“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, celebrates the power of sharing knowledge, supporting others and creating opportunity through collaboration. 

That spirit is at the heart of the College Capacity Building programme, a Scottish Government-funded initiative designed and delivered by Interface, Scotland’s innovation support organisation, in partnership with Connect-Ed, the entrepreneur in residence network. 

The programme is being delivered by a highly experienced, all-female team working as Entrepreneurs in Residence, directly supporting colleges across Scotland to embed entrepreneurial thinking in education. By sharing their knowledge, experience and networks with lecturers and students, they are helping colleges unlock new ideas, build confidence and connect learning with real-world opportunities. 

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

Marisa Giannasi, Entrepreneur in Residence at West College Scotland, Fife College and Ayrshire College

“I started my business the same year I began life as a teacher and both have nurtured one another 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 by celebrating the voices and experience of both college staff and local entrepreneurs around campuses; helping shape flexible evidence-based resources that make entrepreneurial thinking easier to integrate into everyday classroom delivery. 

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

“I’ve been looking into opportunities across the three colleges to develop a train-the-trainer approach in entrepreneurship and net zero. The core focus was to establish relevance to construction as a sector. 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 capacity by developing a train-the-trainer approach that equips lecturers to embed entrepreneurial thinking and sustainability into learning across construction programmes.

Professor Kirsty Thomson-Gillespie, Entrepreneur in Residence at West Lothian College, Forth Valley College and Edinburgh College 

“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 being 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.

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.” 

Kirsty is giving to gain entrepreneurial mindset, by helping students recognise and develop meta-skills such as curiosity, critical thinking, adaptability and initiative, she is building the confidence that enables learners to turn ideas into action and shape their own futures. 

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

“By embedding experienced women entrepreneurs to work directly with lecturers and students, the Entrepreneurs in Residence model is helping to drive lasting change within Scotland’s colleges. It supports the ambitions of the Entrepreneurial Campus Blueprint and wider Scottish Government priorities to strengthen entrepreneurial learning across education, all to Scotland’s gain.”  

Funded through the Scottish Government, the College Capacity Building programme is 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).

The programme forms part of the Entrepreneurial Campus Blueprint, which aims to make entrepreneurship a core life skill across tertiary education and help colleges prepare students for Scotland’s future economy. 

*The photo is of Marisa Giannasi, Entrepreneur in Residence at West College Scotland Fife College and Ayrshire College.