Dr. Joanna Berry - Life As A Pracademic

‘I'm a Pracademic. Pracademic is a word to describe a real-world business person who comes into the theoretical world of academia.'

That is how Dr. Joanna Berry describes herself. She’s one of the rare breed of people who’ve got one foot in the camp of top-level education and the other in a background of business. No wonder she combines her role as associate professor in entrepreneurship at Durham University Business School with being the North East Chair of the Institute of Directors.

Before arriving at Durham University, she was Director of External Relationships and Lecturer in Management at Newcastle University.

However, go further back and you will find Joanna’s business background comes to the fore. She was heavily involved in the dot-com era, founding and running an interactive content production company which won many international awards for multimedia storytelling and creative excellence. Before that she worked closely with Mobil 1 Motorsport setting up the first internet site for the racing team that was managed by McLaren Motorsport.

Unfortunately, when the dot-com boom turned to bust, Joanna’s company was sucked down with thousands of others across the country.

In other words, she brings to education a business background which has enjoyed success and endured failure. It is that sort of experience which is proving invaluable to the hundreds of students who now attend her lectures and seminars. Of course, the flip side is that she can also give an insight into how academics can benefit business.

This will be the main topic of her presentation on March 25th at Jesmond Dene House.

Her current research and teaching interests encompass innovation, entrepreneurship, big data, ageing and health, and the digital / creative industries. She has a particular emphasis on supporting Women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

“For a long time, anything to do with subjects such as engineering was a male dominated field, but this is changing,” said Dr. Berry. “More and more women are getting involved. From my experience, business has been very slow to encompass the STEM subjects. The World is changing and we are become more technical in a whole raft of businesses. This represents a terrific opportunity for women to make their mark.”

Joanna is a Board member for the North East LEP “ScaleUp North East” programme which aims to help firms in this region to develop and grow. The organisation puts you in touch with people who can help you move your business forward.

She’s also a Board member of social enterprise charity Acumen Community Buildings which provides support and advice to existing or aspiring social entrepreneurs looking to develop their concept or grow their business.

In terms of her appointment as Chair of the North East IoD, her top priorities are to drive entrepreneurship and innovation in the North East business community, encourage young directors, and support women of all ages on their journey towards the boardroom.

She was also Regional Chair for the Chartered Institute of Marketing for 7 years.

Through all of this, it is interesting to note that her roots of being born and bred in the North East have instilled a huge amount of drive to help businesses succeed in this region.

“As a girl from Hartlepool who went to Oxford University, then to work in South Africa, followed by a move to London to set-up my own business with 25 staff, I’d like to think that I have the sort of experience within business that a lot of people will relate to,” said Joanna. “I’ve taken a few knocks along the way…..who hasn’t….but I’m a great believer in learning from your mistakes and, wherever possible, passing on that experience to other people to help them also avoid the pitfalls. It’s impossible to get everything right but it’s crucial not to get something wrong….twice. That is why I do as much as a I keen to work with organisations whose main aim is to help others. Collaboration and working as a community can be of massive benefit to everyone.”

This promises to be a fascinating insight into the experiences of Dr. Berry. It does have a flavour of…’Been there, done it.’ It should make for an interesting Q & A session after her presentation. You’ll be finding out about Pracademia….how the practical experiences of an academic can benefit your business. Want to know what Pracademia is? Ask a Pracademic like Dr Joanna Berry.