Lean Lab announces new, mature fellowship class
June 18, 2015 | Andrea Essner
The Lean Lab, an education innovation incubator, announced its second cohort of fellows who hope to bring meaningful change to Kansas City education.
In the 2015 class, 10 fellows with seven solutions for Kansas City’s urban education will be participating in the Lean Lab’s summer program.
Fellows arrive at the program with ideas in various stages of development, Lean Lab co-founder Katie Boody said. Boody, a former middle school teacher, identified this year’s cohort as a group with advanced solutions.
“Fellows have been working on their solutions for a little bit longer,” she said. “It’s not just the idea stage.”
Lean Lab fellows participate in a month-long incubator program, which began Tuesday. During the summer program, fellows engage in a process of innovation that involves rapid prototyping and testing of their solutions to a problem in Kansas City education.
This year’s group is taking a closer look at how to help youth in education.
“These are direct initiatives that are impacting students,” Boody said. “They’re already taking on really big problems and I’m really excited to see where they end up.”
An important component of the incubator is building partnerships, Boody said. Fellows receive mentorship from the creative professional in Kansas City, and have the opportunity to pilot ideas at schools or programs once they’ve been refined in the incubator.
Fellows will pitch their solutions at a culminating event, Launch Day, July 17.
Learn more about the Lean Lab with this video from our media partner, Kansas City Public Television:
Featured Business
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
This Dirt Beast works the soil for $2 an hour; why harvesting joy from his urban farm fills the bag
Rows of peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and other vegetables now grow where more than a dozen Kansas City lots once sat vacant. The essence of Dirt Beast Farm is seeded in this soil, creating the ecosystem through which Jameson Hubbard has spent nearly a decade turning open land into food, flowers, and a space for neighbors…
CoBuild founder razes his social venture; now he’s banking its mission’s success on a new blueprint
Closing his startup CoBuild was bittersweet for Tate Williams, but the mission that drove the company isn’t going away. Instead, he’s carrying it forward in a new role at the Central Bank of Kansas City. Williams officially shut down CoBuild this January. The construction startup, launched in 2018, had built a reputation for opening doors…
ATHENA honorees: Lifting up the next generation elevates us all; give them a reason to dream
When women lead, communities rise, Dana Foote said, lifting up two ATHENA award winners whose work in Kansas City has created outcomes more meaningful than mere professional success: “the ripple effect of leadership.” “And I see that in the room tonight,” continued Foote, national managing partner of audit operations for KPMG, sponsor of the Greater…
Photos: Folklore transformed this rooftop for one-night; its $100K impact on small biz lasts even longer
A packed rooftop event that started five years ago as a small gathering among friends has grown into a sold-out celebration that not only highlights music, food, and tradition, but also invests back into local nonprofits and entrepreneurs, said Luis Padilla, founder of Folklore and its popular small business grant program. “That balance of culture…