Resilience & Leadership Expert | Tech Expert & Engineer | Author

From Aerospace Engineer to Pioneer of Economic Movement: Cameron Shutts Redefines How Participation Builds Community and Purpose

Cameron Shutts is the founder, President, and CEO of the Clever Like a Fox Foundation (CLAFF), a bold new nonprofit movement redefining how participation, health, and community engagement are valued in today’s world. Based in Huntington Beach, California, Cameron brings to CLAFF a rare combination of technical expertise, athletic discipline, and deep human leadership.

For over a decade, Cameron advanced rapidly in the manufacturing and aerospace industries, holding senior engineering and corporate executive roles at Lockheed Martin, Terran Orbital, BAE Systems, and Express Manufacturing, Inc. His career was defined by innovation, loyalty, and creative problem-solving, but it was also shaped by the politics of corporate culture. After years of giving his loyalty to organizations that did not return it, Cameron made a transformative decision: to step away from a conventional career path and realign his life around meaning, resilience, and community.

In 2024, after leaving his last corporate position, Cameron spent nine months in personal reflection and endurance training, completing four triathlons and rediscovering the power of health, discipline, and self-challenge. What began as a personal pursuit became a mission: to build something meaningful that celebrated perseverance, togetherness, and civic contribution while fostering health and happiness.

That mission gave rise to Clever Like a Fox Foundation (CLAFF). Founded in 2025, CLAFF is a participation-powered model that converts verified human effort—whether athletic competitions like triathlons or mission-driven volunteer work—into equal-share grants on a twice-yearly cycle. Its philosophy is simple: participation is power. By rewarding presence rather than productivity or need, CLAFF creates a culture where community involvement, wellness, and human connection are not just encouraged, but tangibly recognized.

As a former college football safety, Cameron’s life has always revolved around protecting others and building trust. Today, he channels that same defensive grit into protecting the value of community and human engagement in an era of automation and disconnection. Under his leadership, CLAFF is on track to launch its first application cycle in 2026, with the inaugural distribution scheduled for 2027.

Unapologetically himself, Cameron leads with honesty, loyalty, and charisma. His vision for CLAFF is to spark a cultural shift—boosting health, resilience, and civic pride while giving back through a transparent and scalable model. For Cameron, this is more than an organization; it is a legacy.