“If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it.”
– Margaret Fuller (1810-1850), writer, intellectual, women’s right advocate

This year’s International Women’s Day theme, Give To Gain, encourages a mindset of generosity and collaboration, emphasizing the power of reciprocity and support.

When people, organisations and communities give generously, opportunities and support for women increase – in that spirit, we spoke to Entrepreneurs in Residence who are sharing their knowledge and skills with Scotland’s colleges.

The programme aims to make entrepreneurship a core life skill across education and help colleges prepare students for Scotland’s future economy.

Tell us a little about the work you’ve been doing with colleges, so far…

Marisa Giannasi (pictured above), Entrepreneur in Residence at Fife College, Ayrshire College and West College Scotland:

“I started my business the same year I began life as a teacher and both have nurtured one and other in varying and wonderful ways. Being a college lecturer taught me more about patience, care and giving back to the community than I could have possibly imagined. My students achievements swiftly became closely woven within my own, if they won: I won. It makes me exceptionally proud to now be Entrepreneur in Residence for Fife college, Ayrshire College and West College Scotland. Over the past few months, I’ve been working with staff to shine a light on the great entrepreneurial activities already taking place on campus, helping to identify techniques for growth.  My project is called Future Foundations and focuses on the integration of entrepreneurial thinking into the curriculum across sectors to create more moments for that all important first idea to spark. By creating time at an early, formative stage of the student experience we can help build those first ideas into viable ideas with the potential to shape our local foundational economies. I’m looking forward to taking part in West College Scotland’s International Women’s Day on March 6th in Greenock to share the stage with five inspiring women from across Scotland.”

Marisa is giving to gain relevance – celebrating the voices and experience of both college staff and local entrepreneurs surrounding our campuses; we are creating evidence based, flexible and locally relevant resources with ease of integrated classroom delivery at the heart.

Wendy White-Finnigan, Entrepreneur in Residence at South Lanarkshire College, Ayrshire College and Dumfries and Galloway College:

“I’ve been looking into the opportunities across the 3 colleges to Train the Trainers in entrepreneurship and net zero. The core focus was to establish relevance to construction as a sector initially. I have created a 6-week programme of peer-to-peer learning exclusively to support the dual approach of colleges. How to be an intrapreneur in the college and what and who this looks like, alongside recognising how their apprenticeship companies also experience entrepreneurship. In addition, I have delivered our bespoke carbon literacy- an accredited programme – to support in the understanding of how ‘green skills’ can be inserted.

By reviewing content across the construction subjects I have been able to develop a ‘green skill’ entrepreneurial workshop within an already approved SQA module providing insights and ‘the why’ within their core learning. This has been developed to promote analytical thinking; explore resilience, flexibility and agility; environmental stewardship as well as applications of AI in developing these mindset approaches.

Involvement of industry has been to focus on the resilience and sustainability of the current apprenticeship programmes and aims to assess the landscape across constructions SMEs.”

Wendy is giving to gain industry access – embedding relevant, analytical and environmental stewardship that will support early leadership development across our student body which will create greater opportunities within our construction SMEs, maximising industry access for all our students.

Professor Kirsty Thomson-Gillespie, Entrepreneur in Residence at West Lothian College, Forth Valley College and Edinburgh College, explained how she got to where she is, with meta-skills:

“First and foremost, I am a social entrepreneur, although that was never part of the grand plan.

Fourteen years ago, I found myself unemployed. I felt caught in between, underqualified for some roles and overqualified for others. I was signing on and wondering what I was supposed to do next. It was a really difficult time for me and, if I am honest, not one where I felt particularly confident.

I was given the opportunity to start something new. At first I didn’t take it. It felt risky and I wasn’t sure I was ready. I questioned whether I had enough experience or knowledge, or the qualities I believed someone needed to run a business. I was also unsure whether it was the right direction for me based on my past experience and roles.

So for a few more weeks I kept signing on and thinking about what to do next. Eventually I realised that waiting wasn’t changing anything.

I enrolled in the New Deal for Enterprise scheme and wrote my first business plan. I decided what have I got to lose?  Why not give it a go.

It wasn’t a perfect plan and I certainly didn’t feel like an entrepreneur at the time. What I did have was determination, focus, an appetite for learning and the ability to think critically. I was prepared to work things out as I went, ask questions and learn from the experience.

Looking back, that decision was the real turning point.

What carried me forward wasn’t the titles or qualifications. It was the mindset and skills I was developing along the way, even though I didn’t have the language for them at the time. I learned how to adapt when plans didn’t work out, how to build relationships and ask for help, how to solve problems and above all I kept going when things felt uncertain.

Today we describe these as meta-skills.

They include things like curiosity, critical thinking, adaptability, initiative and the ability to work with others. These are the skills that help people deal with change, spot opportunities and turn ideas into action.

This new chapter didn’t start with me calling myself a social entrepreneur. I grew into that role by building those skills over time.

Working in social enterprise strengthened that mindset even further. When you’re building work that supports communities you quickly learn that not everything works first time. Some ideas need to change and some projects take a different direction than you expected. Each challenge forces you to think differently, learn quickly and keep going. Over time that builds belief in what you can do.

Today, as Entrepreneur in Residence and Meta-preneur, I work with students across West Lothian College, Forth Valley College and Edinburgh College, helping them develop that same foundation. Many young people already have ability, ideas and technical skills. What they often need is the space to recognise their strengths, spark an idea and understand how those skills connect to real opportunities.

This is why the theme Give to Gain feels so relevant.

By giving students the chance to develop meta-skills such as curiosity, critical thinking, adaptability and initiative, we help them build the confidence to see themselves as capable of shaping their own futures.

Confidence doesn’t appear overnight. Confidence builds resilience by fostering a belief in one’s abilities. It grows when you try something new, when you deal with setbacks and keep going, and when you realise that you can solve problems and create opportunities.

Fourteen years ago I was signing on and unsure what came next. Today I lead work that helps others create their own direction. I didn’t suddenly change overnight and become this new me.  I made a decision to change my outlook, work hard and build the skills I needed to help me grow.

Nothing changed because I felt ready. It changed because I took action, I took risks and I persisted through challenges learning along the way.

When we give people belief, practical tools and the space to test themselves they gain more than experience. They develop the ability to back themselves.

That is where real confidence comes from.

When individuals build that confidence and mindset, the communities around them benefit as well.”

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Shelley Breckenridge, Interface’s Senior Innovation Engagement Lead, has been leading the programme with the partners.

“By embedding women practitioners to work directly with lecturers and students, the entrepreneurs in residence will help bring about system change within our colleges, aligning with the Entrepreneurial Campus Blueprint and Scottish Government priorities, all to Scotland’s gain.”

Funded through the Scottish Government, the Entrepreneurs in Residence programme has been shaped and led by Interface, Scotland’s innovation support organisation, in partnership with Connect-Ed Network, the entrepreneur in residence network. It has also been shaped with input from Colleges Scotland and the College Development Network (CDN), which will share learning outcomes across the sector. The programme forms part of the Entrepreneurial Campus Blueprint.