JD Beltran, Director, Center for Creative Sustainability
JD Beltran founded and directs the Center for Creative Sustainability in San Francisco. Beltran has been an impact and cultural lead, strategist, designer, technologist, filmmaker, artist, educator, and journalist who, for more than fifteen years, has advanced projects, groundbreaking solutions, and organizational initiatives that address cultural, social, environmental, and economic challenges.
An award-winning filmmaker, artist, and educator, Beltran served as longtime faculty in design, technology, and art at the San Francisco Art Institute and California College of the Arts. A writer and journalist in design, art, and culture, she has written columns for SFGate.com and the Huffington Post, and is a longtime member of the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto.
Beltran has deep roots in developing urban solutions for the creative arts and social impact, having served as the President of the San Francisco Arts Commission from 2011-2018 (and serving as a commissioner from 2009 to the present). She was recognized by San Francisco Mayor London Breed for her exceptional public service by Mayor Breed declaring December 3, 2018 "JD Beltran Day in San Francisco." Beltran also founded and directed the Center for Impact environmental and social impact 2-year pilot at California College of the Arts, fostering sustainability through the lens of art & design with multiple groundbreaking, award-winning projects. A longtime arts education advocate, Beltran also served as Director of the City Studio Youth Education Project at the San Francisco Art Institute for over 8 years, providing underserved youth with a curriculum of courses and instruction by taught at community centers throughout the Bay Area by professional working artists. Read more about Beltran’s projects and multi-faceted expertise here.