President and Founder, Global Institute on Innovation Districts
Julie Wagner is president and founder of The Global Institute on Innovation Districts (GIID), a global reaching, not-for-profit organization. The mission of GIID is to accelerate the growth and evolution of innovation districts worldwide. She leads a multidisciplinary team that undertakes novel empirical research across dozens of districts worldwide to elevate their distinction from other economic models. Julie has shaped and led a global network of nearly 50 districts across five continents and 16 countries.
Julie is a prolific researcher and writer. Her most notable research includes, “The Rise of Innovation Districts: A New Geography of Innovation in America” and “The Evolution of Innovation Districts: The New Geography of Global Innovation.” Her most recent paper was released in April 2024, titled “Innovation Districts and the Centrality of Land,” which boldly explores the centrality of land in both the transformation of districts and, importantly, how they are effectively governed to advance specific ambitions.
A trained city planner from MIT, Julie was a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution for nearly 15 years. served as a deputy planning director for Washington DC, where she managed the development of plans to aid that city undergoing significant economic and social transformation.
Director of Research, Global Institute on Innovation Districts
Chad is director of research with The Global Institute, where he drives the organization’s analysis of the distinct research and development strengths of innovation districts and the role they play in broader innovation ecosystems. Over the past four years, Chad developed novel approaches for analyzing the R&D strengths of some of the most successful and competitive research institutions and companies in the world. Those approaches were ultimately combined to evaluate the R&D and commercialization strengths of 23 districts across 10 countries.
Chad is now shaping a new research agenda for a subset of highly ambitious districts, which will combine deep empirical research with a process for devising an impact agenda.
In a previous role, he was a senior research associate and senior project manager at The Brookings Institution. In that position, he drove the development of research and policy projects on economic competitiveness, labor market dynamics, and the changing geography of jobs in cities. He is also the founder and principal of Denizens, a consulting firm that provides research and advice on economic policy issues.
Chad has extensive experience helping governments, civic groups, and research organizations design policies and programs that increase economic competitiveness and opportunity. During his 10 years at The Brookings Institution, he advised leaders in dozens of cities and metropolitan regions. From 2015 to 2018, he led a research initiative at Brookings focused on improving labor market opportunity and access that resulted in impactful policy projects and reports in Riverside, Calif., Indianapolis, Ind., New Orleans, La., Detroit, Mich., and the state of Michigan. He worked with leaders in Kansas City, Mo., Louisville, Ky., and Newark, N.J., to develop strategies to improve the competitiveness of local advanced industries. Chad has also published numerous reports on economic dynamics and trends, including a 2019 Brookings report exploring the increasing density and proximity of jobs in the advanced industries that underpin innovation districts, as well as a series of quarterly and annual reports tracking the economic performance of U.S. cities.
Chad holds dual bachelor’s degrees, in economics and urban planning and design, from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is currently based in Washington, DC.
Senior Research Associate, Global Institute on Innovation Districts
Laura is senior research associate for The Global Institute, where she spearheads interdisciplinary research activities focused on the spatial dimension of innovation districts. She most recently completed an intense two-year research initiative that analyzed 23 innovation districts and their place-based assets—seeking out new patterns and hidden advantages. Her global research on national policies and her evaluation of research strengths of a range of universities in Australia, Israel, and Europe, highlight her wide-ranging research interests and her capacity to transition effectively across various facets of the innovation ecosystem.
Previously, Laura made significant contributions to international research projects, collaborating with universities in the United States, Italy, Finland, and the United Kingdom. Her experience has equipped her with a deep understanding of European innovation policies. Since 2016, Laura has investigated how Smart Specialization Strategies (S3) aim to boost regional innovation, contributing to growth and prosperity by helping enable regions to focus on their strengths and their own competitive advantages.
Laura conducted deep research on emerging innovation districts as a graduate student in Boston. Her dissertation analyzed the potential of innovation districts in driving sustainable and inclusive outcomes, in enabling communities to achieve their economic potential, and in creating social justice and equality of opportunity over the long term.
Laura holds a Ph.D. in urban regeneration and economic development, along with a master’s degree in architecture. Prior to transitioning to a research career, she worked as an architectural designer in Malta. Laura speaks Italian, English, Spanish and she is actively engaged in learning sign language.
Global Network Manager, Global Institute on Innovation Districts
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 22 innovation districts across nine countries. He played a key role in the development of the interim Global Network and has worked closely with The Global Institute’s Steering Committee.
