Leadership Team
What We Believe
Culture is not a project. It is the lived experience of your people.
It shows up in how decisions get made, how tension gets handled, and how accountability is shared. It teaches people what is safe to say, challenge, and own.
Organizations do not struggle because people lack commitment. They struggle when real conversations get postponed, and progress depends on a few people carrying too much for too long. The cost shows up as friction, politics, and fatigue.
We believe the future of leadership is co-creation, not solo performance. We call this Culture Growth. It’s what happens when leaders build the conditions for more people to tell the truth sooner, challenge ideas with respect, and contribute with confidence.
Pushing harder can create short-term wins, but it often increases burnout and makes performance depend on heroics. Culture Growth builds a stronger foundation. It spreads responsibility, strengthens trust, and keeps teams co-creating as complexity increases.
When that foundation is strong, culture carries the work forward.
Our Mission
We build cultures that stay brave when the future is unclear. Cultures where people tell the truth early, challenge ideas with respect, and commit with confidence, so people can do their best work without fear. We guide you in building co-creation as a leadership capability, so responsibility spreads, trust deepens, and innovation stays alive as complexity grows.
The aim is simple: a culture you are proud to lead, and a story your people are proud to live.
Leadership Team
BraveCore is led by a founder-led, operator-run team committed to building cultures that perform under real-world pressure.
Chris Deaver
Co-Founder, Partner
Chris helps leaders build cultures people love, the kind that win together. He has worked inside cultures the world studies: Apple, Disney, Dell and VMware. At Apple, he helped build the team and culture behind AirPods Pro into a $24 billion business. He has coached leaders including Tim Cook and Michael Dell. He is the co-author of Brave Together (McGraw-Hill), a Next Big Idea Club selection, and has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal.
Ian Clawson
Co-Founder, Partner
Ian is a leadership strategist and facilitator focused on helping organizations translate connection into performance. Based on his deep experience leading top healthcare organizations, his work centers on building judgment, strengthening alignment, and enabling teams to move faster without sacrificing trust or accountability. His approach combines systems thinking with practical application, helping leaders embed co-creation into how work gets done.
James Mathews
Senior Advisor
As a 3x Founder and executive leader at WebMD, James has guided early stage initiatives for iconic brands like the NBA, Nike, IDEO, and Health 2.0 globally. His work across tech, health, sports, education, and media is anchored by reading the field early, defining the rigor for real progress, and building team trust that holds under pressure. Today, James works with brands, founders, athletes, and creators to scale their impact without losing their soul, style, or instinct.