This season, we traveled around the country to take a look under the hood of nine US National Science Foundation-funded Regional Innovation Engines. We learned about pressing issues facing our country, our economy, and the world in sectors as varied as water, energy, semiconductors, textiles, agriculture, biomedical, and climate resiliency. We uncovered how these innovation ecosystems are tackling these wicked problems for their regions and for all of us.
For the final episode of the season, I’m sharing some of my key takeaways from these conversations and I’ll chat with three practitioners from The Engine who’ve been working closely with all of the Innovation Engines over the last year to get their perspective and learn what insights from this massive undertaking we can apply in our own day-to-day ecosystem building.
Dr. Amy Beaird is a Senior Platform Manager at The Engine, where she collaborates with the NSF to catalyze innovation ecosystems across ten U.S. regions. Previously, as Chief Strategy Officer at the Florida High Tech Corridor, she spearheaded transformative initiatives like the award-winning Cenfluence industry clustering initiative. With 20 years of experience, Dr. Beaird has coached and mentored hundreds of startups and is an SBIR/STTR program expert. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of South Carolina and a B.S. from the University of Florida.
Elizabeth Patterson is a Platform Manager at The Engine responsible for partnering with NSF's Regional Innovation Engines to identify and deliver solutions based on their unique needs. As an economic development policy strategist and project manager, she has served on applied research teams at the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program and as a freelance project manager providing specialized and locally tailored support for regions building inclusive and innovative economies. Elizabeth received her BA from Rhodes College and lives in New York City.
Dr. Ian Johnston is the Director of Emerging Ecosystem at The Engine where he focuses on innovation ecosystem development. Prior to The Engine, Ian spent time at Engine Ventures as a Sr. Investment Associate and at Putnam Associates as a Life Sciences Consultant. Ian also worked at the Penn Center for Innovation, assessing technologies for their patent and market potential. Ian holds a PhD in Pharmacology from University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University.
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Today marks the final stop on our tour of the US National Science Foundation-funded Regional Innovation Engines. To round out our adventure, we’re headed to Tempe, Arizona to talk with Brian Sherman, CEO of the NSF Futures Engine in the Southwest.
The NSF Futures Engine represents three states–Arizona, Nevada, and Utah–with a diverse range of landscapes, a large population that includes fifty-eight tribal nations, and a variety of industries from semiconductors to ski resorts and the entertainment hub of Las Vegas. With its resources and environments, the Southwest has both incredible opportunities for rural and urban regenerative economic development and unique challenges.
Join us as Brian talks us through what the NSF Futures Engine in the Southwest is doing to address regional challenges in energy, water, and air systems through building an ecosystem in the American Southwest.
Brian Sherman joined the NSF Futures Engine in the Southwest (formerly the Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine or SWSIE) as CEO in July 2024. Brian approaches economic development as a social entrepreneur, startup evangelist, and bureaucracy hacker. He believes human-inspired, market-leveraged, data-driven entrepreneurship can create a better world. His work is focused on technology-based economic development, entrepreneurship, early-stage capital formation, technology commercialization, and innovation in public policy, strategy, and finance.
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Take a quick look around you. How many things in your field of view run on batteries? Your smartwatch, phone, the earbuds you’re listening to this podcast on, or maybe even the electric vehicle you’re driving–they all use batteries. Batteries also make our electric grids more resilient, enable transportation, and provide backup power to infrastructure such as data centers.
And yet, fewer than 25% of the batteries we use in the US are produced here, which is why our next US National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine wants Upstate New York to become America’s Battery Capital.
I sat down with the NSF Energy Storage Engine in Upstate New York CEO, Meera Sampath, to learn more about why bringing battery and energy storage innovation and production to the US is so important, and how the Engine is building on Upstate New York’s incredible resources and history of tech innovation.
Meera Sampath is a researcher, innovator, and leader with a global perspective. Throughout her 30-year career in industry and academia, Meera’s focus has been on two key areas: driving impact through technology and building purposeful partnerships across organizations, sectors and continents. Meera is deeply connected with and drawn to serving the Upstate NY community, a place she has called home for the past three decades.
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In an industry dominated by fast fashion, our next US National Science Foundation funded Regional Innovation Engine is working to bring sustainability and circularity to the textile industry.
