Next Innovation Scholars

What if your next big decision was guided not by guesswork, but by research driven insights that power innovation?

NEXT Innovation Scholars is a cohort-based, transdisciplinary educational program centered on design thinking and strategic foresight. As one of the nation’s only undergraduate strategic foresight programs, NIS serves as an indispensable resource for next-gen insights and thought-provoking explorations of the future that empower organizations to strategize for tomorrow. 

NIS takes a framework-driven approach to innovation that transcends industries, audiences and traditional discipline lines. Our primary capabilities are designed with our partners in mind, powering projects from short sprints to long-term engagements.  

Actionable, human-centered insights that inform front-end innovation decisions and long-term strategy.

NIS guides our partners through the process of defining user needs to make research-informed, proactive decisions about their products and services by using our design research and insight development approach. These insights, combined with our strategic foresight capabilities, drive innovative solutions that can be implemented now for a stronger tomorrow. 

Divergent and convergent explorations of existing, proposed, or speculative concepts and solutions.

Ideation projects are fast-paced, focused on harnessing raw creative thinking and opening new pathways to explore what's possible. Partners for ideation projects often come to NIS with an early-stage concept or idea to explore, or an existing product, service or set of resources ready for a new life. We leverage combinations of landscape & ethnographic research, brainstorming, prototyping, user testing, and feedback to generate ideas and concepts aligned with our client’s vision.

Research-driven analysis of macrotrends, leading indicators of change and the implications of multiple possible futures.

By utilizing strategic foresight methods and analyzing hundreds of timely articles, media, and other data from a wide variety of sources, NIS’ approach looks beyond traditional insights to identify multiple possible future implications across industries and communities. Each year’s research and forecasts are curated, packaged, and published in the annual Future Creators report, challenging readers to consider their own role in co-creating the future with excitement and curiosity. This research can also be customized to a category or industry for applied foresight and strategy projects with clients.

Interactive workshops, trainings and experiences that unlock innovation potential and empower new approaches.

NIS offers educational experiences in innovation and design thinking that teach new skills and empower participants to incorporate innovation into their own work or daily life. Our growing catalog of topical workshops can be tailored to the specific needs of an audience or custom built from scratch to meet a specific outcome. NIS workshops are interactive and hands-on, encouraging active participation and engagement from the attendees.