2026 UEDA Washington Conference
Agenda
Day 1 – Wednesday, April 15
9:00am – 10:00am
Welcome Keynote
10:00am – 10:15am
Break
10:15aM – 11:00am
National Priorities, Local Impact: A Conversation with Federal Innovation Leaders
This fireside chat features federal leaders at the forefront of the nation’s technology and economic strategy. Participants will gain insights into the current and upcoming initiatives from the NSF and other federal agencies, with a specific focus on strengthening the synergy between federal research funding, university talent, and regional industry needs.
Speaker: Erwin Gianchandani, Assistant Director of the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships National Science Foundation
Dr. Erwin Gianchandani is the U.S. National Science Foundation’s assistant director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, leading the newly established TIP Directorate.
Gianchandani has worked at NSF since 2012. Prior to becoming the assistant director for TIP, he served as the senior advisor for Translation, Innovation and Partnerships for over a year, where he helped develop plans for the new TIP Directorate in collaboration with colleagues at NSF, other government agencies, industry and academia.
Gianchandani has published extensively and presented at international conferences on computational systems biology. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and master’s and doctoral degrees in biomedical engineering, all from the University of Virginia.
11:00am– 11:45am
Reciprocity in Action: Solving Real Challenges Together
Economic development leaders in higher education are navigating increasingly complex challenges — advancing industry partnerships, strengthening commercialization outcomes, aligning with institutional leadership, and responding to shifting regional priorities. Many of these issues are shared across campuses, yet they are often addressed in isolation.
This interactive session uses a structured reciprocity ring exercise to surface real challenges from participants and activate the collective experience of the room. Attendees will have the opportunity to present a current issue they are facing and receive targeted insight, ideas, and connections from peers who have navigated similar situations.
Designed as a highly engaging working session, this format emphasizes practical problem-solving and professional exchange rather than presentation. Participants should come prepared with a specific challenge or opportunity and expect to leave with actionable guidance, new relationships, and expanded capacity to support fellow members long after the conference concludes.
11:45am – 12:15pm
Lunch (provided)
12:15pM – 1:00pm
Economic Development Partnerships in Action: The City of Alexandria and Virginia Tech Innovation Campus
Located in the Greater Washington, D.C. innovation corridor, the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus represents a deliberate effort to integrate graduate education, industry engagement, and place-based economic strategy. In partnership with the City of Alexandria, the campus is advancing shared goals around technology commercialization, workforce development, and long-term economic growth.
Session participants will explore how the city and university structured their partnership and governance approach, strategies for aligning academic program growth with regional industry needs, and coordinated investments in infrastructure, placemaking, and innovation assets.
Speaker: Stephanie Landrum, President & CEO, Alexandria Economic Development Partnership
Stephanie Landrum is President & CEO of AEDP, where she drives the City’s vision for long-term, inclusive growth. Since joining AEDP in 2005 and stepping into the CEO role in 2015, Stephanie has helped shape Alexandria’s modern economy—leading high-profile projects, strengthening regional partnerships, and ensuring local businesses have the resources they need to succeed.
She oversees strategic and financial operations for both AEDP Small Business and the City’s Industrial Development Authority (IDA), while also serving as a key advisor to Alexandria’s City Council and leadership. Her work has been instrumental in securing major investments—including Amazon’s HQ2 and the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus—positioning Alexandria as a national model for community-based economic development. She also played a pivotal role in founding the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance (NOVA EDA), a regional partnership representing nine jurisdictions working together to attract and retain business.
She holds a B.S. in City and Regional Planning and an MBA, both from the University of Virginia. To support her philosophy that work should be fulfilling AND fun, Stephanie never passes on an opportunity to celebrate milestones with a karaoke outing!
1:00pm – 1:15pm
Break
1:15pM – 2:00pm
From Outcomes to Influence: A Masterclass in Impact Storytelling
Strong results alone do not secure long-term support—especially in shifting legislative and funding environments. University economic development leaders must translate outcomes into institutional influence that endures beyond a single initiative or budget cycle.
In this masterclass, communications strategist Denise Kennedy from Anthology Communications introduces a practical framework for moving beyond dashboards to uncover the strategic narrative within complex metrics. Participants will learn how to prioritize key decision-makers, align reporting with state and institutional strategy, and communicate impact in ways that strengthen credibility.