Headquartered in Morganton, the NSF Textile Innovation Engine in North Carolina –or The Textile Engine–is working to make the Southeast’s Textile Belt a home for innovation and the lifeblood of its communities. I sat down with Co-Deputy CEO Molly Hemstreet and CEO Anne Wiper to talk about the future of textile production, the true cost of fast fashion, and how each of us can reduce and recycle the pounds upon pounds of textile waste Americans produce each year.
Molly Hemstreet is Co-Deputy CEO of the NSF Textile Innovation Engine in North Carolina, where she leads workforce development and regional engagement initiatives. She is also the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of The Industrial Commons, which supports over 2,500 workers through its collaborative, member-led network of textile manufacturers and workplace development programs.
Through her experience and leadership, she has organized economic development initiatives across rural Western North Carolina, founded Opportunity Threads, which has grown into the largest U.S.-based worker-owned cut-and-sew facility, and co-founded the Carolina Textile District in 2013, a strategic value chain focused on revitalizing textile manufacturing across the Carolinas.
Anne Wiper is the CEO of the NSF Textile Innovation Engine in North Carolina, where she leads efforts to strengthen the U.S. textile industry through cutting-edge research, commercialization of circular and regenerative materials, and workforce development. Her work centers on advancing innovation, resilience, and collaboration within the domestic textile supply chain.
Anne brings decades of industry experience to The Textile Engine, drawing on her previous roles as Vice President of Product for Smartwool and Icebreaker, brands under VF Corporation, as well as leadership positions at Salomon Sports and Nike across the U.S. and Europe. In addition, Anne has been a faculty lecturer in the University of Colorado Masters of the Environment program since 2022.
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Our next region has been part of the world’s energy story for over a century. Today, we’re visiting the US National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine that is aiming to not only be part of the story, but to write it through innovative research, workforce development, and commercialization of new technologies.
I sat down with Michael Mazzola, Executive Director of the NSF FUEL Engine in Louisiana to learn more about how Louisiana’s geology and history make the state uniquely qualified to drive innovation in carbon use, capture, and sequestration. And we’ll talk about how they’re building strategic partnerships to ensure that innovation and commercialization have positive impacts on local economies in Louisiana.
Dr. Michael Mazzola leads FUEL’s activities to position the state of Louisiana as a global energy innovation leader and decarbonize the state’s industrial corridor. Prior to his current position, Dr. Mazzola was the executive director of the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) at the University of North Carolina Charlotte and the Duke Energy Distinguished Chair of Power Engineering Systems. He has also served as associate director for advanced vehicle systems at the Mississippi State University Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS). As a tenured professor of electrical and computer engineering, he led research in high-voltage engineering, power systems modeling and simulation, the application of silicon carbide semiconductor devices in power electronics and the control of hybrid electric vehicle power trains. While at MSU, he co-founded SemiSouth Laboratories, a company that commercialized intellectual property originating from his research at the university.
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Everybody needs to eat, and our food has to come from somewhere. With changing weather patterns and landscapes, ensuring we have secure and resilient agricultural and food systems is crucial to our future.
It’s fitting that our next stop on the US National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines tour has subtitled themselves the FARMS Engine: Food systems Adapted for Resiliency and Maximized Security.
Officially known as the North Dakota Advanced Agriculture Technology Engine, FARMS is building an ecosystem to support the agricultural innovations that will feed the world. Today, I’m sitting down with FARMS CEO Dr. Hollie Mackey to get the scoop on how they’re empowering North Dakota’s diverse communities to meet the challenges of creating thriving, resilient food systems for the present and the future.
A citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation, Dr. Hollie Mackey brings a unique perspective to her work, combining deep expertise in community-driven innovation with a commitment to equity and sustainability. With a distinguished career spanning academia, public policy, and industry leadership, Dr. Mackey has been at the forefront of integrating Indigenous knowledge with modern AgTech solutions. Her leadership at FARMS focuses on empowering Tribal Nations, small farmers, and rural communities by fostering scalable, localized food systems that address both regional and global challenges.
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Research Is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods, Shawn Wilson
As we continue our tour of the US National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines, today we’re headed to North Carolina.
Tim Bertram and Jesse Thornburg of the Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine are taking us into the lab to give us a crash course in what regenerative medicine is, and how their Engine is helping regenerative medicine companies build, grow, and scale in the Piedmont Triad region through access to world-class resources, expertise, space, and collaboration opportunities to create economic impact.
