Episode: In this episode, Dr. Corbin's talking with Dr. Jim Woodell, founder and CEO of Venn Collaborative, about his career journey and entrepreneurial experiences. Woodell shares his background in academic technology and distance learning and his discovery of how colleges and universities drive community and economic transformation. He also discusses his decision to earn a PhD at the age of 40 and his work at the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities. Woodell talks about his entrepreneurial journey, starting with his consulting work on online professional development for teachers and then founding Venn Collaborative with family and friends. He shares how his network sustained him and how his company helps colleges and universities partner and collaborate for community impact.

Ready to move forward with NACCE? Learn more about the National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship.

Episode 303: Today’s guest can be found at the intersection of impact and collaboration. He is a consultant that works with institutions of higher education and their partners in communities, government, and business to achieve economic and social impact goals. He's worked with institutions like The Ohio State University, Indiana University, University of Oregon and others to develop strategies for collaborative community and regional transformation. He is the founder of Venn Collaborative, a professional development, networking, and services organization that offers online courses and other opportunities to higher education leaders and to community, economic, and workforce development professionals. Most recently he launched his podcast, The Collaborative Effect, to speak with people from all walks of life and work about how they want to leave an impact in the world.

Episode 15: In this episode, Jim Woodell shows us how the Venn Method can help us create value for our organisations and ourselves. Jim originally used the Venn Method to help universities drive economic development by looking at the intersection of talent, innovation and place. At work, we can use the Venn Method to find what we have in common with the other party to ascertain the shared vision, shared goals, commonalities etc. for enhancing collaboration. The Venn also enables us to understand each other unique strengths. In so doing, we can push ourselves forward to see what is possible for our organisation. Another benefit of the Venn is to use it to describe our unique proposition – our unique strengths but also the intersection of what we bring to the table.

Episode: Our modern world is full of large, complex systems - so many, in fact, that we often don't notice them until something goes wrong, or we're trying to work within a system ourselves to bring change about. Those systems aren't discrete entities - they overlap and interlock, adding even more complexity. In this episode, we talk about what agility might look like in the context of a large institution trying to accomplish a specific mission-oriented goal, and how a set of interlocking complex systems make that agility difficult. The sector is higher education, but the underlying ideas are applicable to many sectors. Our guest in exploring these ideas is Jim Woodell, who works with higher education institutions as they pursue what’s called in that world “engagement” - the way in which the university reaches out beyond its own walls to the community or region around them.

Episode 4: Higher education institutions contribute to community and economic development through a wide array of activities—talent and workforce development, innovation and entrepreneurship, and through social and cultural assets. So how do institutions evaluate, support and catalyze these contributions? How do they become economic and community development engines? Join Amy as she talks to consultant Jim Woodell about higher education and societal impact.