Meet our team of researchers, practitioners, and field specialists who drive the day-to-day work of The Global Institute and execute its strategy.
Julie Wagner
President and Founder
Julie spearheads the strategic direction of GIID, which aims to position districts as crucial engines of their regional economies while solving highly complex global challenges. She has both designed, and actively implemented a triad of interconnected activities to advance the practice. This includes undertaking novel research on districts, orchestrating an impact-focused Global Network, and advancing strategic support of individual districts.
Pamela Puchalski
Vice President
As Vice President and co-founder of the Global Institute on Innovation Districts (GIID), Pamela leads on strategy and partnerships to drive impact for the growing number of innovation geographies we engage with around the world.
Chad Shearer
Director of Research
Chad drives the analysis of the distinct research and development strengths of innovation districts and the role they play in broader innovation ecosystems.
Laura Biancuzzo
Senior Research Associate
Laura is a Senior Research Associate at The Global Institute, where she leads interdisciplinary research efforts focused on the intersection of place and innovation within innovation districts. She recently completed a two-year study analyzing 23 innovation districts, uncovering new patterns and hidden advantages. Her global research, which spans national policies and evaluations of research strengths in Australia, Israel, and Europe, highlights her diverse expertise and her ability to navigate the complexities of the global innovation ecosystem.
Igor Ozeran
Global Network Manager
Igor is global network manager for The Global Institute, where his role is to shape and drive the success of the Global Network program, facilitating the program’s expansion and fostering a collaborative community of practitioners in 48 innovation districts across 14 countries.
Linda Ciampoli
Director of Partnerships
Linda fosters enduring partnerships with GIID to accelerate the growth and evolution of innovation districts. She is cultivating partnerships for GIID’s bi-annual Global Summits to support the call to convene and engage district leaders, changemakers, and stakeholders and for the organization’s longer objectives to advance districts globally.
Jonah Klein-Collins
Research Assistant
Jonah is a research assistant at the Global Institute, where his role is to analyze the distinct research and development strengths of innovation districts. His work uses spatial and statistical analyses to pinpoint innovation districts’ most prominent industries and areas of study, contextualize strengths within a district’s surrounding geographies, and characterize innovation ecosystems.
Natalia Arias
Senior Program Manager
Natalia Arias is Senior Program Manager, overseeing GIID’s inaugural Global Summit in all stages of planning through execution. In this role, she is ensuring our first major convening of district leaders worldwide enables robust peer exchange on the imperative for districts to address the changing macro forces that impact how districts evolve.
The values that inspire and drive our work
Independence
We pride ourselves on leading independent research and advanced practice. Findings and conclusions are exclusively based on data analysis led by The Global Institute.
Transparency
Unlike private firms, we seek to codify and communicate new insights and evidence to give cities, regions, and the districts within them, an even playing field.
Diversity
Women and minorities hold a limited number of positions in STEM fields that underpin advanced industries and most applied research. We’re seeking ways to change this balance.
Collegiality
We create a culture of fellowship and collaboration, where districts support each other—driving a new tier of highly-networked leaders.
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