As the inaugural communications manager, Igor has been instrumental in shaping The Global Institute’s online presence. Leading the establishment of the institute’s first website, he played a pivotal role in promoting impactful research papers and spearheaded the launch and growth of its external communication channels, which now boasts several thousand subscribers.
Igor’s first experience working with innovation geographies was at The Brookings Institution, where he supported the work of Julie Wagner and the Bass Initiative for Innovation and Placemaking by participating in a global scan, where he conducted in-depth interviews with leaders of testbed programs and living labs. Prior to Brookings, Igor supervised a small team in a research institute in Switzerland, working on projects commissioned by the Swiss Federal Statistics Office, on topics such as labor market participation, mobility habits, and media consumption.
Igor holds a degree in communication sciences from the University of Lugano and is certified by the Swiss branch of the International Project Management Association. Igor speaks English, Italian, Russian, and Spanish, and he is currently learning Hebrew.
Program Manager, Global Institute on Innovation Districts
Zenia is program manager for The Global Institute, where she takes on a multi-faceted role in driving the organization’s success. She plays a leadership role in the development of strategic initiatives in addition to overseeing a wide spectrum of responsibilities such as finance, budgeting, supporting The Global Institute’s Board initiatives, and fundraising. Zenia also supports the program development of the Global Network of Innovation Districts.
In her previous position as program manager at the National University of Singapore and the Genome Institute of Singapore, she managed a global network of researchers and developed strategic initiatives to elevate the status of the Human Genetics and Cardiovascular Program. Zenia boasts extensive experience in collaborating with senior stakeholders across diverse sectors, including research groups, universities, government bodies, corporations, funders, and regulatory agencies. Her skill set enables her to plan and execute projects and programs that enhance research and innovation, while creating conducive spaces for collaboration.
With a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science, Zenia has a unique background that includes laboratory management, coordination of external collaborations, and the management of large budgets and resources. Zenia is passionate about connecting with people, believes in creating a work culture that promotes personal development, and is dedicated to building collaborative spaces that promote innovation and growth. She speaks English and Mandarin.
Communications Strategist, Global Institute on Innovation Districts
Federico is a brand and digital copywriter with a passion for technology and innovation.
As communications strategist, Federico is in charge of sharing The Global Institute’s important message with innovation leaders and practitioners all over the world.
Federico is leading The Global Institute’s digital transformation. His work on the website and social media channels will enable more people to access groundbreaking research on innovation districts, bridging the gap between theory and practice.
Federico contributes to The Global Institute’s long-term communication strategy and how the organization’s insights and hands-on support help innovation leaders around the world tackle the biggest problems of the 21st century.
Federico combined his love for competitive marketing and tech, and founded Stack Against to help SaaS products stand out in a crowded marketplace and tell buyers what makes them unique to their competitors.
He speaks Spanish, English, and Portuguese.
Research Associate, Global Institute on Innovation Districts
Utkarsh researches the agglomeration of R&D activities in innovation districts and urban regions for The Global Institute. He is an experienced public policy researcher, with a focus on the nexus between urban development and climate change.
Prior to joining The Global Institute, Utkarsh was associated with the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) in New Delhi, where he worked with Dr Isher Judge Ahluwalia on issues of urbanization and sustainable development in India.
Utkarsh is also an associate fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress in New Delhi, and a founding-member at GreenEarthAnalytics GmbH in Germany. He has published studies on urban service delivery, municipal finance, climate change and energy transition, and on climate finance, which have been cited in related literature and referenced in the media.
Utkarsh has master’s degrees in economics and energy regulation from Madras School of Economics (Chennai), and Technical University Berlin, respectively. He is a 2022-23 Climate Fellow at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs.
Geospatial Researcher, Global Institute on Innovation Districts
Juel is a geospatial researcher with The Global Institute. She is a geospatial data expert with over 15 years of experience managing complex geospatial datasets. She leads the spatial data compilation, quality review and analysis processes.
Juel holds a PhD in geoinformatics. Her thesis focused on developing a method for small island states to evaluate the level of spatio-temporal accessibility to public health care services towards improving service availability and utilization, something often overlooked due to their relatively small size.
For the past five years Juel has worked as a consultant in the Caribbean region. As GIS consultant she has worked across several fields including health, education, environmental conservation, crime and urban planning. Juel was recognized as an Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) Young Professional in 2019. She has played an active role in the award winning Geospatial Information Research and Innovation (GIRI) Group since its inception.
Most recently, Juel has worked within public health to improve and promote the use of geospatial data and analysis in the fight against COVID-19 and is a part-time lecturer at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine.
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