Challenge: While the state’s epidemiology program is robust and greatly admired, its data collection was in need of modernization. County-by-county and across the state, a patchwork of disparate disease-specific surveillance systems and paper-based reporting co-existed. In line with the Center for Disease Control’s national strategic direction for data modernization, the decision was made to adopt a market-ready, best-in-class technology solution that would stretch across the entire state.

Approach: For this multi-year engagement, success required a balance across people, process and technology, skillfully incorporating the discipline of product leadership into the realm of public health and ensuring that the platform could be customized and configured to meet the needs and wants of each specific disease surveillance team.

Services Provided:

• Product Leadership
• Change Management Expertise
• Leadership Coaching
• Team Mentorship

Value Co-Creation: By practicing active listening, convening stakeholders regularly and working to drive transparency, stakeholders felt respected and included in the process and readily offered their expertise and input making the base implementation even stronger. A phased approach focusing on each specific disease surveillance community and rapid prototyping sprints with user acceptance testing ahead of roll out into production ensured the implementation’s relevance and resilience.

Highlights:

• Go live exceeded expectations of both the business unit and broader disease surveillance community and was a seamless, uneventful day matching the calendar date set/expected
• The state-specific implementation is now the baseline for an adjoining state’s implementation
• And customizations the state arrived at in its implementation have been incorporated into the platform and approved by the platform’s governance body for any future implementation in any other jurisdiction

• Platform transition was fully compliant with state/federal guidelines ensuring data integrity and meeting the disease surveillance reporting needs of an ongoing pandemic response

Challenge: Small hold farm-producers help preserve ancient and indigenous methods of cultivation and their farming practices can have direct positive impact on soil, landscapes, and efforts to sustain biodiversity. But too often they are not recognized nor provided with the necessary financial and marketing support for their work. On the island of Crete, grassroots organizations are well-placed to harness and scale traditional practices of cultivation but need better connections and visibility to expand their impact.

Approach: Engaged multiple organizations working across Crete in the circular design of two food products—carob-based spread and carob-based granola—and expanded the collective impact towards redefining food systems.

Services Provided:

• Macro scan (historical, social, economic, cultural)
• Stakeholder map and influence matrix 
• Map of small hold farm-producers and their products across Crete landscape
• Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Big Food Redesign Challenge: pitch, story, application
• Concept paper “Regenerative Crete | Landscape-based Food System Redesign”
• Stakeholder presentations

Value Co-Creation: Not only is carob nutrient-dense and delicious, it’s a culturally significant ingredient to Cretan heritage and is an ideal ingredient for the island of Crete’s collective focus. Carob syrup—a key ingredient in both products—is cultivated from the carob tree, Ceratonia siliqua. On the island of Crete carob is already intercropped with wild or cultivated olive trees and variety of herbs using sustainable practices based on centuries of accumulated knowledge, techniques, and ancient wisdom, a continuation and adaptation of Minoan and Cretan agricultural heritage.

Highlights:

• Identified as best products in Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Big Food Redesign Challenge
• Shortlisted for additional funding for small hold farm-producers moving from concept to pilot
• Showcased two concept circular food products in EMF’s digital catalog for retailers:
  • Highlighting ancient varietal food crops and their role in building nutrient-dense products
  • Upcycling key ingredients from carob spread remnants to carob granola
  • Designing 100% eco-friendly compostable product packaging
  • Showcasing a concept closed-loop reuse model of glass bottles in collaboration with the demand-side hospitality industry

Challenge: Remote Native American lands are often classified as food deserts. Many tribal members drive long distances, carpooling when they can, to purchase groceries due to limited local produce availability. Poor soil and consistent water availability can make home/community gardening difficult. In the Pacific Northwest tribal lands extreme heat, drought and wildfires made worse by climate change present further challenges to localizing food production.

Approach: A collaboration with tribal leaders, the local housing authority, and community members to secure a U.S. Department of Agriculture SBIR-I grant for a feasibility study showing the linkages among the climate, cultural, and economic impacts on indigenous food systems through installation of a proof-of-concept micro-farm. 


Services Provided:

• Macro scan (historical, social, economic, cultural)
• Stakeholder map and influence matrix 
• Funding sources directory
• Grant proposal, management and reporting
• Manage construction of two prefab geodesic domes
• Partnership ecosystem blueprint for future initiatives
• Stakeholder presentations

Value Co-Creation: Despite COVID-19 related challenges, the initiative launched on time with a well-received community-opening ceremony. The blueprint was presented at the InterTribal Ag Council in Las Vegas, Spring 2022. A follow-on agrivoltaics impact assessment ensures the micro-farm becomes net energy positive.

