Joe Schick

Joe Schick dropped out of law school to found Blue Rock, a trailblazing “downtown” recording studio in New York’s SoHo, designed by John Storyk.  There he recorded Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, and Bette Midler, among others.  He then oversaw recording studio and touring operations for Bearsville Records (Todd Rundgren, Paul Butterfield, and others), before establishing a successful career as a journalist and author.

Drawing upon his communications and organizational skills, Schick went on to serve in executive leadership positions in government for more than 25 years; principally as Chief of Staff of New York City’s vast public hospital system, and Executive Director of the Fund for HHC, the system’s philanthropic division.  In that role, he established broad public-private alliances that advanced critical strategic priorities of the city’s public health agenda.  As part of his community outreach, he created Guns Down,Life Up, a violence reduction program that has become a powerful and sustaining model for positive intervention in the lives of the city’s youth.  As a component of that program, he produced live events that featured artists such as The Temptations, Swizz Beatz, George Clinton, and Questlove.

He is the author of Hendrix: A Biography, a critically acclaimed biography of the iconic musician; and executive producer of an award-winning documentary film, Coler: A Music & Memory Story, about the introduction of a powerful program that, through music, helps patients (and their families) struggling with dementia and other cognitive loss.

Mr. Schick is currently active as a media and strategic planning consultant.  He is a founding member of Obelisk Media, and serves on the board of  several nonprofit cultural organizations.