Regenerative creative practice, slow craft, and clarity-centered leadership for organizations, conferences, and communities.
DANA KARUZA | Old Stone House Museum, Education Director, and 2025 Fiber Faire Coordinator:
“We were delighted to welcome Mary Ann Stewart back to Brownington, Vermont as the keynote speaker for our Fiber Faire for the second year in a row. Not only did she fill the church once again with an eager audience (many of them returning specifically to hear what she would share this year) but she also brought her energy and expertise beyond the podium by engaging directly with our artists and visitors, showcasing her beautifully upcycled creations and generously sharing her mending and upcycling skills. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and her conversations are as inspiring as they are informative. We are certain that many attendees left encouraged to approach their own textile work with greater creativity and a deeper commitment to sustainability.”
- Ideal Engagements
- Arts and cultural organizations
- Creative communities and guilds
- Educational organizations
- Nonprofits and civic groups
- Foundations and grantmaking organizations
- Leadership teams
- Conferences and convenings
- Community coalitions
- Formats:
- Keynote
- Workshop
- Panel
- Guest Lecture
- Fireside Conversation
- Past Speaking + Teaching:
- Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Committee Work
- She The People (Panel), official launch of The Boston Club’s Civic Engagement Initiative
- Fiber Faire, Brownington VT
- Annual Conferences Workshops, Massachusetts Association of School Committees
Mary Ann speaks from the intersection of regenerative textile practice, creative clarity, and community-rooted craft.
Her talks blend story, pedagogy, and systems-level thinking, offering audiences a grounded, tactile way to understand creativity, sustainability, and repair.
She brings a warm, relational, hands-forward approach to keynote speaking, teaching audiences how slow craft and clarity can transform creative work, leadership, and community.
When invisible assumptions become visible, new possibilities emerge. Participants frequently leave with greater clarity about the systems shaping their challenges, language for conversations they’ve been trying to have, and practical frameworks that help transform uncertainty into informed action.
Mary Ann Stewart is a regenerative textile educator, fiber artist, and creative business mentor whose work centers on repair, natural color, and sustainable creative futures.
Sample of Speaking Topics
Each presentation is adapted to the audience and their context
Regenerative Creative Practice: creativity as ecology, rhythm, and stewardship
Slow Craft & Sustainability: repair, natural dye, and material conciousness
Creative Entrepreneurship: clarity, authenticity, and sustainable business for emerging makers
Community-Rooted Making: relational craft, circles, and collective creative futures
Repair as Pedagogy: mending as metaphor, practice, and leadership
Clarity for Emerging Creatives: navigating overwhelm, building rhythm, finding direction
PROFILE | Keynote Speaker: Entrepreneur & Regenerative Textile Educator & Mentor; Founder & CEO of fresh cercle and The Authentic Entrepreneur Studio
Travels From | Lexington, MA, USA
Speaking Fee | Live Event Fee: $5,000 – $7,500
Virtual Event Fee: $2,500 – $5,000
More Fee Info | A fee range listed indicates the fee falls within that range; fee ranges listed here are intended to serve as a guideline.
Speaker fees are subject to change without notice. Fees often vary, based on a number of factors, including: speaker’s schedule, supply and demand, length of presentation, location of event, and other factors. Please contact us with your specific event details and requirements, and we are happy to provide you with a precise quote.
Mary Ann is a regenerative guide, whose speaking style is tactile, relational, and grounded.
She brings the studio table into the room, using materials, story, and slow craft as a way to help audiences understand creativity, sustainability, and clarity in a deeper, more embodied way.
