PAMELA L. JENNINGS, PHD
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PAMELA L. JENNINGS Ph.D., MBA
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University of North Carolina System
Center for Design Innovation (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)
Executive Director & Full Professor, Entrepreneurial Studies
Center for Design Innovation (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)
Executive Director & Full Professor, Entrepreneurial Studies
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The Center for Design Innovation was a University of North Carolina system-wide research initiative located at the Wake Forest University Innovation Quarter (a Wexford Science and Technology Urban Revitalization Initiative). Supported by the State of North Carolina, the initiative was founded to catalyze economic development in a region of the state that was once known for its tobacco, furniture, and textile industries. The new focus was on biotechnology research and the creative economy. The universities and colleges leading the initiative included the UNC School of the Arts, a performing arts conservatory; Winston-Salem State University, a Historical Black College and University; and Forsyth Technical Community College.
I was the second Executive Director in the ten years that transpired between the State appropriations and the construction of the Center building. I managed the completion of the construction of the new Center building, evaluated short and long-term financial shortfalls and projections, and revised programming strategies to respond to the unique learning and research programs of our academic partners and community stakeholders.
The revised program strategy shifted from a focus prior to my leadership on acquired lab equipment to the unique affordances of the new building, university partner priorities, and quickly growing community interest in start-up initiatives and STEAM youth enrichment programs. Revising the program strategy was a particularly important tool to engage external partners that I hired to help address our funding and facility shortfalls. Those partners included ARUP engineering, Winston-Salem Capital Development Services, and the Winston-Salem Foundation.
Revised Program Strategy
Vision: Driving the Discovery Economy of North Carolina. Our most precious resource begins with sustaining the creative power of our people by providing the tools and knowledge to turn great ideas into reality. The Center for Design Innovation blends the art and science of creativity to inspire disruptive enterprise and new discoveries.
Mission: As a world-class research center blending the art and science of creativity the Center for Design Innovation is an incubator designed to inspire disruptive discovery and innovation.
Goals:
In the new Center’s inaugural year, approximately seven-thousand people participated in activities ranging from design thinking workshops, entrepreneurship forums, community economic development co-labs, to contemporary music performances and university STEAM courses.
I was the second Executive Director in the ten years that transpired between the State appropriations and the construction of the Center building. I managed the completion of the construction of the new Center building, evaluated short and long-term financial shortfalls and projections, and revised programming strategies to respond to the unique learning and research programs of our academic partners and community stakeholders.
The revised program strategy shifted from a focus prior to my leadership on acquired lab equipment to the unique affordances of the new building, university partner priorities, and quickly growing community interest in start-up initiatives and STEAM youth enrichment programs. Revising the program strategy was a particularly important tool to engage external partners that I hired to help address our funding and facility shortfalls. Those partners included ARUP engineering, Winston-Salem Capital Development Services, and the Winston-Salem Foundation.
Revised Program Strategy
Vision: Driving the Discovery Economy of North Carolina. Our most precious resource begins with sustaining the creative power of our people by providing the tools and knowledge to turn great ideas into reality. The Center for Design Innovation blends the art and science of creativity to inspire disruptive enterprise and new discoveries.
Mission: As a world-class research center blending the art and science of creativity the Center for Design Innovation is an incubator designed to inspire disruptive discovery and innovation.
Goals:
- To be a fertile environment for learning and research.
- To be a “building as platform” for discoveries with creativity and emerging technologies.
- To be a regional accelerator for design thinking, entrepreneurship, and creative innovation.
- To be a global magnet for the development of cutting-edge ideas.
- To be a provocateur, expanding creative horizons and broadening local boundaries.
- Cultivating Future Innovators: programming geared toward lifelong learners in technology and design. Partners for this program platform included: Winston-Salem Forsyth County Public Library; Winston-Salem Forsyth County K-12 School System; and Winston-Salem IEEE Chapter.
- Launchpad: programming extending opportunities for academic and community entrepreneurs to learn and launch start-up initiatives. Partners for this program platform included: Winston-Salem Small Business Technology Development Center (SBTDC); ForsythTech Community College Small Business Center; ForsythTech Community College Biosciences Industry Fellows; Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce; and Winston-Salem Capital Development Services.
- Design Innovation Research: providing our campuses, and community designers and entrepreneurs access to our advanced imaging, rapid prototyping design labs, data center, performance, and meeting spaces.
In the new Center’s inaugural year, approximately seven-thousand people participated in activities ranging from design thinking workshops, entrepreneurship forums, community economic development co-labs, to contemporary music performances and university STEAM courses.
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