Jessica Gnad of Kansas State University shares how K-State aligned its messaging with the Kansas Board of Regents and the Kansas Department of Commerce around a shared statewide strategy. The reporting discipline, partnership governance, and cross-sector alignment developed through that work positioned K-State as a trusted implementation partner in subsequent statewide efforts.
This session demonstrates how disciplined impact storytelling and strategic alignment build durable institutional influence, equipping universities to lead, adapt, and maintain relevance across changing political and funding landscapes.
Speaker: Denise Kennedy, Founder, Anthology Communications
With 20 years of strategic communications experience, Denise understands what it takes to connect with your audiences and stakeholders. She spends her days working with clients to think beyond a New York Times interview or single success metric because she knows that successful organizations play the long-game. They look at how to connect with audiences across social media, traditional news, events, content and much more. Her approach is to help organizations focus on their goals through integrated communications and collect wins along the way. Her specific skills include strategic planning, media relations, messaging, stakeholder engagement, communications strategy, thought leadership, editing, facilitation and interpreter between clients and creatives and communications experts and business leaders.
In her 20 years, Denise has worked with organizations across a variety of issue areas. Veterans, healthcare, mental health, workforce development, economic development, education, software development and B2B technology are just a few.
Denise graduated with a bachelor’s in Journalism from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She completed General Assembly’s Digital Marketing Certification in February 2018 and is a certified facilitator. She has run exactly one marathon and countless half marathons and other races. Raised in the City of Brotherly Love, she is a diehard Philadelphia sports fan and is still basking in the Eagles 2018 Super Bowl victory.
Speaker: Jessica Gnad, Director of Economic Development, Office of External Engagement at Kansas State University
Jessica Gnad leads the development and implementation of a comprehensive universitywide strategy for economic development. In this role, she connects and supports stakeholders across campuses, communities, government and educational sectors to advance strategic partnerships that drive meaningful growth and innovation.
Working in a universitywide capacity with K-State Extension as a key partner, Gnad excels at connecting people, ideas and institutions to K-State’s extensive assets and resources. Her collaborative approach focuses on leveraging the university’s strengths to drive community and economic development initiatives that benefit the institution and the broader region.
Gnad’s expertise lies in identifying opportunities for strategic partnerships and translating academic resources into practical applications that support economic growth. Her work bridges the gap between university capabilities and community needs, ensuring that K-State’s knowledge and resources contribute meaningfully to regional development efforts.
2:00pm– 2:45pm
Measuring What Matters: Using IMPLAN to Strengthen Your Economic Impact Story
Universities are increasingly expected to demonstrate their economic contribution with clarity and credibility. From legislative briefings to board presentations and community engagement, being able to quantify institutional impact is essential to advancing strategy and support.
This session will feature IMPLAN and explore how institutions can use economic impact modeling to measure, interpret, and communicate their role in regional growth. The discussion will examine practical applications of IMPLAN data, including how to assess direct, indirect, and induced effects; evaluate research and capital investments; and translate findings into messages that resonate with policymakers, industry partners, and institutional leadership.
Participants will gain insight into how peer institutions are using impact analysis to inform decision-making, support funding conversations, and strengthen their economic development narrative. Whether your campus already conducts impact studies or is considering launching one, this session will provide practical guidance on using data strategically rather than simply reporting it.
2:45pm – 3:00pm
Break
3:00pM – 4:00pm
From Blueprint to Reality: Help Us Re-Imagine a University Center Program
EDA cut funding to the University Center program last summer. But, it doesn’t mean we should accept the termination without deliberation. We’ve prepared a concept plan for a newly imagined University Center program designed to leverage and more sustained impact. We need your voice in helping us to refine the idea and to build advocacy for reinstatement of the funding.
Join us for an interactive roundtable discussion where we’ll collaborate on the ideas and rebuild it for the future. This focus group discussion will allow you to help us design “What’s Next” for university center funding and to help us consider ways to leverage resources from other federal agencies to make the program more impactful. We’ll dive into the proposed revisions for the program, debate the new program structures, and brainstorm how to better serve our campus community. The draft concept paper will be available to any conference registrants.
View the concept paper excerpt
What to Expect:
- The Breakdown: A quick-fire summary of the current white paper.
- The Deep Dive: Facilitated breakout groups to tackle specific program revisions.
- The Synthesis: A collective “pitch” session to refine the Center’s new direction.
