The Insight Labs is a pro bono strategy development platform for non-profit organizations, non-governmental organizations and government agencies.
Methodology and Format
An Insight Lab is a structured, three-hour strategy session for a non-profit organization, government agency or industry. Participants are corporate leaders from varied industries, representatives from the benefiting entities, "wildcard" participants (such as professional writers, artists, or scientists), and Insight Lab staff who moderate the discussion.
The Insight Labs staff choose participants from the creative, corporate and academic world for their strategic and creative thinking. These individuals are able to lend these skills to the issue addressed at the Lab without concern for the current limitations of the partner organization. Insight Lab Founder and Dean Jeff Leitner argues that including intelligent individuals who are not impacted directly by the outcome of the session allows for more creative solutions.
Background
The prototype for Insight Labs was developed in summer 2006. In spring 2008, the format was refocused on philanthropic efforts. Jeff Leitner and co-founder and director, Howell J. Malham Jr., developed the current format in spring 2009.
Jeff Leitner is founder and dean of Insight Labs. He holds degrees in Government from
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
and in Journalism from
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
, and prior to co-founding Insight Labs worked as a reporter, a political campaign strategist, and public affairs strategist.
Howell J. Malham Jr. is co-founder and director of publishing and media for Insight Labs. He was a founding partner of the new media agency DIGITAAL and has written for
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
,
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
and
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
. He holds a degree from
Arizona State University
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
. He is the author of a book, ''I Have a Strategy (No, You Don't)'', due to be released in February 2013 by
Jossey-Bass
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in p ...
publishers.
As of February 2013, over 45 strategy sessions or conferences have occurred, including more than 500 participants.
[ (primary source)]
Chronology
2013
Lab partners in 2013 included
Echoing Green
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the list ...
, The
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is an American philanthropic nonprofit organization. It was established in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan Jr., then-president and chief executive officer of General Motors.
The Sloan Foundation makes grants to support or ...
,
Community of Democracies
The Community of Democracies (C.O.D), established in 2000, is an intergovernmental coalition of states. Its aim is to bring together governments, civil society and the private sector in the pursuit of the common goal of supporting democratic rul ...
with the
US State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
,
The Creative Coalition
The Creative Coalition is a nonprofit, (501(c)(3)) advocacy group formed of members of the American entertainment industry. The organization was founded in 1989 by Ron Silver. Tim Daly serves as the organization's president. Members have included ...
,
Akerman Senterfitt
Akerman LLP is a law firm based in Miami, Florida that was founded in 1920. Scott Meyers is the chairman and CEO. , Akina,
Freeborn & Peters, Hellerman Baretz Communications, Levenfeld Pearlstein, and
One North Interactive.
2012
2012 saw Insight Labs partner with
Boeing Global Corporate Citizenship, the Illinois Humanities Council, the CAA Foundation,
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
,
Ashoka
Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...
,
Our Time, Social Capital Markets, The Family Van, and its sponsor,
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...
, Medical Intelligence, Foundations of East Chicago,
[Foundations of East Chicago](_blank)
/ref> and, for a second time, the West Collection.
2011
In 2011 a total of 16 labs were conducted, with partners the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the Silk Road Theatre Project
Silk Road Rising is a theatre company located in downtown Chicago dedicated to presenting plays written by individuals of Asian and Middle Eastern descent. Formerly known as Silk Road Theatre Project, the name was changed in 2011 in order to bett ...
, World Sport Chicago, the League of Chicago Theatres
The League of Chicago Theatres (LCT) is an alliance of theaters in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
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, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce
''Illinois Chamber of Commerce'', or The Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, is a state lobbying group representing the interests of many businesses across the state of Illinois. It is not a government agency, but a non-profit membership business ...
, Genesis at the Crossroads, Jewish Child & Family Services, Union League Boys & Girls Clubs, the School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design.
History
This school was started by ...
, Cannon Design, Akina, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hist ...
, Generation Generosity, the West Collection, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding th ...
, and the University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
2010
2010 saw the labs partner with the Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago Public Media
Chicago Public Media (CPM) is a not-for-profit media company that operates as the primary National Public Radio member organization for Chicago. It owns three non-commercial educational FM broadcast stations and one FM translator, and produc ...
, the American Parkinson Disease Association
The American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) is a grassroots advocacy organization for sufferers of Parkinson's disease and their families.
Founded in 1961, the APDA aims to "ease the burden" for Americans with Parkinson's disease, as well a ...
's Young Onset Center, the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago, 826 Chicago
826 National is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students, ages 6–18, improve their expository and creative writing skills at eight locations across the United States. The chapters include 826 Valencia in San Francisco, 826NYC i ...
