Congratulations to impactmania on their five-year anniversary. Launched in 2016 at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum at UC Santa Barbara, the program development firm features and connects people and projects in order to accelerate cultural, social, and economic impact. impactmania has since received the U.S. Embassy Public Diplomacy grant, and expanded its content and community services to organizations in the U.S., India, New Zealand, Italy, and Germany. 

Most recently, impactmania has partnered with Italian newspaper Messaggero Veneto to form a working student collaborative for international relations. “The goal we establish is to create connections that last a lifetime,” stated Paksy Plackis-Cheng, Senior Fellow of Research and Media at UC Santa Barbara and impactmania founder. The initiative brings together students from the newsrooms of Udine and Pordenone in the Veneto region of Italy and UC Santa Barbara impactmania interns. Since December, the students have produced videos, podcasts, and social media output around the theme “Human Mind and Migration,” considering the current moment and sociopolitical and environmental issues related to migration. Human Mind and Migration is a collaboration with the AD&A Museum, Neuroscience Research Institute, and Department of Religious Studies (UCSB).