Bio
Nate Garvis and Tom Wiese are the founding partners of ear.n, an innovative consultancy focusing on Influence DesignSM. Offering counsel, strategic convenings and events, and product and service design, ear.n produces value for clients by connecting them to the most important ideas, people and institutions in their communities of interest. Operating at the crossroads of Fortune 30 business, global government, academia, health care, foundations, non-governmental organizations, law, media and entertainment for the nearly three decades, Garvis and Wiese have built the skills and relationships that help clients navigate for success by earning influential reputations in addition to asserting their brands.
Prior to creating ear.n, Garvis served as V.P. Government Affairs and Senior Public Affairs Officer for Target Corporation. Nationally recognized and awarded, Garvis was responsible for producing the country’s first ever National Civic Summit which brought thought leaders and influencers together through a unique mix of technology and in-person events and was recognized for its innovation and public service by SXSW interactive. He sits on a number of academic, think-tank, business and non-profit boards throughout the country, including Allina Hospitals and Clinics, Rational Energy, the College of Arts and Science at St. Thomas University. He is a co-founder of DoTopia, a social venture enterprise that is creating lifestyle philanthropy for all. Garvis serves as Design Council in Residence at the Social Innovation Lab at Babson College, which for nearly 20 years has been the top ranked entrepreneurial business school in the nation. He is a frequent lecturer and public speaker on the subject of cross-sector approaches to reengineering communities for better prosperity.
Nate likes to play guitar, ski, hike, cook and look like something less than a geek in the eyes of his young daughters.
Since 1990, Tom Wiese has practiced his unique brand of dealmaking art through a simple guiding philosophy: The value of your business is the sum total of its deals. Tom is the founder of WieseLaw Studio.
Tom has dedicated his career to increasing the value of his clients’ businesses (and lives) by helping them conceive, analyze, negotiate, design, produce, draft and close better deals, while also teaching and providing methods, frameworks, drawings and tools to improve their skills in these areas, as well as in contract administration and management.
Tom has produced events, video content (e.g., Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind, Jack Canfield’s Success Principles) and experiences for his clients. Currently, he proudly serves on the board of Bring Me The News.
Some of WieseLaw Studio’s many cool clients include: Wells Fargo, Citibank, U.S. Bank, Sterling Bank, Share Save Spend, Spunk Design Machine, Moving Pictures, Terry Gross of Fresh Air, Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods, Dr. David Walsh of Say Yes to No, Belinda Jensen, and Joan Steffend.
Tom loves to laugh, learn, teach, and ski, and then laugh some more.
