Innovation Community Manager

University of Wisconsin Milwaukee•Milwaukee, WI

22h

About The Position

The Lubar Entrepreneurial Center (LEC) at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee is a dynamic hub that empowers students, faculty, and staff to nurture ideas, build confidence, and grow as entrepreneurs, innovators, and change-makers. As a cornerstone of both UWM’s and Milwaukee’s innovation ecosystem, the center delivers multidisciplinary programming that strengthens creativity, design thinking, and real-world problem-solving skills. It serves as a resource for emerging ventures, offers experiential learning opportunities, and hosts key programs that help develop a strong regional talent pipeline. The center’s collaborative innovation spaces - including open commons, co-working areas, and maker labs - are intentionally designed to spark creativity and support experimentation, prototyping, and teamwork. The Innovation Community Manager plays a strategic role in building, activating, and sustaining UWM’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. This position leads ecosystem mapping and community strategy to increase visibility, accessibility, and engagement across campus and external partners. This position designs and delivers inclusive, low‑barrier programming that fosters collaboration, cross‑disciplinary co‑creation, and shared problem‑solving among students, faculty, staff, and community stakeholders. Serving as a connector and facilitator, this role cultivates partnerships, aligns stakeholders around shared goals, and develops contributor pathways that encourage community ownership and leadership. The position also oversees program evaluation, impact measurement, and continuous learning to strengthen community outcomes and demonstrate impact. This is a highly collaborative, systems‑oriented role that helps advance a thriving, connected culture of innovation at UWM.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree.
3+ years of experience in program management, community building, or innovation ecosystems.
Demonstrated experience designing and facilitating workshops, convenings, or collaborative programs.
Strong interpersonal skills demonstrated through experience working collaboratively with individuals and/or groups.
Experience working across diverse stakeholder groups.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree.
Experience with human-centered design, design thinking, or entrepreneurial methodologies.
Background working in higher education, nonprofit leadership, or innovation programs.
Experience managing or contributing to communities of practice or network-based initiatives.
Familiarity with open-source or distributed collaboration models.
Experience with impact measurement, evaluation, and reporting.

Responsibilities

Map existing innovation and entrepreneurship communities across UWM (programs, labs, student orgs, faculty clusters, external partners).
Identify gaps, overlaps, and opportunities for connection and growth.
Develop a community systems strategy that increases visibility, accessibility, and participation across the ecosystem.
Design and deliver programming that re-activates and sustains communities of practice, including: Innovation convenings and cross-community meetups, Design sprints, workshops, and collaborative labs, Peer-led and contributor-driven events.
Build low-barrier entry points for new participants and clear pathways toward deeper engagement.
Create mechanisms that encourage collaboration across traditionally siloed groups, such as: Shared challenges or thematic initiatives, Cross-disciplinary project teams, Faculty–student–industry co-creation opportunities.
Serve as a connector and facilitator, aligning stakeholders around shared goals.
Adapt best practices from open-source communities to: Develop contributor roles (e.g., organizers, facilitators, mentors, builders), Enable community ownership and distributed leadership, Encourage knowledge sharing and co-creation.
Design systems that move participants along a continuum: observer → participant → contributor → leader.
Develop and track metrics that capture: Community growth and diversity, Engagement depth (not just attendance), Collaboration across communities, Conversion to active contributors.
Use qualitative and quantitative data to continuously refine strategy and demonstrate impact.
Build relationships with faculty, campus units, student organizations, and external partners.
Collaborate with initiatives such as NSF I-Corps, Founder Factory, and other LEC programs to integrate community engagement into core programming.
Serve as a trusted partner and facilitator for stakeholders seeking to engage with the innovation ecosystem.