We focus on exploring ways to accelerate innovation for communities, businesses and universities.  Here’s some of our past work:

The Local Economy Revolution: What’s Changed and How You Can Help

People across the world are discovering that the economics that sustain their communities are shifting fast, and they’re struggling to find new solutions. But instead of just trying old ideas harder, they’re gradually realizing that we need a whole new approach. The Local Economy Revolution shines a new light on the profound impacts of the last few decades on the places where people live and work, and sketches a new way forward that builds on the reasons why our places matter to us.

Creating an economy that not only works for everyone, but leverages everyone, requires changing how we do the fundamental work of of choosing the future for their community. Crowdsourcing Wisdom outlines both a new approach and step-by-step instructions for creating a public space where everyone’s wisdom benefits all of us.

Everybody Innovates Here

We keep saying that we need innovation, but we’re not doing a good job of growing it as much – and as fast -as we need it to be growing. That’s because our systems for accelerating innovation are piecemeal, disconnected, and disorganized. And they leave way, way too much of our total potential on the side of the road.

EveryBody Innovates Here outlines the urgent innovation challenge in front of us, and untangles the ways in which our current systems for growing that are falling far short. And Everybody Innovates here shows us how our innovation programs can be redesigned to create the kind of innovation we need — by enabling everyone to innovate together.

Other publications:

Diagnosing and Strengthening Community around:

disadvantaged entrepreneurs

This white paper unpacks one of the barriers to successful entrepreneurship that many programs do not address: the impact of the wrong mix of strong and weak social ties that prevents many nontraditional entrepreneurs from finding the help, ideas, information and support that they need.

Co-Creating around Gentrification

This paper sketches a new perspective on gentrification, focused on how different dimensions of neighborhood change impact different populations, and briefly sketches how intentional, structured collaboration between developer and neighborhood could change the equasion.
Secrets of Retail District Revitalization

After decades of efforts to revitalize downtowns, too often we end up with nice spaces and sick or missing businesses, because we haven’t paid much attention to the small businesses themselves.  This Short Shot untangles some common problems and potential solutions.

Online Public Engagement Platform and Tools

Since people live as much online as off today, if we want people to play a role in accelerating our communities we need to have a productive conversation strategies and tools online as well.  But that means more than a Facebook page. This Short Shot examines why online engagement is needed and how that should work.