Tim is currently serving as CEO for the Regenerative Medicine Engine funded by the National Science Foundation, focusing on economic development through translation and commercialization of regenerative medical technologies. He was previously founder and CEO of four biotechnology companies, served on the board of directors of multiple companies, and worked on the development of 8 registered medical products while serving as a scientific leader and senior executive at Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE}, SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, and The Procter & Gamble Company {NYSE: PG}. He started his career as a faculty member at the University of Illinois, was a visiting scientist at the National Institutes of Health, authored over 150 publications and invented over 100 patents.
Jesse has worked as a researcher and in operations, building diverse research teams in a Comprehensive Cancer Center and Clinical Translational Science Institute. His business experience stems from starting and operating a successful business and setting up a trust to provide capital to help growing businesses scale. Dr. Thornburg is passionate about helping businesses and economic ecosystems change lives.
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Colorado and Wyoming are famed for their wide open spaces and incredible landscapes.
They’re also very, very dry.
Changes in rainfall and snowpack are already impacting agriculture, tourism, and the frequency and intensity of wildfires in the western United States. The wicked problem of climate resiliency isn’t one for the future, it’s making itself known in real-time.
Today, we’re headed west to meet our next NSF Engine, the ASCEND Engine in Colorado and Wyoming, in short, the CO-WY Engine, where I’ll be talking to CEO Mike Freeman about the region’s unique resources and how they’re building a community-based commitment to climate resiliency.
Mike Freeman has dedicated the past 15 years to building up the science and technology innovation ecosystems in Colorado and surrounding areas. He brings several decades in public sector leadership, management consulting, non-profit management, and venture capital to his role at the CP-WY Engine.
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Would you be able to describe what a semiconductor is?
A lot of us probably can’t, but they’re essential to modern life as we know it.
Today, we’re headed to NeoCity and the Central Florida Semiconductor Innovation Engine to talk with CEO Tawny Olore. This Regional Innovation Engine, funded by the US National Science Foundation, is taking on the major project of developing an ecosystem for producing semiconductors in central Florida that can be translated to other regions.
In our conversation, Tawny explains what semiconductors are, how they impact all of our lives, and why building semiconductor ecosystems isn’t just a matter of economics, but one of national security.
Tawny Olore serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the NSF Central Florida Semiconductor Innovation Engine, where she is responsible for developing a semiconductor ecosystem in Central Florida that can translate to other regions in the United States. Prior to her role, Tawny served as Osceola County’s Deputy County Manager, responsible for the oversight and management of the Transportation and Transit, Public Works, Real Estate and Right of Way, and Information Technology departments. She has also served as Program Manager for the FDOT Rail Transit program for District Five, specifically managing all aspects of SunRail, Central Florida’s Commuter Rail project – a 61-mile system with 12 stations traversing through a multiple of jurisdictions including four counties and 11 cities.
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Fresh water is a vital resource for life on earth, and it plays an increasingly important role in developing technologies like AI, quantum computing, and the data centers on which both rely.
Managing access, use, and waste will only become more pressing as industry and communities continue to compete for water resources.
So it makes sense that the Great Lakes, which hold 20% of the world’s fresh surface water, are the site of our first Regional Regional Innovation Engine, funded by the National Science Foundation through the NSF Engines Program.
Today, we’re headed to Chicago to talk to Alaina Harkness of Great Lakes ReNEW about how this ecosystem is leading efforts across the Great Lakes region to bring stakeholders together, transition to a circular water economy, and protect and steward the Great Lakes for generations to come.
Alaina Harkness is the CEO of Chicago-based water innovation hub, Current, and the CEO and Principal Investigator of their NSF-funded Great Lakes Water Innovation Engine: Great Lakes ReNEW. She’s an entrepreneurial leader and lifelong Great Lakes resident who has spent her career seeking ways to build more inclusive economies and resilient communities. Outside the office, you can often find her on or near Lake Michigan, where she enjoys sailing, swimming, and birding in the parks near her South Side home.
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How do we make our communities more resilient to extreme weather events?
How do we become smarter about using and recycling water, one of the most precious resources on our planet?
And how can we turn the textile industry into a more circular and sustainable economy that reduces waste and develops new fibers and materials?
Welcome to season seven of Ecosystems for Change, where I’ll be talking with the innovators and changemakers tackling these kinds of complex issues, not just within their own communities, but for the world at large.
