HHS Ignite Accelerator
Role: I led the design and execution of the program beta in 2013; led the user-feedback, iterative design of subsequent rounds (x6); led the design and execution of curriculum (a combination of design thinking and lean startup mindsets) and Innovation Coaching program (weekly oversight and guidance by an experienced innovator).
The HHS Ignite Accelerator, the first ever internal innovation accelerator in the federal government, is sponsored by the Department's Chief Technology Officer. It provides HHS staff with safe space, methodology, coaching, and access to political and financial resources in order to solve the Department's most complex problems. Ignite has supported more than 140 teams, enabling award-winning ideas such as the NIH Biomedical 3D Print Library and the Rapid Opioid Alert and Response System. Program alums have validated and scaled impactful ideas such as using natural language processing in the Medicaid policy-making process or applying design research methods during Zika response.
Ignite has proven to be the flagship program of the HHS IDEA Lab and a means for HHS leadership to instill a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, identify cross-agency opportunities, and build an informal network of people who want to get stuff done.
Please see the accompanying reference documents (google drive):
‘Designing the HHS Ignite Accelerator’: read this for the design rationale behind the program
‘Ignite R7 Overview’: thumb thru this for a quick understanding of what our program is to federal staffers
A smattering of Ignite project presentations: https://www.youtube.com/user/HHSInnovations/videos
Harvard Business Review mention: https://hbr.org/2018/09/why-design-thinking-works
