Director of Innovation and Social Impact; Blum Center Developing Economies

About Berkeley

At the University of California, Berkeley, we are dedicated to fostering a community where everyone feels welcome and can thrive. Our culture of openness, freedom, and belonging makes it a special place for students, faculty, and staff, who are among the most talented and accomplished anywhere, including Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and Mac Arthur Fellows. Since our founding in 1868, we have been an engine for innovation - driving intellectual, economic, and social progress that benefits California, the U.S., and beyond.

Together, we change the world.

At the University of California, Berkeley, we are dedicated to fostering a community where everyone feels welcome and can thrive. Our culture of openness, freedom, and belonging makes it a special place for students, faculty, and staff, who are among the most talented and accomplished anywhere, including Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and Mac Arthur Fellows. Since our founding in 1868, we have been an engine for innovation - driving intellectual, economic, and social progress that benefits California, the U.S., and beyond.

Together, we change the world.

At Berkeley, the best careers are built on a foundation of continuous learning and growth. We actively support professional development by providing all full-time staff employees with at least 80 hours of paid time per year and providing space for supportive colleague communities via numerous employee resource groups.

We invite applicants who are inspired by our Principles of Community and who are eager to be part of our exciting Strategic Plan, which charts Berkeley's next era of excellence.

Learn more about some of our accomplishments at Points of Pride.

The Blum Center leverages the talent, energy, and innovations of the University of California, Berkeley to address the difficult challenges in low-resource communities in California and across the world. Our interdisciplinary problem-solving approach draws on students and faculty from over 70 disciplines, including engineering, social sciences, and business, to develop, test, and scale technologies and scalable solutions for economic development and to improve lives.

The Director of Innovation & Social Impact is responsible for all aspects of the Blum Center's entrepreneurship ecosystem, anchored by Big Ideas@Berkeley, the campus' flagship student innovation contest. Since its launch in 2006, Big Ideas has become UC Berkeley's premier platform for turning bold student vision into real-world impact and starting first-time innovators on the path to becoming entrepreneurs.

Big Ideas serves as a launching pad for students across all disciplines who are tackling society