Ecosystem
We believe that social innovators and entrepreneurs (change agents working to create systems-level transformation) thrive when they are part of collaborative, supportive communities interconnected within a diverse, dynamic, and synergistic ecosystem.
timeline
History
2014
2015
2017
2018
2019
The SIE@FSU ecosystem began in August 2014 with the hiring of a Social Entrepreneur in Residence in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy (COSSPP) and the launch of our initial 5-year plan.
In Spring 2015, COSSPP began to offer a secondary concentration in SIE through the Interdisciplinary Social Science (ISS) Program.
In Fall 2017, the new Jim Moran School of Entrepreneurship launched a Social Entrepreneurship (SE) major—one of its two inaugural majors—along with an SE minor.
In 2018, the ISS Program launched its 33-credit SIE Specialization.
In Summer 2018, the Bali Initiative launched.
​
In 2019, SIE@FSU began a new 5-year plan with the goal of becoming a national leader in this field.
SIE @ FSU
Team
Bruce Manciagli
SIE @ FSU Director
Bruce’s career has focused on empowering individuals, organizations, and communities to more effectively address social and environmental problems and catalyze meaningful systems change. His work in Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SIE)—spanning local, state, and international contexts—includes co-founding social enterprises (one of them a national award winner); helping scale and capacity-build a statewide network of high-impact nonprofits; facilitating and funding cross-sector/collective impact partnerships; cultivating SIE ecosystems in higher education and in Indonesia; and leading social innovation initiatives across a diversity of issues, from education to trauma and civic engagement to the environment. Bruce has raised millions and granted tens of millions of dollars to engage communities in creating lasting social value. As Social Entrepreneur in Residence in Florida State University’s (FSU) College of Social Science & Public Policy, a faculty member in FSU’s Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, and Director of SIE@FSU, he has served as lead architect of FSU's SIE ecosystem and collaborates with colleagues across campus and the community to grow the university’s and Tallahassee’s larger innovation & entrepreneurship ecosystem. With a background in the social foundations of education as well as social innovation & entrepreneurship and international & community development, Bruce places as much emphasis on how and why students learn as what they learn. He was awarded an FSU Transformation Through Teaching Award in 2017 and a University Teaching Award in 2019.
Bruce has long-standing ties to Indonesia. He grew up overseas, living 18 years across five continents, and first visited Bali as a young boy in 1975—its people, landscape, and culture captivated him. After graduating from Princeton University in 1988, he lived in Salatiga, Java for one year, teaching at Satya Wacana University and exploring this vast archipelago. It was at Satya Wacana that he met my wife, who is from the island of Sumba, where they were married in a traditional ceremony and where his family makes regular trips. Their daughter, who just graduated from Duke, is very close with all of her cousins in Indonesia. In partnership with the Bali Institute, he developed and leads FSU’s Bali: Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship Immersion program, which launched in Summer 2018 and has been included in the Forum for Education Abroad’s Curriculum Toolbox as representative of best practices in education abroad. In 2019, he and the Bali Institute founded the Bali Changemakers Fellowship, which supports young emerging leaders in Bali who are committed to addressing urgent social and environmental issues in their communities and across Indonesia. Bruce serves as a Global Advisor to the Bali Institute.
Colleen McMahon
SIE @ FSU
Program Coordinator
Colleen is a senior pursuing a degree in Interdisciplinary Social Science, with a primary concentration in Public Administration and secondary concentration in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Colleen first became involved with the SIE Ecosystem through her internship with Girls on the Run, which allowed her to make a tangible impact in the Tallahassee community. She was also able to volunteer with, and serve as a consultant for, The Sharing Tree and Bicycle House through SIE’s Human-Centered Design for Social Innovation course. These experiences helped prepare her for her current position as Program Coordinator, allowing her to fully immerse herself in all aspects of our work. Colleen believes SIE represents the future that our world both wants and needs through its holistic, human-centered approach to wicked problems and its use of interdisciplinary and innovative strategies to address them. After she graduates, Colleen plans to implement this philosophy through service-based work around the world to create meaningful impact.
Dana Sardina
SIE @ FSU Communications Lead
Dana is a junior pursuing a degree in Media/Communication Studies and Editing, Writing, and Media. As Communications Lead, Dana leads the development of our vision for how we communicate our work while creating content for, and managing, all of SIE @ FSU’s social media and communication platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, our website, and our weekly newsletter. SIE has helped guide Dana in the direction she wants her communications degree to go in. While her degree is not SIE-related, SIE @ FSU has taught Dana so much about sustainable, innovative, and ethical business practices, and how she can use these practices to create positive impact in her career. After graduation, Dana hopes to run the communications for a nonprofit, social enterprise, or social-impact organization.
