Tucker Bryant Brings Artistry and Innovation to PSHRA26

(PSHRA’s 2026 national conference is set for Sept. 28 – 30 at the Portland Hilton Downtown in Portland, Ore. Click right here for more details on PSHRA26’s keynote presentations, reasons to attend this can’t-miss public sector HR event, and our registration rates, which remain the same for the third year in a row!)

Tucker Bryant brings a unique background to PSHRA26, where he will deliver the closing keynote for this year’s national conference.

Bryant is a nationally renowned artist, and he encourages his audiences to “Do Different Things Differently,” which includes leaning on creative principles to generate breakthrough ideas.

Bryant is also a veteran of Silicon Valley. He spent nearly four years as an associate product marketing manager and product marketing manager at Mountain View, Calif.-based tech giant Google.

There, he partnered with product teams to define, position and launch Google Assistant product features in emerging markets, and leading growth marketing efforts for the Google Account’s suite of privacy products.

In “Do Different Things Differently,” Bryant plans to share how the type of inspired innovation and creative thinking he brought to those corporate roles—and to his work as an artist—can be brought to public sector HR.

“In my keynote, I’ll invite public sector HR leaders to borrow a few surprisingly practical habits from artists and Silicon Valley innovators that help us move from talking about change to actually experimenting with it in the real constraints we face every day,” Bryant recently told PSHRA.

“Rather than asking attendees to ‘be more creative’ in the abstract, I’ll walk them through simple shifts in how they frame opportunities and problems, and how they use small bets to de-risk bold ideas, so they leave with moves they can put into practice as soon as they’re back at their desks.”

For public sector leaders, the type of innovation that’s synonymous with Silicon Valley “doesn’t mean acting like a startup or throwing out the guardrails that make government work,” he added. “It means learning to treat uncertainty as a source of insight instead of a reason to stall.”

In his Sept. 30 presentation, Bryant will lead an exploration of how to make room for experimentation while working in highly regulated environments, how to unlock the overlooked creativity already sitting in their teams, “and how to surface unconventional ideas while still honoring accountability, equity and public trust,” he said.

Ultimately, “my goal is that folks walk out not just inspired, but with a clearer sense of how to Do Different Things Differently inside the exact systems they’re leading today.”