Throughout this season, I’m going to introduce you to the Regional Innovation Engines Program, a program funded by the US National Science Foundation. In partnership with the Builder Platform I will highlight nine so-called Engines, and their place-based strategies to these wicked problems.
To start us off, I sat down with three key players in the implementation of this nationwide program: Ben Downing, Patricia Grospiron, and Emily Knight.
Ben Downing is Vice President of Public Affairs at The Engine. Before joining The Engine, Ben was Vice President for New Market Development at Nexamp, a veteran-founded, Boston-based clean energy company. Prior to this, Ben represented the state's largest Senate district while serving as State Senator for 52 communities in Western Massachusetts.
Patricia Grospiron is the Executive Director of The Builder Platform, where she is responsible for leading the strategic direction to foster the development of the NSF Regional Innovation Engines. Patricia has several decades of experience in innovation ecosystem building thanks to her roles at Avery Dennison, JumpStart, Inc and Ohio Aerospace Institute.
Emily Knight is the President of The Engine, where she is responsible for shaping the organization's strategic direction and building partnerships with industry leaders and educational institutions to foster an environment where Tough Tech teams can thrive and innovate.
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Water scarcity, food insecurity, and wasteful textile supply chains are major societal challenges with no easy solutions. But some of the nation's leading scientists, researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs are committed to tackling these problems.
In Season 7 of Ecosystems for Change, I’m going to introduce you to nine different innovation ecosystems who are solving some of our most pressing societal issues in real-time.
With help from The Builder Platform, I'm taking you inside the ecosystems working to develop real-world solutions to make our communities more resilient, drive regional engagement, and create economic opportunity along the way.
You'll learn how these Regional Innovation Engines build ecosystems grounded in research and innovation. You'll see firsthand how these pioneers help turn ideas into practical applications that can benefit millions of people in the US and beyond.
Innovation in a box doesn’t work. In this season, we’ll find out what does.
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Welcome to my seventh logbook, an in between seasons update on Ecosystems for Change.
In each logbook, I give you a peek behind the scenes of what’s happening in my day job as an entrepreneurial ecosystem builder in the Shenandoah Valley, some updates from the field of ecosystem building, an introduction to Unsung Heroes of Ecosystem Building doing amazing work in their communities, and a behind the scenes update about the show itself.
It’s a fun way for me to let you in on my thought processes and an invitation for you to contribute your own thoughts and experiences that make this show what it is.
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On today’s bonus episode, I’m speaking with Chris Heivly.
Chris has over 40 years of experience working as, for, and with entrepreneurs and I was delighted to talk with him about why he wants to see more ecosystem and community builders come together and build a fort.
Chris Heivly is a life-long entrepreneur and multifaceted investor who spent forty years working as, for, and with entrepreneurs. Prior to becoming a successful startup community builder and consultant, Chris co-founded MapQuest—which sold to AOL for $1.2 billion. He currently serves as a managing director of The Startup Factory and is a highly sought-after public speaker. His first book, Build the Fort: Why 5 Simple Lessons You Learned As a 10 Year-Old Can Set You Up for Startup Success, was inspired by his widely acclaimed TEDx talk in 2014.
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We started this season by asking how we can tell better stories about what is happening in our ecosystems.
As I reflect on the lessons learned throughout the season, the key piece is that storytelling is not just some fun marketing campaign; it’s a tool to show the community what is possible and what the future might look like.
But most of us–entrepreneurs and ecosystem partners alike–are so bogged down in the day-to-day that we rarely have the chance to envision the bigger picture of where the ecosystem is headed. Storytelling allows us to gather and curate all these different stories of doers, makers, and dreamers into a mosaic that creates a beautiful picture as it comes together.
Once we understand that every story, whether on a blog, in a newsletter, or in a YouTube video, contributes to this greater picture and narrative, we can start chipping away at it. You don’t need a degree in journalism or media production to contribute. You just need a genuine sense of excitement about the entrepreneurs you encounter and the willingness to look for solutions.
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Today, we’re headed to Vermont to hear stories about extraordinary rural communities throughout the US.
Austin Danforth is the chief storyteller in charge at the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI), not that he would call himself that. But I definitely do.
Austin is putting his prior career as a sports reporter and photographer to use to reshape the narrative around tech ecosystems, innovation, and entrepreneurship in rural America.