, the Chicago Sinfonietta
The Chicago Sinfonietta is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is nationally and internationally acclaimed as a cultural leader and a powerful advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion and is renowned for its groundbreaking, d ...
, the Professional Convention Management Association
PCMA is a professional organization, representing management of business events, conferences and conventions. It has more than 8,400 members, and branches in 37 countries located in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Ze ...
, midVentures, the North South Foundation
The North South Foundation (NSF) is a nonprofit organization whose main goal is to provide disadvantaged children living in India with college scholarships. The organization raises funds by holding educational competitions made up of participants ...
, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, and the Illinois Commerce Commission
The Illinois Commerce Commission is a quasi-judicial tribunal that regulates public utility services in the U.S. state of Illinois. The mission of the ICC is "to pursue an appropriate balance between the interest of consumers and existing and emer ...
2009
In 2009, the Labs conducted their first two sessions in their current format, the first with One D, a confederation of Detroit non-profits, to address the gap between local jobs programs and corporate HR interests. Among the conclusions were ""Detroit has a rich, exploitable asset: thousands of men and women who grew up in Detroit and might very well return. Proof: HR professionals say their best odds of hiring out-of-towners come when they report Detroit expatriates." The second lab of the year was held in partnership with Executive Breakfast Club, with a goal of developing ideas to make the topic of business ethics
Business ethics (also known as Corporate Ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics, that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business co ...
affirmative and appealing, rather than a focus on "what not to do".
Notable participants
Past participants include:
Carol Coletta, Manuel Flores, Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Amy Krouse Rosenthal (April 29, 1965 – March 13, 2017) was an American author of both adult and children's books, a short film maker, and radio show host. She is best known for her memoir ''Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life'', her children's pic ...
, Bill Moggridge
William Grant Moggridge, RDI (25 June 1943 – 8 September 2012) was an English designer, author and educator who cofounded the design company IDEO and was director of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York. He was a pionee ...
, Amy Wilson. Ryan Blitstein
Ryan Blitstein (born July 1979 in San Francisco, California) is Vice President of Sales Strategy & Operations at the Industrial AI software company Uptake.
He was the first Executive Director of the education innovation grantmaking foundation SCE ...
, Susan Crown
Susan M. Crown (born 1960/1961) is an American businessperson. She is founder and chairman of the Susan Crown Exchange (SCE), and chairman and CEO of Owl Creek Partners.
Early life and education
Crown is the daughter of Renée (née Schine) and L ...
, Alison Cuddy Alison Cuddy is a former host of Chicago Public Radio’s (WBEZ 91.5 FM) "Eight Forty-Eight" weekday news magazine show. She served as the artistic director for the Chicago Humanities Festival.
Life and career
On Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ 91.5 FM ...
, Lee Fisher
Lee Irwin Fisher (born August 7, 1951) is an American attorney, politician, and academic. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 64th lieutenant governor of Ohio, with Governor Ted Strickland, from 20 ...
, Ryan Frietas, the co-founder of about.me
about.me is a personal web hosting service co-founded by Ryan Freitas, Tony Conrad and Tim Young in October 2009. The site offers registered users a simple platform from which to link multiple online identities, relevant external sites, and pop ...
, Carlo Lorenzo Garcia, Cheryl Heller, Anya Kamenetz
Anya Kamenetz (born September 15, 1980) is an American writer living in Brooklyn, New York City. She is an education correspondent for NPR, a former staff writer for ''Fast Company'' magazine, and columnist for Tribune Media Services, and the ...
, Steven Kaplan, Raghava KK, Amanda Lannert of Jellyvision
The Jellyvision Lab, Inc. is an American software company based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1989, and as a video game development company by Harry Gottlieb in 1995, Jellyvision has since transitioned to creating benefits guidance software. ...
, PJ Loughran
PJ Loughran (born October 4, 1973) is an American illustrator, musician and entrepreneur.
Career
After graduating from the Parsons School of Design, Loughran began his career as in illustrator doing work for the Op-Ed pages of ''The New York Time ...
, Eric Lunt, co-founder of Feedburner
FeedBurner is a web feed management service primarily for monetizing RSS feeds, primarily by inserting targeted advertisements into them. It was founded in 2004 and acquired by Google in 2007.
Services
Services provided to publishers include traf ...
, Stephanie Pace Marshall
Stephanie Anne Pace Marshall (born July 19, 1945), is an American educator and the founding president of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy.
Education
Stephanie Anne Pace was born to Dominick Martin and Anne (née Price) Pace in the ...
, Bruce Mau
Bruce Mau D.Litt. (born October 25, 1959) is a Canadian designer and educator. He began his career a graphic designer and has since applied his design methodology to architecture, art, museums, film, eco-environmental design, education, and conc ...
