In the early 2000s, I played bass in a couple of punk bands and made a lot of art. I was keeping busy outside of my first “real” job as a campus educator on sexual violence prevention.

I was preparing for a graduate degree in fine arts when my head turned 180 degrees to consider public policy.

Hmm, painting all day or statistical analysis and change management? Seems like a joke to equally consider them, but both are authentically me. 

I chose research and evaluation, converting my home art studio to an office to pursue a passion: leading government decisions through research excellence. A girl can dream, right? At least I felt creative in problem solving, especially in the qualitative research courses that I took. I loved holding space for people to share their stories and feelings, and crafting a story of the themes from my interviews. 

Setting a foundation

At the time, I honestly didn’t think I had what it took to make a career with my art - but I could through my analytical talent. Policy school was about the time I was marrying my husband, Josh Cain, whose music career in Motion City Soundtrack was getting traction. The security of a salaried position with health benefits seemed like the best move for us. A week after I graduated, our daughter was born. 

For the next 12 years I honed my craft of defining problems and measuring how well community, government, and corporate interventions are at solving big issues.

I deepened my practice by training in workshop methods and human centered design, data visualizations, and project management. I also taught a course on global gender violence as a community faculty member at a local university.

I learned how to be a consultant and develop my own style and approaches on over 125 projects in business, startup, government, nonprofit, and community settings. I am incredibly grateful to my clients, colleagues, mentors, and students for inspiring and supporting me - whether they know it or not.

I advanced in my career by completing a year-long certificate program in digital user experience (UX) because of my natural drive to design with empathy.

Let’s work together

We all need accessible and caring experts. I’m here to guide and support your business and creative work to profit through authenticity.

I look forward to working with you!

-Jill Lipski Cain, Minneapolis/Saint Paul, MN