Large-scale System Design, Innovation for Social Good

Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), the ten-year goal of the New Options Initiative is to create a new credential that is a valued non-school pathway to employment. Young people, businesses, and community-based organizations will co-create a new model outside the current systems of education and work entry. WKKF specifically wanted to bring innovative approaches to the initiative analogous to those found in corporate circles, venture capital start-ups, or bleeding edge product and service design firms. After a rigorous selection process, WKKF chose Matter.

New Options will create prototypes for a new national credential in four areas that are closely tied to the passions and interests identified by young people during the initiative’s year-long pre-planning process, initially thought to be in two areas of art — Media and Performing Arts, and two areas of science — Technology and Neighborhood Improvement.

Matter is leading the Innovation process for the initiative, and is involved on each of the New Options working teams, fueling the innovation process, developing experiential frameworks to inspire new ideas, and facilitating robust inclusion of all participants in the co-creation process. Matter will play a key role in the New Options program by being an innovation engine and part of the leadership team for the program, by building the capacity of all New Options participants to surface and document innovation, and by capturing and managing the knowledge created during the program. This will include deepening understanding of stakeholder needs and perspectives; playing a innovation driver and knowledge management role in the prototyping process; actively participating in facilitating multi-stakeholder alignment; and helping to roll up prototypes into a national credential prototype.

Project Photos