University of Oregon School of Law | Oxford House | Jackson County Connect |
His Work
Brad is the creator of Spontaneous Village, a community-building curriculum originally designed for refugee contexts and now used in organizational and healthcare settings. He contributed a chapter on that work to the Bloomsbury Press textbook Applied Improvisation (2018) — the first academic text in the field.
He served in senior training and equity roles at the Oregon Health Authority’s Equity & Inclusion Division (2016–2024), as coordinator of Portland Community College’s Illumination Project, and as education director of the Brody Theater — Portland’s leading improv institution — for eight years.
He has authored two books: Long-Form Improvisation: Collaboration, Comedy, and Communion and A Culture of Play: The Origins, Applications, and Effects of Improvised Theater. He has presented research at the Applied Improvisation Network’s international conference in Amsterdam and has performed and taught across the US, Canada, and Europe — including the Berlin International Improv Festival.
Brad currently consults with organizations on culture change, leadership development, and team effectiveness — bringing a methodology that is research-grounded, experiential, and built for real organizational challenges.
What you can hire Brad for
- Keynotes and symposium talks (45–90 minutes)
- Executive team workshops and leadership seminars (half-day or full-day)
- Culture change consulting and long-term organizational engagements
- Creative facilitation for strategic sessions, design sprints, and visioning
- DEIJ-integrated team programming
Brad Fortier 
So well put . . . you’re so friggin’ smart, Brad.
LikeLike
Without my having read the book, I’m curious as to whether you have done anything to tie improv into Erving Goffman’s “Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.”
Martin Dodge
Funtime Improv & Improvacateurs
LikeLike
Martin, you don’t even have to read the book. You can see it incorporated in this post: https://bradfortier.com/2011/01/12/on-the-road-to-a-new-ethnography-anthropology-improvisation-and-performance/
LikeLike
Dear Brad,
do you know of any empirical studies covering the field of improvisation, I mean quantative studies with any kind of data collection? I guess there are none, but you were recommended to me by the facebook worldwide-improvisers group being both an improv player and a scientist 🙂
THX!
Chris
LikeLike
Chris,
I do have some quantitative data regarding demographics of performers, as well as where and when people began learning improv. For the the demographics of performers N=65. For the info on when and where people learn N=75. Dan Goldstien is also a good person to connect with on this matter. He’s got a PhD in Psychology, and he gave me some scope on what sorts of psych research had been done. I think you should be able to access my thesis through the Portland State University Library. They have it in PDF format. It’s got way more detail and background, obviously, but it also has the distilled report of the performer demographics in the chapter “Performers”. I’d love to connect more with you about this.
LikeLike
Thank you! I’ve approached a Dan Goldstein who’s psychologist and improv player on facebook, hope he’s the right guy. I can send you my thesis when it’s finished, unfortunately it’ll be in german language but I’m gonna translate at least the abstract 🙂
LikeLike
You’re welcome. Drop my name if Dan is slow to respond. He’s a busy guy with a family teaching in London. I’ve got a lot of friends in Germany, and it’s about 90% likely that I’ll be coming through on a European teaching tour this June. Where are you at? Maybe we could meet for a chat if all goes well. Thanks for reaching out and sharing! Cheers.
LikeLike