As one of our Ecosystem Partners in the 2023 TOP NLC Sprint, we worked with Macon Black Tech to map the local innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem of the Macon Metropolitan Area. In addition to mapping the ecosystem, we also wanted to leverage this project as an opportunity to understand the inclusivity of the overall ecosystem, and the barriers facing entrepreneurs and innovators in Middle Georgia.
Macon Black Tech’s founder, Christele Parham.
In their own words, Macon Black Tech is a community organization that exists to support and hold space for “tech-curious”, early-stage entrepreneurs in Macon, Georgia. As long time fans of Macon Black Tech, and their effervescent founder Christele Parham, we couldn’t be more excited to finally collaborate on such an important initiative.
Mapping Macon’s Ecosystem Through Social Network Analysis
Social network analysis is a technique used to analyze social networks, whether it be composed of people, organizations, physical locations, or objects. It allows a holistic view of networks and the dynamic interactions between network entities.
To map Macon’s innovation ecosystem, we employed Social Network Analysis to identify the organizations actively participating in the ecosystem, as well as the strength of connections between different organizations in the network. In addition to surveying community members on their role in the network and their working relationships with other players in the network, we surveyed them on their perceptions of inclusivity, and their overall innovation readiness.
Orange Sparkle Ball and Macon Black Tech Join Forces
These findings will allow us, when data collection is complete, to draw conclusions surrounding where the strongest and weakest points in Macon’s innovation ecosystem lie. We’ll have a deeper understanding of the experiences and unique needs of innovators in the Macon metropolitan area, and be prepared to design precision interventions to meet those needs.
Christele describes the benefit that she believes ecosystem mapping will have for boosting local connectivity and resource accessibility, saying “one of the things that I do notice is, although we're a smaller community, and we might walk next to each other every day, we don't always tap into the collaborative resources available. So we’re wanting to use this map as an opportunity to do that more.”
These network maps will also provide another way of visualizing the flourishing innovation ecosystem in Macon. A flourishing best exemplified by Christele’s work building community at Macon Black Tech and beyond; including a co-working space she and her husband Ariane Parham recently opened at CrateX Labs, a space established to support both community and productivity in Downtown Macon.
To Christele, a strong sense of community is a key ingredient to building successful strategies for entrepreneurial and innovation success.
“And when it comes to the work that you do on the social impact side, it's not about fighting, you know, it's about unraveling, right? So like having to be able to partner with people that are passionate about holding space for people. I think that Orange Sparkle Ball does that really well. And I see this as an opportunity where, like the people that are part of this experience, they will feel heard. And that's what really matters to me.”
As a team committed to making a positive social impact through our work, we couldn’t imagine a better partner to explore inclusive innovation ecosystem building with.
Photo Credit: DSTO Moore
Written by Amy Qu, Innovation Strategist, and Odiraa Okala, Public Sector Innovation Strategist