Austin and the team at CORI have produced the incredible video series The Rural Edge, as well as community case studies, reports, and tools that I, personally, have found super useful in my own work developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Shenandoah Valley.
Naturally, I wanted to get Austin on the show to share with us how CORI does what they do, and how they do it so well. He’s spilling the beans on the process of developing stories, how it differs from his life as a journalist, and how and why CORI has committed funding and resources to telling these vital stories.
Austin Danforth is a native Vermonter who spent more than a decade as a sportswriter and photographer before jumping into nonprofit communications with the Center on Rural Innovation. He's an avid storyteller and connection-maker who loves to experience new places and figure out what makes them tick.
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In this episode, I’m continuing my conversation about Yearbook Indiana with Polina Osherov of Pattern, Morgan Allen of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and Julie Heath, formerly of IEDC.
We’re jumping right back in from the break, so if you haven’t listened to part one, go do that!
In part two, we’re digging into the nitty-gritty of getting the yearbook into the right hands, how they made the budget work for the project and the state’s strategic goals, and getting community buy-in.
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In today’s episode, I get to introduce you to a storytelling powerhouse trio.
At every stage of the process, from vision to execution to the final product, I have rarely seen such a well-produced, coherent, and meaningful storytelling campaign as Yearbook Indiana.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation–IEDC–collaborated with Indiana-based magazine Pattern, to produce a yearbook highlighting the stories of entrepreneurs throughout the state and to highlight the positive impacts of young companies on the state’s economy.
To steer this ambitious undertaking, IEDC and Pattern brought together the three women you’ll hear from today: Polina Osherov, co-founder and executive director of Pattern, Morgan Allen, entrepreneurial ecosystem manager at IEDC, and Julie Heath, who has since moved on from IEDC.
Because there is just so much to absorb in this rich conversation, we’re splitting it into two parts.
In part one, you’ll hear about how this kind of storytelling became a priority, how the project got underway between IEDC and Pattern, and what makes a physical storytelling product like a yearbook so special and powerful.
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I’ve been in awe of today’s guest, Natalie Hodge, since I first learned about her show Hometown Hustle.
As of summer 2023, the show is in its second season telling the stories of entrepreneurs building their big business ideas in the small towns of rural America and changing the narrative about rural entrepreneurship.
Today, Natalie shares why she believes it’s so vital to share the stories of rural entrepreneurs, the joys and challenges of producing a web series from scratch on a tight budget, and how we can build buy-in on these stories from community and corporate partners.
Natalie Hodge is the founder and owner of Rudy’s Girl Media, a Martinsville, Virginia-based multimedia content creation company specializing in developing a diverse array of engaging projects ranging from film to literary works. Natalie is a writer, producer, and transformation coach with a background in higher education and workforce development with degrees from Guilford College and Cornell University. She is an authentic and inspiring speaker who focuses her messaging on fearlessness and the power of positive being.
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Welcome to my first interview of season 6.
I sat down with none other than Eva-Maria Verfürth, Publisher and Editor in Chief of Tea After Twelve.
While based in Frankfurt, Germany, Eva’s storytelling spans around the globe to talk about new solutions to old problems to create a better world.
As you’ll see in this conversation, Eva is driven by a deep desire to transform journalism in a way that moves beyond mere disaster reporting and emphasizes inspiration and progress, which is why I’m so excited to kick off season 6 with her.
Let’s go to Frankfurt!
Eva-Maria Verfürth is a journalist and entrepreneur with a keen interest in international perspectives and social change. Her career has been driven by the wish to transform journalism in a way that moves beyond mere disaster reporting and emphasizes inspiration and progress. In 2014, Eva and her teammate Sarah Klein founded Tea After Twelve, an international online magazine on impact innovation, technological inventions, and social change. The idea in a nutshell: reporting about what is working instead of only telling what’s going wrong. Tea after Twelve wants to connect creative minds around the world, the entrepreneurs, inventors, thinkers, and makers who have convincing ideas for social change and ecological transformation. It features projects and actions that have had an impact in their communities and have the potential to make a difference elsewhere as well.
Eva is also co-founder and managing director of Bunny Island, a German communications agency offering content production and design services, and a coach and trainer for (solutions) storytelling and communications strategy. Before becoming an entrepreneur, she worked as an editor and writer for several magazines with international audiences and in public relations for German development cooperation organizations.
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