Who We Are
Shannon Spanhake
2013 IFTF Fellow
Deputy Innovation Officer, City and County of San Francisco
As an IFTF Fellow, Shannon Spanhake aims to understand the power of not asking permission to disrupt and create political and economic structures within innovation ecosystems. During the day, she serves as the Deputy Innovation Officer for the City and County of San Francisco in the Office of Mayor Edwin M. Lee. This work is an effort to drive economic growth and government efficiency with innovation. Prior to this role, she was at a startup founded with her patented civic technology for which she was recognized in “100 Women Innovating Science and Technology” by the Grace Hopper Foundation and was a semifinalist in the Buckminster Fuller Inventor competition. Before her current position, she held a dual-appointment as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology and also as a Sr. Researcher at the Center for Development Finance in Chennai, India.
Fellowship Project:
Understand the power of not asking permission ...
... to disrupt and create political and economic structures within innovation ecosystems.
Q&A with Shannon Spanhake
Q: What is the most surprising story or turning point that led you to your current work and interests?
A: While working in India, I saw both a density and intensity of creative problem-solving. However, I also saw extreme gaps in the sustainability of these solutions. This observation was a turning point that inspired me to understand the politics and economics of innovation.
Q: Ten years ago, where did you expect you would be now?
A: Still using Friendster.
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges that your field will face in the future?
A: Some challenges that innovation faces are being driven solely by market demand and/or being stifled by regulation.
Q: What do you wish you could "steal" from the future?
A: Methods of archiving so that we could start empowering histories with stronger inclusivity today.
Q: Which do you value most for the future: Happiness, resilience, or legacy?
A: Resilience as it creates a framework for calculating risk and learning from lessons.
Q: What cliché of the future would you most wish to retire?
The binary vision of utopia or dystopia.