The Gang on the Creative Edge includes Idaho-based organizations that meet two key criteria:
- All are high performing in their fields, measured objectively, and known nationally or internationally – whether rankings, awards, market share, or other recognition by their peers and others
- All are known as being creative – for “doing things differently” from their peers
The Gang members join by invitation only, meet annually with several members from each of Gang members. During the year, the leaders from Gang members meet to discuss a messy problem that a given organization may be facing.
Current Gang members are eight high performing, highly creative organizations:
The Ada County Sheriff’s Office — a county wide law enforcement and jail organization, whose sheriff is invited regularly to teach leadership courses at Northwestern University
Bishop Kelly High School — a school developing the total student – spirit, mind, and body through a diverse and comprehensive education in the Catholic tradition.
Boise State Football Program — consistently ranked in the U.S. top 25 teams, and most recently (2009) ranked #4 in the country, with a coach that is the only two time winner of the Paul Bear Bryant Award for Best Coach of the Year (twice in four years)
Drake Cooper — a regional marketing and advertising firm that has received national awards for its campaigns
Healthwise – a health information portal, which was one of the /Wall Street Journal’s Best Small Companies of 2007, /and consistently leads the industry in new product/services ideas, and delivers information for such organizations as WebMD.com
The Idaho Shakespeare Festival — a summer rep theater, which has received reviews in the /New York Times, which /Yale Drama School has studied, and which has created a new business model for regional theaters
The Trey McIntyre Project — a dance group that tours worldwide, has received rave reviews in /The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, /and whose choreographer regularly receives commissions for dances
WhiteCloud Analytics– a start up business intelligence analytics firm whose CEO also co-founded a start up that was sold to Microsoft as one of the top performing business analytics firms worldwide