Highlights:

• Secured USDA SBIR-I grant
• Created two full-time jobs and multiple part-time jobs for tribal members during grant period
• Established, managed and then handed over the 1/3-acre micro-farm to the community
• Reduced food miles to walking distance
• Presented whole system approach at InterTribal Ag Council, Las Vegas, Spring 2022
• Achieved a net energy positive micro-farm through agrivoltaics

Challenge: Globally demand for artisan goods continues an upward trend with uniqueness of craft being a strong competitive advantage. In many developing countries the craft sector represents an opportunity for women’s expanded economic inclusion and, behind agriculture, in developing countries artisan activity is often the second largest employer for women. But most artisan enterprises exist in the shadows of the formal sector (outside official metrics) and are generally loose configurations of suppliers, producers and traders in an informal network. Because the challenges of artisan value chains are often not well understood, interventions can be fraught.

Approach: Focusing on two pilot countries, a public-private alliance set out to collaboratively map specific artisan value chains. A participatory approach was undertaken to better understand the highly specific, localized, sociocultural, historic and geographic dimensions within which artisans are situated, capturing perspectives and motivations of artisans themselves and bringing greater clarity to barriers and potential levers. 


Services Provided:

• Designed and facilitated strategy workshop to crystalize alliance’s broad directional goals and select two countries of focus for a pilot value chain initiative
• Conducted alliance member and ecosystem partner stakeholder interviews
• Led desk research team, synthesizing key data points for each country’s artisan sector and crafting a briefing report ahead of field research
• Created prototype of artisan value chain toolkit for learning and co-creation in the field
• Trained core team to facilitate toolkit working sessions in the field
• Coordinated with ecosystem partners in government, IO, NGO and private sectors to plan for activities on the ground
• Collaborated with core team to draft roadmap articulating opportunities beyond pilot
• Articulated key message points in support of global launch event
• Produced Executive Summary document incorporating learnings from the field

Value Co-Creation: Providing all stakeholders the ability to visually see and understand components of the value chain in concert and through a visual language where literacy is not required allowed for fuller participation and ensured that artisans’ lived experiences, local knowledge and worldviews were incorporated.

Highlights:

• Pilot workshops hosted in each country with multiple artisans groups participating
• Feedback and learning from the field was immediately incorporated into facilitator’s guidelines and the pilot workshop was tested in a third country context the following month
• Toolkit and workshop guidelines were then formalized and rolled out globally six months later

Challenge: At the time of this initiative, 15% of all fabric in India was produced on handlooms and India was the seventh largest producer of textiles globally. And yet 57% of India’s 4.3 million handloom weavers were living below the poverty line despite their significant contributions to output. 
Adding to Indian handloom weavers’ economic challenges, being in the informal sector, occupational health and safety standards are also generally poor. For artisans in the handloom sector working with the same chemical dye ingredients as industry, close proximity to these chemicals presents acute risks: many of the over 10,000 chemicals used in textile production are known to be bioaccumulative, hormone-disrupting and cancer-causing. Behind agriculture, textiles are the second largest polluting industry globally, with textile dyeing in itself being a major pollutant of the world’s water supply. For artisan communities, risk to local water sources is real when effluent from dye runoff is not properly considered.

Approach: After collaborative R&D with local artisans and environmental experts on the ground, the living wage, fair trade, B-Corp social enterprise SLOWCOLOR was launched in the U.S. in 2011. Focusing on the U.S. wholesale market and small boutique stores, SLOWCOLOR worked to drive greater awareness of the challenge and foster connection between end consumers and artisan producers through the sale of exquisitely beautiful products —scarves, wraps, throws and blankets—all naturally dyed and handmade using premium linen and organic cotton yarns. 


