“This is what strategy looks like when the past stops being a reliable guide.”
- Christine Merser, and the Slate | Spark Team
The Clean Slate Is Here...
We are living inside the reset we predicted last year. The conditions that led us to create Slate Spark are no longer emerging. They are here.
Artificial intelligence has altered how work is done. Power, politics, and capital are reshaping markets in real time. The old frameworks still exist, but they no longer explain what is happening or support good decisions. That recognition is what led us to clear the slate and create space for new approaches, new thinking, and sparks of creativity grounded in reality.
This moment is not about reacting faster. It is about thinking more clearly.
Slate Spark exists for people and organizations navigating this shift. My work as a strategist focuses on helping leaders interpret what is changing, decide what actually matters, and design deliberate paths forward. Not theory. Not hype. Structured thinking that leads to real decisions.
Slate Spark turns insight into action through several interconnected programs.
Pivot Papers are concise strategic essays that reframe how an issue is understood. They are designed to interrupt default thinking, surface new options, and sharpen judgment.
The Collaborative AI Forum brings leaders together to work with artificial intelligence as a thinking partner, not a shortcut. These sessions focus on voice, standards, and decision making, helping participants use AI without losing clarity or authorship.
Apricity Nonfiction Novellas extend this work into narrative form. These short, tightly focused books explore business, power, culture, and decision making through real stories. They are meant to be read, shared, and returned to.
Alongside these programs, I work one on one with clients on strategic positioning, complex problem solving, and execution clarity, particularly in moments of transition, growth, or uncertainty.
At Slate Spark, the work is not about predicting the future. It is about navigating the present with intention. We examine what came before, decide what is still useful, and let go of what no longer serves. From there, we design next moves that are grounded, thoughtful, and achievable.
Slate Spark is where past knowledge, present clarity, and future possibility meet.
Christine Merser
“Pivot Papers are my favorite Slate Spark child. They are where curiosity meets strategy and where new thinking becomes usable.” - Christine Merser
Pivot Papers are the heart of our work. Some are deep dives built from history, research, and this moment in time, with strategic suggestions for tomorrow. These are the tens of pages you need when you want to understand a topic fully, make a plan, or inform yourself before taking a next step. Others take a single issue and offer a pivot, a new way of thinking about the future through it.
Some Pivot Papers are available at no cost, and others are offered for a fee. All of them are created to help you understand where the world is heading and what your role inside it can be. We welcome suggested topics, disagreements, debate, and additional thinking. Pivot Papers are meant to be lived with, not read once and closed.
If you purchase a Pivot Paper, you are welcome at our three times weekly Zoom Labs. These half hour conversations introduce something new, answer questions, and create space for collaboration on whatever is rising to the surface for you. We welcome you to our circle of collaboration. We believe it is where greatness begins.
If you are a client, or have purchased a Pivot Paper, email us to make sure you have the schedule and log in for our Zoom Sparks calls.
Apricity Publishing
"If you are a woman with a story to tell, or part of an organization filled with voices ready for the page, Apricity was built for you." — Christine Merser
At Apricity Publishing, we believe the future of non-fiction is shorter, sharper, and more human. We are focused on what we are calling non-fiction novellas that sit between the long-form book and the fleeting article. These are idea-driven, voice-forward works that can be read in a few sittings but stay with you long after. In a world overwhelmed by noise, we publish books that create space for reflection, perspective, and meaningful insight.
Apricity Publishing is our in-house publishing arm, built to support authors from concept through completion. We partner closely with writers to shape ideas, develop manuscripts, refine voice, design covers, manage production, market your work, and handle distribution. Whether you need full-service publishing or support at a specific stage, we meet you where you are and help move your work into the world with care, rigor, and intention.
If this philosophy resonates, we invite you to explore Apricity Publishing and learn more about our approach, current projects, and upcoming titles. Visit our Apricity website for additional information and opportunities to get involved.
Our Sectors
In Real Time
“If you wait for the full picture, the moment has already passed. Real time thinking keeps you in the game.”
— Christine Merser
The world is shifting every day, and we believe the only way to stay ready is to think in real time. This is where we bring people together while the story is still unfolding. Our online events, workshops, Zoom Labs, and think tank sessions are built for people who want to understand what is happening now and what it means for tomorrow.
Our Spark Zoom sessions occur several times a week and are designed for fast thinking and open conversation. We take on the topics rising in the news, the questions coming out of our Pivot Papers, and the challenges people are facing as the world keeps changing. Our think tank sessions go deeper, bringing small groups together to map out ideas, solutions, and next steps.
We also offer text message updates so you can stay connected to what is happening the moment it matters. When something important shifts, we let you know. When we open a workshop or announce a new event, you will be the first to hear.
In Real Time is how we stay alert, collaborative, and ready for whatever comes next. Join us.
Think Tanks
“The future does not need a forecast. It needs a room full of curious minds who care enough to imagine what comes next and bold enough to recommend what to do about it.” — Christine Merser
ANNOUNCING THE FIRST SLATE SPARK THINK TANK, Spring 2026, New York City
For more than a century, Girl Scouts, sororities, women’s advocacy groups, and movements like Me Too gave women something the larger world refused them. They gave connection. They gave belonging. They gave identity and power when power was something women had to build together.
Those institutions did exactly what they were created to do. And they did it well.
But the world around them has changed. Women have changed. What women have access to is different than it has ever been. We now lead companies, build businesses, manage capital, shape culture, and influence the systems earlier generations of women were never allowed to touch.
Which means something rare is happening.
For the first time, women have the agency and the tools to rethink the institutions that shaped them. Not to critique the past, but to build the next chapter with intention. To ask what these structures could be if they were redesigned for the world we live in now.
Slate Spark is launching our first think tank around this moment. A private, invitation only session where leaders from across women’s institutions will sit together, explore where these organizations came from, and begin to imagine what a future model of collaborative power could look like.
We will honor the history that brought us here and focus on the opportunity in front of us. This is where new ideas begin. Where clarity leads to reinvention. Where the next generation of women’s institutions starts to take shape.
One on one Consulting
“The pivot often comes from the person who is not carrying your story. I am that person.” — Christine Merser
Some questions need a room of their own. Our one on one consulting is built for people and companies who want clarity, a plan, or a shift. We look at where you are, what is changing around you, and what you want to build next. Together we sort through the noise, identify what matters, and design a way forward that matches this moment in time.
These sessions are part strategy, part conversation, and part that quiet instant when everything suddenly makes sense. Whether you are rethinking your business, reframing your work, or wanting a new direction entirely, this is where the next step becomes visible.
If you are ready for a deeper dive into your own future, we are here.
Roundtables
“When people show up with curiosity and passion, the ideas start to move. That is why no two roundtables look the same.” - Christine Merser
Our Roundtables bring together sharp thinkers around a single topic we are exploring. These are small, curated circles of collaborators who spend an hour debating ideas, challenging assumptions, and connecting in ways that would never happen by chance.
Want an example? We are taking a hard look at how EBITDA has shaped investment reviews and evaluation of corporate worth, and how it might need to be rewritten for the future.
Roundtables are where unexpected conversations lead to unexpected clarity. The output often becomes a Pivot Paper or an article that helps reboot the way we look at business, strategy, and the decisions shaping tomorrow. Ideas are welcome, disagreements are encouraged, and new voices are always invited into the circle.
If you want to be considered for a Roundtable, get in touch.