Idella Kangas, PhD

Dr. Kangas is passionate about ecosystem building, especially in complex, emerging clusters. Currently, Idella serves as director for the Universities of Wisconsin’s Office of Economic and Employer Engagement where she connects the UW strategic plan to best practices in economic and workforce development. Previously, Idella served as director for the Center for Technology Commercialization where she developed initiatives to expand access to federal funding via the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Additionally, Idella led the UW’s statewide seed fund in partnership with WEDC, a program supporting student, faculty, and alumni entrepreneurs across Wisconsin. Dr. Kangas holds degrees from the University of Chicago and UW-Madison.