Testimonials of Impact Potential
“MakerUSA would bring critical expertise and capacity to our vision to develop an ecosystem of community-based makerspaces across the Black Belt Region. Locally recruited, trained and supported talent could become an essential support to our economic development efforts for the region, which are rooted in the culture, faith, history and ideas of marginalized African American communities.”
— Jeff Smith, Director of Faith and Economic Development, Pan African Cultural Heritage Institute (Pensacola, FL)
“MakerUSA would help us lay the groundwork for programming that would empower Glenville community members to develop skills and experiences in digital fabrication, strongly positioning them for careers in entrepreneurship, advanced manufacturing and beyond.”
— Kimberly Hunter, Project Director, Mantles and Makers (Cleveland, OH)
“We recently opened our Innovation Center, a makerspace where students come together to share ideas. The students are really engaged and starting to create things. We hope a partnership with MakerUSA can support these important efforts.”
— Dr. Steven Schulz, President, North Iowa Area Community College (Mason City, IA)
“Rockland Community College is investing in new ways for making experiences to drive entrepreneurship pathways for our students as well as connections to existing local businesses. MakerUSA Program Managers would provide essential support and coaching for our students on their unique goals, needs and ideas.”
— Fabiola Riobe, Associate Provost for Academic Innovation, Online Education, & Global Opportunities, Rockland Community College (SUNY) (Suffern, NY)
“A partnership with MakerUSA could become a central component of our goal to develop a state-wide ecosystem of makerspaces, anchored by the University of Wyoming and based in community colleges and underserved, rural communities across our state. It would also support our efforts to connect this emerging ecosystem to important entrepreneurship resources for our state’s makers.”
— Tyler Kerr, Makerspace Manager, Innovation Wyrkshop, University of Wyoming (Laramie, WY)
Exactly what we need to address human capacity and expertise gaps
“A MakerUSA partnership would bring essential capacity and expertise as we explore new ways to expand maker education opportunities to our students, while doing so in ways that deeply engage community stakeholders, including our other higher-education institutions, K-12 schools, local industry and chambers of commerce.”
— Kelli Chaney, President, Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
“The MakerUSA model is exactly what we need to address human capacity and expertise gaps in our efforts to expand maker-centered learning opportunities for underserved students throughout the Inland Empire/Desert Region.”
— Lisa Kiplinger Kennedy, Regional Director, Business and Entrepreneurship, Inland Empire/Desert Regional Consortium (CA)
“A MakerUSA Program Manager will bring fantastically practical and welcome access to maker programming across our region of rural southwestern Colorado. Many of our underserved schools are just waiting for a Program Manager's support to launch their students into a world of possibilities, and connect their students with a direct pipeline to Colorado-specific career pathways.”
— Sarah Holbrooke, Executive Director, Pinhead Institute (Smithsonian Affiliate) (Telluride, CO)
“The critical asset of MakerUSA Program Managers would enable UMA to more deeply connect makerspaces, including community college-based programs, with our work to build entrepreneurial ecosystems and inclusive manufacturing sectors.”
— Katy Stanton, Program Director, Urban Manufacturing Alliance
“Our greatest challenge is having the human capacity to keep our existing makerspace open while fully engaging with local entrepreneurs, at the same time as we aim to create a new space at our Watsonville Center to better serve our south county community. Thus our interest in MakerUSA.”
— Dr. John Graulty, Dean of Visual, Applied, and Performing Arts, Cabrillo College (Aptos, CA)
