About
By Mnemosyne (est. 2013) offers integrated creative and sustainable development services.
As an interdisciplinary consultancy, with roots in business development, the humanities, and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math), By Mnemosyne works to solve complex challenges and infuse beauty into the world. Global clients include leading brands, artists, scientists, and organizations at the forefront of innovation, social impact, and sustainable development. By Mnemosyne is also certified as a Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) with the City of New York.
~Ethos~
01
Citation:
UN. Secretary-General; World Commission on Environment and Development. Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future [Brundtland report]. 1–300 (1987). https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf
Sustainable Development
“Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
— UN: Our Common Future (1987)*
By Mnemosyne works with clients, partners, and organizations to innovate and steward their business and projects in a sustainable and equitable manner, mindful of the interconnected dynamics of social and economic systems' relationship to that of environmental and other biological systems within our planetary realm.
02
The Biosphere
2020 marked the crossover point where global human-made (anthropogenic) mass exceeded the weight of all living biomass on planet earth—the biosphere. This realm has been named the “technosphere,” consisting of things such as asphalt, concrete, and plastic.
By Mnemosyne aims to align itself with business partners and projects that either adhere to the framework of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TFND) or incorporates proactive means to restore biodiversity into its strategic planning and/or programming, regardless of industry or business type.
Citation:
Elhacham, E., Ben-Uri, L., Grozovski, J. et al. Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass. Nature 588, 442–444 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-3010-5
03
Philosophy & Ethics
Businesses and respective supply chains, plus their exchange of goods and services, operates within the domain of ethics and morals. How they are practiced and modeled range from the spectrum of the dismal to the heights of integrity and honorability. By Mnemosyne greatly values the latter two. This is why the four cardinal virtues of classical philosophy—fortitude, justice, prudence, and temperance—are at the core of the consultancy.
By embodying and practicing these traits, By Mnemosyne is better suited to animate ethical actions into being, such as the practice of being inclusive of the spectrum of humanity. Without virtue and ethics, sustainable development and the restoration of the biosphere will be out of reach.
04
The Art & Science of Memory, Time, + The Muses.
By Mnemosyne was founded while founder Danelle Marqui Brown was working on her master’s of liberal arts degree, focusing on the history of science, technology, and medicine, simultaneously in pursuits of a graduate-level certificate program in religious studies and education, in addition to working part-time in design and new business development (2012-2016). The experience, plus an observed void within the landscape of business and industry, came to inspire the creation of By Mnemosyne—an interdisciplinary practice at the intersection of the arts, sciences, trades, and the humanities.
By Mnemosyne's namesake, comes from Mnemosyne (pronounced Neh-ma-za-nee). In mythology, she was the Titan goddess of memory, remembrance, and time, plus the inventor of language and words. Not much detail is written on the Titans. The primary sources for their mythologies comes from Greek mythology and commentaries thereafter. Within the Greek succession myths, the Titans were the generation of pre-olympian Gods, who were succeeded by Zeus and the other Olympian gods. Yet, Mnemosyne was absorbed into the pantheon of Greek mythology for reasons that be. She is also regarded as the mother of the Muses—Kalliope (Calliope)—epic poetry; Kleio (Clio)—history; Ourania (Urania—astronomy; Thaleia (Thalia)—comedy; Melpomene—tragedy; Polymnia (Polyhymnia)—religious hymns; Erato—erotic poetry; Euterpe—lyric poetry; and Terpsikhore (Terpsichore)—choral song and dance. According to the earliest writers of western civilization, the Muses (Musae) presided over the different arts and sciences.
Detail:
Mosaic with symbols of each Muse and Mnemosyne, 1st century BC, Archaeological Museum of Ancient Elis.
The Nature of Design
Various entities are designed—communications, physical forms, solutions, and systems. Design renders culture and industry into existence. The design process is an exercise and exploration of the HUMANities themselves, as humans are both the creators and users of all things designed. It is essentially the application of BOTH the ARTS + SCIENCES.
Certifications held within the consultancy include:
Meet the Founder
Danelle Marqui Brown,
Creative & Sustainability Director
Danelle (pronounced: Day-nelle) is a multi-hyphenate—a business intelligence specialist, a communications and built environments designer, a creative director, a historian, a former DONA International certified birth doula, a producer, a strategist, a certified Sustainability Excellence Associate, a certified TRUE advisor, an alumna of the 2022 U.S. LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Program— Technology and Innovation Cohort, and more.
By Mnemosyne is the second business she founded. The first was Verte (est. 2005), which provided design, birth doula, events, and green lifestyle services. Prior to the SDGs, Verte aligned its services and programming with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Since the early 2000s, she has been a steward and champion of sustainable development and climate action, beginning as one of the first STEM-based design students to focus on sustainability for built interior environments at FIT, designing one of NYC’s pioneering farm-to-table restaurants (Cookshop), founding Verte (2005-2012)—an eco-friendly holistic design and lifestyle studio, with birth doula and green living services—and the former blog, The Green Doula (2008-2012).
As a freelancer and employee—she has served as a design, communications, production, and business lead for accounts / companies / organizations including Fortune 500 and leading brands like Anheuser-Busch InBev, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Dell Technologies, Douglas Elliman, Edelman, Frette, J.Crew, Johnson & Johnson, The LEGO Group, Kimberly-Clark, The Tribeca Film Festival, Volkswagen, and Walmart. She’s also been accepted as a freelancer for the world’s top network of vetted climate freelancers—the Leafr platform. In her last corporate role, she served as Creative Director within the Integrated Communications group for W. P. Carey Inc. (WPC).
Danelle has presented at global conferences and events hosted by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, in partnership with Google; the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM); the University of Macerata; and the Onassis Cultural Center New York. She also served as a youth mentor and educator through the New York Academy of Sciences’ Global STEM Alliance as well, working with partners such as The Billion Oysters Project and Marvel Entertainment.
In addition to being an elected member of NYAM, Danelle is a lead for NYAM’s new initiative, NYAM Connect—a diverse network of emerging professionals including entrepreneurs, thinkers, and innovators from every industry who shares NYAM’s vision of a world where everyone has the opportunity to live a healthy life.
Danelle earned a bachelor of fine art’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she majored in Interior Design, a STEM-based design program. She was one of the program’s first to focus on sustainability. Later, she earned a master of liberal arts degree from Harvard, focusing on the history of science, technology, and medicine. Her graduate research, which in part was a history of STEM education, was awarded Director’s Prize for Outstanding Thesis in the Social Sciences. Simultaneously, she earned a graduate certificate in Religious Studies and Education, a joint program from the Harvard Divinity School and the Harvard Extension School.
