Cleo Barnett is a New Zealand–born, Pacific Northwest–based cultural strategist, social entrepreneur, and creative director with twenty years at the intersection of art, storytelling, and systems change.

She has built global movements, activated hundreds of millions of people, and raised tens of millions of dollars for cultural campaigns spanning five continents — mobilizing artists, institutions, and movements to shape public imagination at scale.

As Executive Director of Amplifier, she has built one of the world's largest networks of artists and educators advancing social change — activating 10,000+ artists across 90+ countries, commissioning over 1,000 artworks, and developing a widely recognized model for art as civic infrastructure: supporting public education, strengthening movements, and shifting culture at scale.

Her work has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and featured in the New York Times, NPR, and National Geographic.

Her practice explores how culture — stories, media, and shared experience — shapes what societies believe is possible, and how art expands that horizon.

She is a Salzburg Global Fellow with an M.A. in Art and Public Policy from NYU and dual degrees in International Business and Political Science from the University of Auckland.