Services Provided:

• Coordinated knowledge transfer and training for weaver cooperatives in natural dye techniques/innovations through the Handloom Weavers Service Center in Hyderabad, India
• Directly engaged weaver artisan groups to co-create collection of naturally dyed textiles using plant and mineral-based dyes from Indian heritage in premium natural and organic yarns
• Designed closed loop system for natural dyeing
• Articulated brand value proposition to wholesale buyers and end consumers to drive sales, to media to drive awareness and to impact investors in order to scout for capital
• Crafted business plan, pitch deck and all relevant investor materials
• Forged strategic partnerships with other ecosystem players and educational institutions

Value Co-Creation: Co-designed collection for loom interchangeability: By telling a simplified product story through a limited palette that incorporated cross weave designs, weft yarns could easily be swapped out to complete each product collection. Weaver cooperatives engaged continued their work for the local/export markets without interruption as SLOWCOLOR production never took up more than 15% of any cooperative’s total capacity. Weaver cooperatives engaged never carried costs of raw materials, supplies or inventory and set their own labor rates. Ordering and producing the bulk of inventory well ahead of season, allowed products to be made in the coolest months/during the most advantageous times for cooperatives.

Highlights:

• A multi-year effort, moving from R&D/proof of concept to six seasons of production/sales
• SLOWCOLOR products carried in over 120 stores across the U.S. and internationally in Japan, Canada and Australia
• Season-on-season product sales increase, achieving breakeven point EOY three

• Achieved ‘Ready to Invest’ stage with a premier impact angel network

• 4X increase in economic impact for handloom weavers engaged
• Direct capital improvement investments for weaver cooperatives engaged

• Revitalized natural dye recipes, eliminating the need for heavy metal mordants to bind color
• Promoted natural dye crops and natural fibers in agriculture and farming

• Closed loop system for natural dyeing proved both practical and effective
• Accolades:
  • Awarded Best of the World B-Corp Microenterprise, ‘Overall’/‘Environment’: 2014/2015
  • Sankalp Awards, Semi-finalist India, 2014
  • SOURCE Awards, Ethical Fashion Forum, 2012


Challenge: Globally, the number of unbanked individuals remains high. In Mexico City, particularly among domestic workers and caregivers, a sizable population lacks access to traditional banking services.

Approach: This initiative was sponsored by executive leadership in banking/finance and in partnership with two strategic organizations: one advocating for domestic workers, the other being a network of physical bodega stores in Mexico City that would act as banking transaction centers. A proof-of-concept app demonstrated that micro-savings and micro-investments for the unbanked are feasible leveraging digital wallets, blockchain and cryptographic technologies directly on their smartphones — a device ubiquitous among the unbanked population.

Services Provided:

• Business model development, including customer incentives for user expansion
• Partnership development and distribution channel management
• Product leadership, including platform selection for app development
• Product design, featuring intuitive walkthroughs in the app
• Product engineering, managing a virtual team of app developers
• App development, including enhanced security, digital wallet, and account setup
• Multi-language support (EN/ES)

Value Co-Creation: Despite challenges related to COVID-19, the initiative launched with only a slight delay and was well received by the target audience of domestic workers in Mexico City. The app proved the viability of the business model and the platform selected to provide services.


Highlights:

• Secured seed funding for the app development
• Showcased the app at two global women-focused entities: a financial education forum and a banking institution
• Established critical relationships in the Mexican financial and retail sectors for the pilot run

Challenge: Digital innovation is changing the financial industry at break-neck pace. At the outset, this renowned, member-owned institution was struggling to rationalize and modernize its disparate services across Auto Loan, Home Loan, Insurance and Financial Advisory leading to member frustration. The credit union sought to remove friction and sustain membership growth with a steady focus on member experience and product leadership.

Approach: Collaborated with service division product leads to build out an omni-channel strategy that enabled consistent member experience across all services. Redefined product roles to be member experience centric as necessary. Co-defined unique ‘click and mortar’ member journey maps by service area to bridge the gap between digital and physical experiences.

Services Provided:

• Digital Products Director
• Change Management Expertise
• Leadership Coaching
• Team Mentorship

Value Co-Creation: Compelled credit union’s executives to shift focus from multi-channel—a product-centric approach—to omni-channel—a member centric, personalized and more wholistic approach. Not only does an omni-channel strategy ensure the next best offer/next best action is personalized for the member, a further internal benefit of an omni-channel strategy is that it breaks down silos, stretching across business units and uniting product teams.

Highlights:

• Successfully delivered personalized, seamless and secure member experiences across new and existing touch points and channels of engagement
• Smart identification, authentication, verification and fraud detection across all touch points
• Overall NPS increase leading to 77% member loyalty
• Article “A beginner’s guide to omni-channel” published on Plaid
• Showcased broader transformation vision at credit union national forums