Five Questions With: Dana Borrelli-Murray

Dana Borrelli-Murray is the executive director of the Highlander Institute. / COURTESY CAT LAINE
Dana Borrelli-Murray is the executive director of the Highlander Institute. / COURTESY CAT LAINE

Dana Borrelli-Murray, the executive director of the Highlander Institute, came to nonprofit work through what she calls “a twisted path” that began with a Ph.D. program in anthropology. While studying for that program she realized an “action-oriented” focus was more suited to her goals and soon found herself in the Brown University Urban Education Policy program. From there she was placed with the Highlander Institute as an intern and 10 years later is running the organization.

PBN: Can you explain a bit about your latest venture, EduvateRI?
BORRELLI-MURRAY:
Highlander Institute is a community of educators and professionals driven to improving the educational experience for all learners through innovative methods. Through this work, the organization often acts as a convener, connector and liaison between different stakeholder groups connected to educational innovations: educators, educational tech companies, national researchers, etc. We know that true educational change cannot happen without the alignment of these worlds, and the state’s economic growth is intimately attached to breaking down these silos. This is the main purpose and reason behind the cluster.

PBN: Why did you choose to combine these two industries into a cluster?
BORRELLI-MURRAY:
We owe all credit for the concept of an education innovation cluster to Richard Culatta, our state’s new chief innovation officer. Culatta is the godfather of this concept nationally and has been supporting our very grassroots efforts in Rhode Island. We are so lucky to have his expertise and leadership as we take this cluster to scale across the state through EduvateRI.

PBN: What type of involvement from Rhode Island businesses are you hoping to gain for EduvateRI?
BORRELLI-MURRAY:
We are looking for businesses and entrepreneurs who want to bring innovative ideas and platforms to education. This could be vendors who provide services, educational tech companies looking for ways to test their concepts/pilot products or businesses who believe their products might have useful applications in the educational space. We are also looking for funders, from foundations to investors to social enterprises to venture capital firms, who can provide necessary financial resources for the ideation, development and assessment of these concepts.

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PBN: What are the greatest challenges facing EduvateRI?
BORRELLI-MURRAY:
One of the biggest challenges to the cluster concept is the continuing narrative regarding Rhode Island’s economic climate and its inability to create/foster growth. Rhode Island is rich in educational resources, including numerous institutions of higher learning, which can be a foundation for the work we want to do. We also have people with unique and creative ideas, many times operating in a silo. Our smaller size allows for collaboration across these silos and interaction among businesses and industries who previously had not thought to collaborate.

PBN: How will industry clusters have a positive impact on the state’s business community?
BORRELLI-MURRAY:
The success of industry clusters will help demonstrate to businesses considering a move to the state, or those considering expansion of their operations, that Rhode Island is a hospitable and viable growth location. Diverse and thriving industries with a talented, educated human capital pipeline are an attractive enticement and shift the tone of the state’s existing economic narrative.
We are currently looking to brand September as Education Innovation Month in Rhode Island. A comprehensive calendar will be created that showcases the great work in education across the state. Be on the lookout, and join in some of the events.

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