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Ecosystems For Change

Ecosystems For Change

Written by: Anika Horn Social Venturers
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 Transforming communities is hard work. That may go without saying, but when your job is about helping your neighborhood, city or region thrive, talking about being underpaid, burnt out and frustrated with the slow pace of change is kind of frowned upon. As ecosystem builders, we amplify the work of local makers, doers and innovators by championing their efforts and rallying support around them. And maybe most importantly, we build a culture of trust and collaboration among all stakeholders, so that the doers and innovators among us have equal access to information, talent and resources when they need them. On Ecosystems for Change we'll explore how ecosystem building can help us unleash the full potential of the makers, doers, innovators and visionaries in our communities. And I’ll be talking with my guests about the tactics and practical skills they use in their everyday work and what they do to prevent burning the candle at both ends.© 2025 Anika Horn, Social Venturers Self-Help Social Sciences Success
Episodes
  • E 7.11 - Season Finale: Hard-Won Lessons from America's Boldest Innovation Experiment

    E 7.11 - Season Finale: Hard-Won Lessons from America's Boldest Innovation Experiment
    Aug 19 2025
    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.Listen to the full episode to hear:Three key lessons about the innovation to market pipeline, getting the right players to an ecosystem, and the impacts of offshoring vital supply chainsHow the Innovation Engines facilitate use-inspired research and accelerate development of real-world applicationsThe vital role of the Engines in bringing researchers, communities, and industry together for collaborationThe obstacles in the road to commercialization and how the Engines help ecosystems navigate themTwo major components of workforce development and the challenges of working with unpredictable futures in emerging and legacy industriesHow the scope of the Engines allows them to build trust, collaboration, and infrastructure for the long haulLearn more about Dr. Amy Beaird:Connect on LinkedInLearn more about Elizabeth Patterson:Connect on LinkedInLearn more about Dr. Ian Johnston:Connect on LinkedInLearn more about Anika Horn:Social VenturersSign up for Impact CuratorInstagram: @socialventurersResources:The EngineThe Builder PlatformImpact Networks: Create Connection, Spark Collaboration, and Catalyze Systemic Change, David EhrlichmanBlueprint by The EngineActivateCreative Destruction LabBreakthrough Energy VenturesNSF I-CorpsPitchBookCrunchbaseNext Gen Sector PartnershipsGlobal Entrepreneurship Congress
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    46 mins
  • E 7.10 - Regenerative Economic Development with Brian Sherman at the NSF Futures Engine in the Southwest

    E 7.10 - Regenerative Economic Development with Brian Sherman at the NSF Futures Engine in the Southwest
    Aug 5 2025

    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.


    Listen to the full episode to hear:

    • How the Futures Engine is building on Arizona’s history of maximizing efficiency and planning in water use and conservation
    • Why the Engine is investing in research on ozone, air quality, and direct air carbon capture
    • How the Futures Engine is collaborating with other Regional Innovation Engines to share information and resources as they address shared challenges
    • Why addressing the region’s environmental constraints is vital to unlocking economic opportunities that benefit both urban and rural populations
    • How the Futures Engine is facilitating market-driven research and capital investment to get innovation out of the lab and into the world
    • The challenges of aligning workforce development programs with the availability of those job opportunities


    Learn more about Brian Sherman:

    • Connect on LinkedIn


    Learn more about Anika Horn:

    • Social Venturers
    • Sign up for Impact Curator
    • Instagram: @socialventurers


    Resources:

    • NSF Futures Engine in the Southwest
    • S07E02: Solving Global Water Challenges from the Great Lakes Region featuring Alaina Harkness
    • S07E04: Building a Climate-Ready Future in Colorado and Wyoming featuring Mike Freeman
    • S07E06: Powering Ideas That Feed The World with FARMS CEO Dr. Hollie Mackey
    • S07E07: The Future of Energy Innovation with Mike Mazzola at the NSF FUEL Engine in Louisiana
    • WAVR Technologies
    • Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, Merlin Sheldrake
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    50 mins
  • E 7.9 - Batteries for America, by America with Meera Sampath at the NSF Energy Storage Engine in Upstate New York

    E 7.9 - Batteries for America, by America with Meera Sampath at the NSF Energy Storage Engine in Upstate New York
    Jul 22 2025

    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.


    Listen to the full episode to hear:

    • How Upstate New York’s unique academic and industry resources and infrastructure are helping researchers and startups accelerate use-inspired innovation
    • How the Engine is building partnerships with educational and community institutions that will help develop a battery tech-ready workforce
    • What we risk if we continue to rely on foreign supply chains for battery technology, from grid reliability to defense systems to major economic losses and more

    Learn more about Meera Sampath:

    • Connect on LinkedIn


    Learn more about Anika Horn:

    • Social Venturers
    • Sign up for Impact Curator
    • Instagram: @socialventurers


    Resources:

    • NSF Energy Storage Engine in Upstate New York
    • Ateios Systems
    • M. Stanley Whittingham
    • Griffiss Institute
    • S07E02: Solving Global Water Challenges from the Great Lakes Region featuring Alaina Harkness
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    43 mins
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