Peer Innovation Labs

Work with peer organizations to solve a shared problem

Peer Innovation Labs are three-hour, online workshops that bring together 7 - 10 organizations facing the same problem. A combination of structured facilitation, collaboration technology, and generative AI enables participants to think of solutions that no one of them would have thought of alone.

Each Lab is designed for groups of peer entities that share the same problem and do not compete with each other. For example: associations, rural municipalities, food banks, school districts, healthcare providers, electric cooperatives, or other organizations that share common operational or systemic problems. Because participants operate in similar environments, discussions focus on practical problem solving grounded in real-world experience.

Peer Innovation Labs enable participants to:

  • Identify root causes and systemic patterns

  • Exchange proven practices and lessons learned

  • Generate novel ideas and strategic opportunities

  • Explore solutions from multiple perspectives

  • Prioritize actionable initiatives

  • Build relationships and ongoing peer-learning networks

Following are just some of the many topics and issues that might be the focus of a lab:

  • Food access and food systems

  • Workforce shortages and retention

  • Rural economic development

  • Volunteer churn

  • Healthcare access

  • Housing and infrastructure

  • Community resilience

  • Service delivery innovation

  • Organizational collaboration

  • Technology adoption and AI integration