United Way collaborates to move social innovation forward

United Way of Greater Cincinnati, in collaboration with the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and Design Impact, is wrapping up its selection process for a seven-month “design thinking” project.
 
“We think design thinking is a really compelling way to support innovative approaches, because it encourages people to look at how they’re currently doing work and then find opportunities to do some things differently,” says Mike Baker, director at the UWGC.
 
Five local organizations—or design teams—will begin the process this month and work with participating organizations to design an approach that supports a two-generational strategy of finding ways to move families beyond poverty.
 
“We’ll pilot it to look and see what’s working, and then at the end of the year, kind of synthesize that into some knowledge we can share in the community,” Baker says.
 
For Ramsey Ford, design director at Design Impact, innovative approaches that come as a result of design thinking, are “good ways to solve existing problems and create social change.”
 
The design thinking approach to problem solving is commonly used in the private sector, but now it’s being applied to the social sector, and it’s encouraging all parties to think differently about how to unearth interesting solutions more quickly, says Shiloh Turner, vice president for community investments at the GCF.
 
“I think a lot of times, people think the grants we make are the most important things we do, and I’m not denying those are important,” Turner says. “But I think sometimes the nonmonetary assistance such as this effort translates into potentially being more powerful than a programmatic grant that we would also provide.”

Do Good:

•    Learn about about UWGC's Bold Goals for Our Region.

•    Get involved with Design Thinking Cincy.

•    Be a part of change by volunteering.