Let's Innovate the Future Together!

our vision

Flourishing neighborhoods and communities empowered to co-create their futures.

our mission

Co-create new futures by facilitating human-centered innovation programs with residents and cross-sector partners to solve wicked problems.

our values

Neighborhood Focus

The neighborhood is the fundamental unit of community change

Cross-Sector Collaboration

The greatest potential emerges when diverse partners work together

Human-Centered Innovation

Great innovation is the result of our heads, hearts, and hands

what we do

We facilitate and manage innovation programs with residents, community organizations, nonprofits, and business partners to solve pressing community challenges.

convene partners

with diverse gifts and skills

Assemble a team of diverse, passionate partners committed to change

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Partners connect to clarify the challenge and prioritize work ...

Clarify the issues, what's been done, and the team's ambition

Assemble a diverse team committed to change

Prioritize key issues and align on the project scope

Frame the challenge as "How might we ... ?"

go to Convene Partners

facilitate teams

to innovate the future

Facilitate a series of innovation 'sprints' to reveal possibilities and solutions

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Teams bring curiosity, creativity, and collaboration to ...

(re)Frame the challenge to ask the right question

Explore new possibilities and opportunity spaces

Create ideas and prototypes, and develop viable solutions

Develop a robust strategy for change

go to Innovate Together

support projects

for projects and logistics

Provide backbone support to maintain the teams' focus and share learning

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LIFT utilizes and maintains a backbone system to ...

Track and share project progress via an online portal

Manage project documents and training materials

Capture and communicate learning to build momentum

Share learning within and across communities

go to Backbone Support

our proven approach to change

Intention

We are intentional about clarifying what we do together and understanding the hidden dynamics behind challenges, so we help teams set initial conditions, slow down to go fast, and make the invisible visible.

Compassion

How people and teams work together makes the difference between ordinary solutions and magic, so we help teams hear all voices, see with new eyes, and fall in love.

Connection

The connection between people and their innate creativity, people to people, and people to their learning, so we help teams nurture self-discovery, jump into ambiguity, and share stories.

Capability

Lasting impact requires communities to have the ability to sustain and adapt solutions to evolving needs, so we leave teams and leaders better by teaching the practices we use.

our values

We convene and facilitate community, nonprofit, and business partnerships to empower citizens to transform their neighborhoods. To do this, we focus on three interconnected elements.

Intention in what we do together

Diverse partners come together to come together to establish common ground and build trust. As we come to understand the issues, the challenges our community faces are identified and a strategy for change is created. Then we formulate the question we want to answer and solve as "How might we ...".

see What we do

Compassion in how we work

Although we have a tested innovation process, the magic happens in how people work together. We facilitate partners to unleash curiosity, creativity and collaboration as they deeply reframe and explore possibilities for their community. As the team creates and prototypes ideas, learning increases and viable solutions come to the fore.

see How we solve

Connection in the way we move forward

Vision becomes reality through shared commitment and disciplined action. We help the team focus on solutions by managing projects logistics to track accountability, progress and impact. This includes online tools to share transparently with neighborhood citizens and other communities, and future partners, to build advacacy for future efforts.

see Backbone support

value for partners

Partners should realize clear benefit when they invest in creating innovative, sustainable community solutions.

for Communities

Communities benefit from the diverse gifts and experiences of partners to solve complex challenges. In the process, citizens gain self-determination and agency.

Address Complex Challenges: Multi-sector partnerships are crucial for tackling complex and interconnected social,economic, and health challenges. By bringing together diverse stakeholders from the private sector, non-profits, governments, and communities, these partnerships can leverage a wide range of skills, resources, and expertise to develop innovative solutions. ¹ ² ³

Enhance Resilience and Equity: These partnerships help buildresilient and equitable communities by addressing the root causes of social ills such as poverty, discrimination, and health inequities. For instance, Accountable Communities for Health (ACHs) involve multiple sectors to address social determinants of health, ensuring equitable distribution of resources and prioritizing community needs. ³ ⁴

Lasting Impact: Cross-sector collaborations can enable impact by combining the expertise, resources, and on-the-ground relationships of various sectors. This collective effort can lead to more sustainable and robust solutions compared to what any single sector could achieve alone. ¹ ⁴ ⁵

for Nonprofits

Nonprofits can expand their impact to reach a wider audience, expand networks, and gain potential funding streams while building their organizational capacity.

Improve Efficiency and Scalability: Partnerships bring together diverse expertise and resources, leading to more innovative ideas, better problem-solving, and increased efficiency. This collective approach can help nonprofits scale their operations and achieve greater impact. ¹ ² ³

Increase Funding: Collaborating with businesses can significantly boost a nonprofit's revenue through various means such as volunteer grants, workplace matching gifts programs, in-kind donations, and corporate social responsibility initiatives. ² ³

Tackle Complex Issues: Cross-sector partnerships enable nonprofits to tackle complex issues more effectively by pooling resources, expertise, and influence. This collective impact can lead to systemic change and address issues such as healthcare, poverty, and climate change more comprehensively. ¹ ² ⁴

for Businesses

Businesses can strengthen company performance, customer loyalty, and employee engagement and retention.

Company Performance: CSR initiatives are linked to improved organizational performance. They promotes healthy stakeholder interactions, attract and retain talent, and supports long-term sustainability. This holistic approach to business operations can lead to better overall organizational outcomes, including financial success and enhanced brand value. ² ⁵

Employee Retention: Studies have shown that employees who align with their employer's CSR values are more likely to stay with the company. This constitutes an important non-financial job benefit that reduces employee turnover rates. ³ ⁴

Employee Engagement: When employees feel that their company is committed to social and environmental causes, it enhances their sense of purpose and engagement. This leads to a 17% increase in productivity, 21% higher profitability, and 41% lower absenteeism. ¹ ²

Consumer and Investor Perceptions: The public expects companies to balance profit with social responsibilities. Companies that prioritize CSR initiatives can attract customers and investors, as 77% of consumers are motivated to purchase from companies committed to social and environmental causes, and 73% of investors consider these efforts in their investment decisions. ⁵

What's Next?

LIFT collaborates with community organizations and nonprofits with a deep understanding of the aspirations and needs of their neighborhoods and communities. We welcome inquiries from those interested in partnering to innovate the future together. So come say hello!

Once you reach out, we'll connect to understand how we might work together. We'll determine if we are a good fit for partnership and then imagine and clarify goals for our work together.

Let's connect!

Thank you for connecting! We'll get back to you soon.

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