Sam Ford is an accomplished innovation strategist, audience engagement specialist, and media storytelling expert with an impressive track record of success that spans across various industries. A former Kentucky Press Association award-winning reporter and columnist, Ford went on to become the Director of Digital Strategy and Customer Insights at Peppercomm, the VP of Innovation and Engagement at Univision/Fusion Media Group, and the Director of Cultural Intelligence at Simon & Schuster.

As the Executive Director of AccelerateKY and a Project Co-Creator with the USC Civic Imagination Project, he has been at the forefront of driving cultural intelligence, innovation approaches, media storytelling, and audience engagement strategies that have benefited a wide range of organizations, including Paramount/Simon & Schuster, Lowe's Hardware, WD-40, MacArthur Foundation, Microsoft, and The Coca-Cola Company.

Ford's expertise in the field of media and transmedia storytelling has earned him recognition as a co-author of NYU Press' "Spreadable Media", and he has published more than 25 academic essays on the subject, as well as the marketing and communications world. He has also written for Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, BusinessWeek, Advertising Age, and Slate. He has been a featured speaker at South by Southwest on several occasions and has spoken at a wide range of events across the globe.

Ford holds a degree in SM, Comparative Media Studies from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a B.A. in English (writing), news/editorial journalism, communication studies, mass comm, and film studies from Western Kentucky University.