, Toby Moffett
Anthony John Moffett, Jr. (born August 18, 1944) is a former American politician from the state of Connecticut. A Democrat, Moffett served in the United States House of Representatives as the member from Connecticut's 6th congressional district ...
, Maria Popova
Maria Popova ( bg, Мария Попова; born 28 July 1984) is a Bulgarian-born, American-based essayist, book author, poet, and writer of literary and arts commentary and cultural criticism that has found wide appeal both for her writing and ...
, Ryan Spencer Reed
Ryan Spencer Reed (born 1979) is an American social documentary photographer. He has worked in Central and East Africa in the capacity of a photojournalist, covering the Sudanese Diaspora, since 2002. After returning from covering the War in ...
, Dan Rothenberg of the Pig Iron Theatre Company
Pig Iron Theatre Company is a multidisciplinary ensemble based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company has created over 40 original works over the past 26 years, performed both locally and internationally. Their individual works have been insp ...
, Lincoln Schatz
Lincoln Schatz is a contemporary American artist, best known for works that utilize video to collect, store, and display images from specific environments.
Career
His CUBE project combines architecture, video and, performance using a video syst ...
, Matthew Segal
Matthew Segal (born October 18, 1985) is the co-founder of ATTN:, a Los Angeles-based media company that makes entertainment that informs, and an American social entrepreneur and media commentator. He previously co-founded Our Time (nonprofit), O ...
, Yosi Sergant
Yosi Sergant (born 1976) is an American publicist and activist. He is known for his commissioning and management of the "Hope" poster created during the 2008 presidential election by Shepard Fairey and for creating the art exhibit and events ...
, Michael Slaby, deputy director and CTO of New Media in the 2008 Obama Presidential Campaign, Gary Slutkin
Cure Violence is a Violence interruption program for anti-violence. It aims to stop the spread of violence in communities by using the methods and strategies associated with public health and disease control: detecting and interrupting conflicts ...
, Jacob Soboroff
Jacob Hirsch Soboroff (born March 27, 1983) is an American journalist. He is known as a correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC. Prior to his debut on the network in September 2015, he was the host of ''YouTube Nation'' and a co-host of ''TakePart L ...
, Emerson Spartz
Emerson James Spartz (born February 17, 1987) is the founder of the viral media company Dose and the founder of MuggleNet, a Harry Potter fansite.
Early life
Spartz was born in La Porte, Indiana to Tom and Maggi Spartz. He is the oldest of thr ...
, Millions of Us CEO Reuben Steiger, Eric Weinstein
Eric Ross Weinstein (born October 26, 1965) is an American podcast host and a managing director of Thiel Capital.
Education
Weinstein received his PhD in mathematical physics from Harvard University in 1992 under the supervision of Raoul Bo ...
, Marco Werman
Marco Werman is an American radio personality. He is a host, reporter and senior producer in public radio. Werman is the host of Public Radio Exchange's ''The World''. He took over as full-time host of the program on January 1, 2013 after years ...
, Illinois Chamber of Commerce
''Illinois Chamber of Commerce'', or The Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, is a state lobbying group representing the interests of many businesses across the state of Illinois. It is not a government agency, but a non-profit membership business ...
President & CEO Doug Whitley, Amy Wilson, and OkCupid
OkCupid (often abbreviated as OKC, but officially OkC) is a U.S.-based, internationally operating online dating, friendship, and formerly also a social networking website and application. It features multiple-choice questions to match members. ...
co-founder Sam Yagan.
External projects
Some labs have resulted in the creation of outside projects to pursue and implement ideas developed in the labs:
The New Architect
In 2010, Insight Labs collaborated with Manifest Digital to create The New Architect, an ongoing web series following a free-flowing, talk show format that focuses on topics related to human interaction in the digital age.
UX for Good
In 2011, the Insight Labs was a founding partner of the first UX for Good event, a two-day design competition wherein user experience and visual designers, along with writers, visual artists and non-profit organizations, were teamed to develop solutions to systemic social issues, such as unemployment, urban violence, and public education.
Narrative Renewal
Following the 2012 lab with Foundations of East Chicago, The Narrative Renewal Project was launched, to gather the inspiring stories specific to a challenged community (starting with a pilot project in East Chicago, Indiana
East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing ac ...
, to put those stories to work, producing tangible improvements in quality of life.
Criticism
Insight Labs has been criticized for not producing actionable insights.
References
External links
Official website
Manifest Digital
The New Architect
UX for Good
{{DEFAULTSORT:Insight Labs
Philanthropic organizations based in the United States
Non-profit organizations based in Chicago