The MacDiarmid Institute was founded in 2002, with a vision of economic transformation through excellence and capability development in materials science, and with a broad mandate to work beyond the lab bench. 17 years on, this talk will focus on some of the ways in which the Institute is leading culture change; from entrepreneurship leading to 17 spinout companies, to public engagement activities reaching hundreds of thousands of people and influencing government policies, and equity initiatives that are improving participation by underrepresented groups, and influencing other science organisations to make positive changes.