Meet the team Ingrid (Inky) Bruynse!

Social entrepreneur herself

In 2019, Inky, a social entrepreneur herself, came to the Netherlands from South Africa. There, she founded her company Brighter Media over seventeen years ago. Its mission is to integrate and apply research in education. With Brighter Media, she produces and researches educational and development-oriented multimedia projects across various media, including television, radio, and the internet. She has extensive experience in the media landscape, spanning from broadcasting to publishing sectors, and has expertise in communication and cultural consulting.

Curious and eager to learn

Inky has a broad range of interests. She has backgrounds in psychology, (African) history, applied linguistics, and education. While in Amsterdam, she attended a Summer School in Sexuality Studies and joined the THNK School of Leadership. Currently, she is pursuing her Ph.D. in Social Entrepreneurship Education at the University of South Africa. Her dissertation focuses on the inner development of entrepreneurs driving social change. Her research intersects her diverse interests in psychology, social entrepreneurship, and creating meaningful change.

Entrepreneurship Education

She has been with the professorship for about 1.5 years now. She is involved in the IDEEC and Enhancer projects, both aimed at entrepreneurship education and developing entrepreneurial skills. IDEEC supports providers of entrepreneurship education, teachers, and policymakers in establishing effective, impact-oriented programs for children aged 9 to 15. The project aims to raise awareness among children, foster an entrepreneurial mindset, and teach them to seek solutions to ecological and societal challenges. Inky is collaborating with colleagues to develop a toolkit for teachers to deliver social entrepreneurship education. Through a competency framework, the project identifies the necessary skills for social entrepreneurship that teachers will work on with their students. The Enhancer project aims to enhance social entrepreneurship skills through digital educational escape rooms. Inky is involved in developing the teaching development guide and pedagogical strategies: how can we design the game to effectively teach social entrepreneurship to its players? The goal of the escape room is to empower students to be competitive while addressing a social or environmental issue. "We need to break the myth that you either make money or do charity. You can do good and make money at the same time," says Inky.

Engagement

Inky is hopeful for a movement towards a fair and inclusive society. She witnessed firsthand the challenges of societal transformation in South Africa, transitioning from Apartheid to post-Apartheid. She emphasizes the importance of ethical change, asserting that change must come from within communities, not imposed from above.

Personal

Her teaching and diverse interests also manifest in her personal life. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and is learning sculpture. Additionally, she mentors women in the creative sector. Traveling is one of her greatest passions; her most memorable journey was to Norway because of its stunning natural beauty. She feels at home in the Netherlands as well; a straightforward and direct approach suits her well!