Co-founder of Simple Machines. Kristin is a community organizer, social policy researcher, entrepreneur and musician. After graduating with a BA in Sociology from Colorado College in 1989, Kristin moved to Washington, DC where she worked for two years as a national action organizer for the National Organization for Women. She left NOW in 1992 to make a full-time commitment to Simple Machines, an independent record label she co-ran with Jenny Toomey. Over the label’s 8-year history, Simple Machines released over seventy records and CDs, published the Mechanic’s Guide to Putting Out Records, Cassettes, and CDs, and organized three high-profile music festivals in Washington, DC. While running the label, Kristin and Jenny also wrote, recorded and released four highly-acclaimed Tsunami records on Simple Machines, and toured the US, Canada and Europe extensively.
After Simple Machines stopped putting out new records in 1998, Kristin permanently relocated to Philadelphia, PA. In 2001, she graduated with a Masters in Urban Affairs and Public Policy from the University of Delaware where she was a recipient of a School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy Fellowship, and the Urban Affairs Association Award.
Kristin joined Jenny Toomey at the Future of Music Coalition in late 2000 to oversee project management, research and event programming, including Future of Music Policy Summits from 2002-2007. In 2010, Kristin became a consultant for FMC, and has served as Co-Director of the multi-method Artist Revenue Streams research project. She was also the main author of Arts Organizations and Digital Technologies, released by Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project in January 2013, and works with consumer privacy expert Ashkan Soltani. She lives near Philadelphia with her husband Bryan Dilworth, a concert promoter, and their son, where she also plays guitar in the lady-powered band, Ken.