Nikki Ferrara
SIE @ FSU
Liaison to the Innovation Hub
Nikki is a senior pursuing a degree in Social Entrepreneurship and Art History. She serves as a liaison between SIE @ FSU and the FSU Innovation Hub to help foster and further develop this partnership. As an SIE intern at the Hub, she creates social impact by collaborating with various departments and organizations across campus to promote innovative, systemic approaches to addressing social and environmental issues. Nikki started her academic path focused only in Art History, which helped increase her awareness of other cultures. This is what sparked her interest in social impact; participating in the Bali SIE Immersion program in Summer 2019 helped fuel this passion even more. In Bali, Nikki was able to learn about social enterprises and collective impact initiative in action and conduct field work that gave her an appreciation for the human-centered design process in ways that she would not have otherwise been exposed to. SIE has provided an empathetic and interdisciplinary environment for Nikki to grow and develop her interests and skills, as well as create connections with departments and students that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. After graduation, she hopes to combine her passion for art and social impact by working for or starting a social enterprise that empowers artisans around the globe.
Ryan Rossy
SIE @ FSU Videographer
Ryan is a senior majoring in Digital Media Production and minoring in social innovation and entrepreneurship. As the team’s videographer, Ryan creates video content for SIE @ FSU and various partnered organizations. Although his primary major is not SIE related, his work is still extremely important in the field as it allows him to create a visual story to spread the messages of organizations creating social impact. SIE @ FSU has given him opportunities to work with organizations he otherwise would not have had the chance to partner with, surrounded him with like-minded individuals, and given him unique hands-on experience in the field. After graduation Ryan hopes to continue creating videos for social impact organizations.
Emery Lowden
SIE @ FSU
Content Creation Lead
Emery is a junior majoring in Social Entrepreneurship. As Content Creation Lead, Emery organizes and facilitates interviews to create content for SIE @ FSU to increase awareness about the opportunities we provide, the work of our students and partners, and our impact. She is currently working with Ryan, the team’s videographer, to create videos highlighting the diverse elements of the SIE Ecosystem at FSU. Emery’s position allows her to have a direct impact in telling the story of SIE and inspiring future students to become involved in the program. Through this process, she is able to implement the tools for social innovation and change she learns about in her courses to real-life situations. Emery is keeping an open mind about what she wants to do after graduation but is sure she wants to facilitate change and innovation through whatever organization she chooses to work with.
Indonesia team
Bali SIE Immersion Program Assistant
Jade Turski
Jade is a senior pursuing a degree in Family and Child Sciences. As Program Assistant for the Summer 2020 Bali SIE Immersion program, her job is to work with the team and our partner, the Bali Institute, to ensure the program goes smoothly; facilitate program content and reflections; promote the cohesion, safety, and wellbeing of the team; and manage program communications through student blogs and social media. After the program ends, Jade will serve as an intern with the FSU-Bali Institute team, working on our Bali Changemakers Fellowship. Jade became involved with SIE @ FSU as a participant in the Summer 2019 Bali program, which is how she learned that SIE can be found and intertwined in every field and profession. Exposure to this field has challenged her thoughts and future goals and aspirations and taught her to always think of the bigger picture. Jade hopes to be able to use all the knowledge she has already learned, and will gain this summer, to create greater impact in her future profession as a nurse. Most of the work Jade has done in SIE so far has been through the Bali Immersion program, and one of her favorite experiences was the immersive case study at East Bali Immersion. In the few short days students were there, she and her FSU-Bali team studied a social enterprise, were completely unplugged from society and immersed in the culture, enjoyed each other’s company, and were able to make new friends, all in one of the most beautiful places she has ever been. This summer, Jade is extremely excited to go back to Bali to be a part of the program from a different perspective. She is especially looking forward to working directly with the Bali Institute and its staff. Jade’s main goal as Program Assistant in Bali is to help everyone get through the trip safely while learning a lot and having the best possible time doing it.
Bali Institute Intern
Denise Lipman
Denise is a recent graduate from the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, with her bachelor’s in Social Entrepreneurship. She owns her own photography business, Denise Lipman Photography, and works with one of our community partners, ACT House. As the organization’s Social Media and New Members Recruitment Manager, she helps to tell the story of the co-living incubator that is cultivating the next generation of diverse innovators. This upcoming summer, Denise will be interning with the Bali Institute, creating content for a variety of platforms through her photography and videography that tell powerful stories of the impact that the Institute and its partners are creating. She will also work closely with the FSU-Bali Institute team as we take our Bali Changemakers Fellowship to the next level. Going through the SIE @ FSU program allowed Denise to apply her creative skills to organizations she would not have otherwise known about it, and she was able to open herself to many opportunities outside of the “average” post-graduation route. The opportunity to intern at the Bali Institute this summer is particularly special to Denise because, in one of her undergraduate SIE classes, she had the idea to create a firm that specializes in content creation and media management for social enterprises and other impact organizations. Her vision is now becoming a reality for her. During her internship, Denise hopes to set meaningful goals for herself and the organizations and achieve them—including everything from content creation to expanding communication channels, all of which will share and increase their impact.
Partners
