Julie Heath

About Julie Heath

Executive who removes barriers for entrepreneurs and aspiring business founders.+Fan of business models that advance public good.+Connector.+Advocate for catalytic capital that unleashes innovation.Julie Heath is the inaugural Executive Director of IU Innovates, Indiana University’s system-wide initiative to support and accelerate entrepreneurship through student-led startup hubs, sponsorship of IU entrepreneurship resources, and impact storytelling.Heath serves on the leadership council of the ESHIP Alliance, a newly formed national network collectively designed to advance entrepreneurship ecosystem building as a valued practice, a trusted profession, and as a model for economic health and community wellbeing in the United States. Between 2021 and 2023, Heath developed the state of Indiana\'s first entrepreneurship ecosystem strategy, which included new economic impact data, storytelling, a statewide inventory of resources, and ecosystem navigators. Prior to her work for Indiana\'s Secretary of Commerce, she led an entrepreneur support organization with a mission to remove barriers for aspiring founders and early-stage entrepreneurs. Heath\'s early career ranged from intrapreneurship at the Smithsonian Institution to the launch of two social enterprise tech startups. Via training in visual art and managerial economics, she has found purpose in building better business models and impact networks. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, spent fifteen years on the East Coast, and now splits her time between Indianapolis and Bloomington, Indiana.Favorite topics to discuss? Collaborative advantage, transactive memory systems, entrepreneurship-driven economic development, economic surplus/positive externalities, Mt. Diablo, and the belief that problems are solvable if you can get the right people to come together.

Experience

1. Executive Director, Iu Innovates

   Indiana University

   Sep 2023 — Present

   Launched in Fall 2023, IU Innovates is a university-wide initiative to advance Indiana University entrepreneurs through startup incubation hubs, sponsorship of entrepreneurship resources, and impact storytelling.Core to IU’s strategic plan 2030 pillars of student success, transformative research and creativity, and service to the state and beyond, IU Innovates ensures entrepreneurs know where to start, and continually access the right resource at the right time.

Education

• University of New Hampshire

  Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.), Painting

• University of California, Davis

  B.A., Studio Art, Economics

Skills

• Community Outreach
• New Business Development
• Museum Collections
• Cultural Heritage
• Curating
• Grant Writing
• Project Management
• Conservation Issues
• Museums
• Historic Preservation
• Nonprofit Management
• Revenue & Profit Growth
• Art Exhibitions
• Business Development
• Museum Education
• History
• Fundraising
• Art History
• Art
• Nonprofits
• Strategic Partnerships
• Preventive Conservation