Speaker: Ken Poole, Executive Director, UEDA
Dr. Kenneth (Ken) E. Poole is the Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness. Dr. Poole has managed economic development research, analysis, and technical assistance efforts for 35 years. Dr. Poole co-founded CREC in January 2000 as an independent non-profit focused on assisting policy-makers use data to develop a stronger understanding of how state and regional economies can compete effectively in the evolving, knowledge-based economy.
As Executive Director of the national nonprofit membership organizations, the University Economic Development Association (UEDA), Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), the Labor Market Information Institute, and the Projections Managing Partnership, Dr. Poole oversees all program development activities, including information dissemination about news related to the Federal statistical agencies, the development of research and professional training activities, as well as organizing national conferences for the different professional networks.
Ken obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Public Policy with a concentration in Regional Development Policy from George Mason University, a Master in Public Administration degree from American University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from UNC at Chapel Hill. In 2016, he received the Innovation in Local Employment Dynamics Award from the U.S. Census Bureau.
4:00pm
Adjourn
Day 2 – Thursday, April 16
9:00aM – 10:00am
Federal Policy & the Innovation Economy: What University Leaders Need to Know Now
As federal priorities shift and Congress reexamines the role of research institutions in national competitiveness, university economic development leaders must stay closely attuned to the policy environment shaping industry partnerships, technology commercialization, and regional innovation strategies.
This session will explore how lawmakers and congressional staff are viewing:
- University–industry collaboration
- Technology transfer and intellectual property
- Federally funded research and commercialization outcomes
- Regional innovation, workforce alignment, and domestic competitiveness
Participants will gain insight into how higher education institutions are being positioned in federal conversations around economic growth, national security, supply chains, and technological leadership — and what that means for campus-based economic development strategy.
The session will include time for discussion and audience questions, offering an opportunity to better align institutional messaging and engagement with current congressional priorities.
**Tell us – what priorities and questions does your institution have that would be helpful to explore in this session? Share more here: https://forms.office.com/r/4ND4hNNYpb
Speaker: Megan McKeown, Director of Governmental Affairs, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU)
Megan McKeown serves as Director of Governmental Affairs at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). She is responsible for issues related to federal science and research policy.
Megan previously provided Congressional affairs support for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Research line office. There she covered issues ranging from ocean exploration to air quality modelling to next generation weather radars. Megan was also previously a National Sea Grant fellow with the U.S. House of Representatives Science, Space and Technology Committee and worked in the Office of External Affairs at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Megan earned her degrees from two APLU institutions, a Master’s of Marine and Environmental Affairs at the University of Washington and a Bachelor’s of Science in Meteorology at Texas A&M University. Megan enjoys spending time outdoors and trying new recipes.
10:00am – 10:15am
Break
10:15am– 11:00am
Federal Landscape Town Hall: Peer Exchange on Policy, Partnerships, and Positioning
Following the policy briefing and before our session on strategic positioning, this facilitated town hall creates space for candid conversation among peers navigating similar pressures and opportunities.
This discussion is designed for open exchange — what are you hearing from your federal delegation? Where are you seeing shifts in tone, oversight, or expectations? How are policy conversations affecting your research enterprise, industry partnerships, commercialization strategy, or regional engagement efforts?
Rather than a presentation, this session invites practitioners to share observations, concerns, and emerging practices in real time. It offers an opportunity to compare notes across institutions, identify common themes, and surface practical approaches to engaging policymakers and stakeholders effectively.
Come prepared to contribute perspective, ask questions, and learn from colleagues operating at the intersection of higher education, innovation, and federal policy.
11:00am– 11:45am
Positioning University Impact in Today’s Federal Landscape
The federal policy environment is shifting, and institutions advancing research, industry partnerships, and regional growth must understand how their work is being interpreted in Washington.
This session will provide a grounded overview of the current federal landscape and what is driving priorities across the Administration and Capitol Hill. The discussion will focus on how university-based economic development, technology commercialization, workforce strategy, and industry collaboration align with those priorities — and where messaging gaps may exist.
Participants will gain practical insight into how to frame their institution’s work in ways that resonate with policymakers, how to anticipate common questions or concerns, and how to communicate impact with clarity and credibility. Designed for leaders engaging federal decision-makers, this session will emphasize strategy, positioning, and effective outreach in a complex policy environment.
11:45am – 12:00pm
Closing
12:00pm
Adjourn
After the Conference, take time to visit the Hill! UEDA can assist with contacting any congressional offices or federal agencies.