MEGAN McNALLY, Executive Director
The Foundry Makerspace, Buffalo, NY
(megan@thefoundrybuffalo.org)

Megan McNally is co-founder and Executive Director of The Foundry, a community makerspace and business incubator in Buffalo, NY. She holds a degree from Barnard College in Environmental Policy, has worked on green building construction sites across the country, and worked at Yestermorrow Design/Build School. She moved back to Buffalo to start and run a woodworking business. Through this venture she was inspired to create The Foundry which regularly programs afterschool arts, STEAM, and entrepreneurship sessions for youth; workforce development opportunities for young adults; hands-on classes for adults; and providing local entrepreneurs space and support for developing maker-based businesses. She has been the recipient of Women Who Move The City Award, BizJournal's 30 under 30 Award, Protege of The Year from University at Buffalo’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and one of the finalists in the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo Centennial Awards.

Under Megan’s leadership, The Foundry was a winning applicant for the US Small Business Association (SBA) MaTCH competition, enabling the launch of workforce programs which continue to evolve. The Foundry is also
working on a social enterprise, FoundryMade, that employs youth aged 16-24 that are enrolled in Foundry training programs. Some near-term fabrication projects in the pipeline for FoundryMade is producing 700 lasercut and assembled clocks for an employee recognition gift, a bike rack for a community organization, and an order of trellises/garden stakes.

The Foundry currently has an after-school youth entrepreneurship e-commerce program selling goods online, and is developing a program to provide technical assistance for local small businesses in adopting e-commerce as a viable revenue diversification strategy.