STORIES

Explore perspectives, tools, and ideas from the edges of social impact and innovation.

Featured Content

Learn how early-stage teams are shifting the immunization ecosystem across the East African region in a new report that illustrates their growth and impact.

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Reports
Insights from the COVID-19 Global South Health and Livelihoods Challenge

The COVID-19 Global South Health and Livelihoods Challenge was launched to help low- and middle-income families stay healthy while maintaining a sustainable livelihood during this crisis

Program Stories
The Future of Food Systems: Four Themes to Pay Attention to

Here are 4 themes from the Food System Vision Prize—as discussed in a recent episode of the Design Is Everywhere podcast—to help guide us toward a better food future.

Program Stories
“Learning Reimagined: Radical Thinking for Equitable Futures”

A new report published by Imaginable Futures and IDEO, exploring evidence-based visions of the future of education, based on trends identified today.

Program Stories
Bringing NextGen Cups to Market: It Takes a Village

Local cafes, cities, and students joined the NextGen Consortium's collaborative efforts to advance reusable, recyclable, and compostable cup solutions in pilots across the San Francisco Bay Area earlier this year.

Views
A Letter to the OpenIDEO Community

At OpenIDEO, we have deep work to do as a organization—listening, learning, unlearning, and planning—so that we can enter with integrity into public commitments we can fulfill.

Reports
Webinar: Reimagining Learning, During COVID-19 and Beyond

We hosted an interactive conversation with students, educators, and learning experts, and share insights and questions surfaced from the Reimagine Learning Challenge.

Reports
COVID-19 Business Pivot Challenge Report and Webinar

Hundreds of people responded to the COVID-19 Business Pivot Challenge sharing stories and solutions from around the world—from remote agronomy services to using virtual reality to train frontline workers.

Reports
COVID-19 Communication & Behavior Change: Report and Webinar

Effective and inspiring messaging must be at the center of a more resilient, empathetic, and effective response to this global pandemic. Learn about the insights we uncovered from our recent Challenge.

Tips & Tools
How to Build a Vibrant Global Community, Virtually

How do you maintain a high level of connectivity and collaboration while working on complex topics—despite the increased physical separation?

Views
3 Community-Driven Insights on Collaborative Innovation

Reflecting on five virtual conversations that challenged our global community to envision why we gather, and how we might gather for good

Program Stories
When It Comes to the Circular Economy, Cookie Cutter Won't Cut It

And other learnings from discovering, implementing, and scaling circular solutions through open innovation.

Tips & Tools
4 Collaborative Design Tips from OpenIDEO’s Community Fellows

How might we not only design for community, but with community—especially with geographically dispersed teams? The OpenIDEO Community Fellows share their design tips for cultivating creative teams across continents:

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Q&A: Meet OpenIDEO’s Chapter Organizers

Dive into this Q&A to hear from some of the Chapter Organizers—both new and veteran—about what it's like to be part of this wide-reaching community.

Program Stories
Bringing the NextGen Cup to Life

From 480 innovative ideas, to live prototyping, to preparing for pilot readiness and beyond, these next generation cups are paving the way for a waste-free future.

Views
Mentorship Models Aimed at Maximizing Impact

At OpenIDEO, we've been asking ourselves: How do you build an at-scale mentorship program that’s at once customized, impact-oriented, and meaningful? Here’s what we’ve learned.

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UNGA 2019: A New Level of Urgency and Optimism

This year's UN General Assembly signaled a turning point for social change—a new level of urgency and optimism. Here are three key themes OpenIDEO's leaders, Jason Rissman and Luisa Covaria, think stakeholders across sectors should pay closer attention to.

Tips & Tools
6 Brainstorming Tips for Social Innovators and Beyond

Some of the most successful and innovative solutions to global problems once started with a group of people sitting in a circle, quickly throwing out ideas. Wondering about ways to brainstorm with your team in a more effective and inclusive way? Read on.

Program Stories
How to Use Design Thinking to Advance Systemic Change, One Cup at a Time

Amid burbling espresso machines and towering stacks of cups, six teams in the NextGen Circular Business Accelerator are taking waste-free cup solutions to the next level. Venturing back of house at restaurants and into the world of waste management, see how teams use five design thinking practices to advance solutions for a more circular future.

Tips & Tools
4 IDEO Designers' Tips for Better Visual Storytelling

Learn how to create a visual language that can be used to transform all levels of communication, from individual stories to entire fields.

Views
Reimagining International Development: Lessons From Five Years of Amplify

As one of our biggest programs comes to a close, we reflect on what we've learned about how to build open, collaborative initiatives that transform international development.

Views
Community Is the Key to the Future. Here's How to Unlock It.

How did OpenIDEO grow from a Facebook post to a practice that has engaged thousands of innovators worldwide? The short answer: our community.

Program Stories
Insights around the globe: OpenIDEO Chapters take on the NextGen Cup Challenge

Gathering local insights for a global problem, OpenIDEO Chapters hosted a series of 26 events to explore to-go cup ecosystems in 11 countries

Program Stories
Celebrating the Nike Design with Grind Challenge Top Ideas

Exploring five innovative ideas with the potential to help create a more circular world

Program Stories
Three Insights and Innovations from the EiE Alliance

40 innovators spent six months accelerating education solutions for emergency situations. Here's what happened.

Program Stories
Announcing the NextGen Cup Challenge Winners

Celebrating 12 ideas that are pushing the boundaries of material and chemical innovation and sustainable design as they reinvent the fiber cup system

Program Stories
Fighting Food Waste Together

How an ongoing community helped support food waste innovators worldwide.

Reports
Open Reflections: Looking Back on a Year of Impact

Capturing stories, tools, and insights from open innovation in our 2017 Impact Report

Program Stories
UNFPA Young People's Sexual and Reproductive Health Challenge: Top Ideas Announced

Celebrating four innovative solutions that promote menstrual health around the world

Program Stories
Meet the Beyond the Bag Challenge Shortlist

Celebrating 58 ideas that are pushing the boundaries of material innovation and systems design as they reinvent getting goods from retailer to home.

In the News

Check out a few stories of our work over the years.