Aric Mayer, MBA, MFA
Senior Instructor, MBA Program
About
Aric Mayer MFA, MBA created and co-teaches the MBA Consulting Capstone in all three tracks of the MBA program at Western. He co-created, co-directs and co-teaches the Arts Enterprise and Cultural innovation minor, a two-year program consisting of seven completely original courses that function as an accelerator for creative enterprise for students who are pursuing a degree within the arts, design or social practice spaces. He founded Cake Machine, a boutique consulting company firm that focused on providing marketing strategy and comprehensive talent development for creative entrepreneurs. Aric co-founded Hopela and built the first mobile giving platform, creating a new category in the Apple store. There he built a scalable B2B and B2C mobile payment and donor engagement solution for NPOs, launching on three mobile platforms and web with a unique UX resulting in rapid adoption with a 2.5x referral index. He worked in magazine publishing at Time Inc and Hearst for a decade, winning the Time Inc President’s Award for contributions to coverage of the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11. Aric co-led the imaging production team for the People Group at Time Inc. that produced People Magazine, at that time a billion dollar publication, as well as incubated and launched numerous titles including InStyle and Real Simple. Aric was co-founder and first president of the Pratt Artists' League, now in its 30th year of supporting creative professionals at Pratt Institute as they launch their careers. He produced the first two exhibitions to represent the graduating classes of all NYC arts programs, juried by curators from the Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn Museum. Aric graduated with an MFA in painting from Pratt, giving the 1997 student commencement address, the first time a graduate student was elected for this award in Pratt’s 100+ history. Aric has experience across the business spectrum, from billion-dollar legacy enterprises to scrappy startups that are trying to change the world, and has led projects for clients ranging in scale from Amazon to small boutique product companies. Aric earned his MBA from Western Washington University in 2012.