Griff Coleman
At Griffin Black, Griff’s goal is to help the firm devote as much personal attention as possible to unique client needs by minimizing the burden of essential administrative process. He uses experience in both enterprise software product management and qualitative innovation resource to build out Griffin Black’s process automation infrastructure.
Griff began his career as a cultural anthropologist, earning a Ph.D from Columbia University based on a study of kinship and work organization in a remote village in North Sumatra. He then worked for almost two decades in Silicon Valley companies, developing enterprise software. In the back half of his career, Griff returned to research as a principal at boutique design research consultancy Point Forward, Inc.
Professional Degrees & Credentials
- PhD, Anthropology, Columbia University
- MPhil, Anthropology, Columbia University
- MA, Anthropology, Columbia University
- BA, Anthropology, University of California at Los Angeles
Gone fishing
Once a year or so, Griff relishes being able to get away for a fishing trip. His favorite trips are fly fishing for trout, an activity he first participated in back in his Boy Scouts days. Looking back at that trip into the Sierras, Griff feels a reverence for having been able to catch a few golden trout in that place and time.
The solitude of being on a stream or small river is unmatched for Griff. He enjoys the chance to read the flow of the water to anticipate where the trout will be, to test and improve some simple physical skills, and to—occasionally—catch a fish. Griff is part of the catch-and-release crowd, a proclivity he mostly attributes to being able to avoid the hassle of having to clean his catches.
