About the Strategic Innovation LabWhat will our children see in the future? What does their future hold? The answer is simple: their future will be determined by what we citizens do or by what we don't do. And, right now, we’re just not doing. It's time for America to live up to its best and finest traditions; to move past the partisan divisions that are holding us back and reinvent ourselves by embracing a new national design that will not just allow us to survive in the 21st century, but to thrive in it. We've done it before. We can do it again.That's what the Strategic Innovation Lab is all about: developing, testing and implementing a new grand strategy for the United States that can power a new era of prosperity, security and sustainability for the United States. Powered by Case Western Reserve University's Appreciative Inquiry methodology and leveraging advances in social media, the Strategic Innovation Lab will work with business leaders as well as civil society leaders at the national, regional, and local levels to develop a new economic engine for the 21st century. And in so doing, the United States can set a path of prosperity and security for the entire world that will last for generations to come.Strategic Innovation LabSIL_f89fefd6-5b0e-11e5-97a1-3463206d5c14Mike MullenBorn in the Pentagon -- In 2009, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen asked Marine Corps Colonel Mark "Puck" Mykleby and Navy Captain Wayne Porter to look at the question of U.S. grand strategy in the 21st Century. Their response, a memo entitled, A National Strategic Narrative, called for a national strategy of sustainability. After retiring from the Marine Corps in 2011, Mykleby teamed up with Patrick Doherty, then-Deputy Director of the National Security Studies Program, at the New America Foundation to write the strategy the Narrative called for. Over the succeeding months, Doherty and Mykleby prepared A New U.S. Grand Strategy and delivered it to the White House after the 2012 elections. Subsequently published by ForeignPolicy.com, Doherty and Mykleby briefed the strategy across the interagency, including the Joint Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of Policy Planning, National Intelligence Council and USAID/Policy as well as several major national corporations and foundations.Mark “Puck” MyklebyCo-Director -- Mark Mykleby is the founding co-director of the Strategic Innovation Lab at Case Western Reserve University. Mykleby was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps following his graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1987. He was designated a naval aviator in April 1990 and as a qualified F/A-18 pilot in December 1990. From January 1991 to May 2006, he served in five fleet fighter squadrons, executing numerous land-based and ship-borne deployments to the European, Pacific and Southwest Asian theaters in support of Operations Provide Promise, Deny Flight, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. In June 2007, Mykleby was assigned to the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) where he developed strategy for Special Operations Forces. From July 2009 until April 2011, he served as a special strategic assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In that capacity, he co-authored with Navy Captain Wayne Porter "A National Strategic Narrative," a concept and vision for a 21st century grand strategy for the nation. Mykleby retired from the Marine Corps in July 2011. From July 2011 until September 2014, he served as a Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, working alongside Patrick Doherty to develop the framework for a new U.S. grand strategy.Wayne PorterPatrick DohertyCo-Director -- Patrick Doherty is the founding co-director of the Strategic Innovation Lab at Case Western Reserve University. Previously he was at the New America Foundation, where he teamed up with retired Marine Col. Mark "Puck" Mykleby to launch the Grand Strategy Project. Doherty is the author of "A New U.S. Grand Strategy," a white paper briefed to the White House and the Pentagon that outlines a plan to ensure American prosperity and security by leading the global transition to sustainability. In support of that goal, Doherty is co-authoring a book on the strategy to be published by Palgrave-Macmillan in early 2016. He has been quoted or published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN.com, and ForeignPolicy.com. He has appeared on CNN, ABC, BBC, NPR, Bloomberg, and the Nightly Business Report, among others. Previously, Doherty was director of communications at the Center for National Policy and a senior editor at TomPaine.com. Before returning to Washington, he spent 12 years in the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans and the Caucuses working at the intersection of conflict and development.Case Western Reserve UniversityLaunched in the Heartland -- Seen as the first fully integrated grand strategic effort since the end of the Cold War, the reception in Washington was positive. However, it was clear that such an effort is beyond the capacity of Washington, DC to take on. The adoption of a new grand strategy would require an immense bipartisan effort to pull together a package that includes the content, the coalition and the implementation plan to see the job through. With today’s divisive political environment, the catalyst for change would have to come from somewhere else. The idea for the Strategic Innovation Lab was born.In July 2014, Case Western Reserve University chairman Chuck Fowler and Fairmount Santrol - David L. Cooperrider Professor in Appreciative Inquiry David Cooperrider invited Doherty and Mykleby to bring the Lab into America's pragmatic industrial heartland. Here, they are building a team to catalyze the adoption of a new U.S. grand strategy and working to develop the support base for a business-led strategic transition to a new national design of prosperity, security, and sustainability.Chuck FowlerDavid CooperriderCo-Director -- David is the Fairmount Santrol | David L. Cooperrider Professor of Appreciative Inquiry at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University where he is faculty director of the Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit. David is best known for his pioneering theory on Appreciative Inquiry and has served as advisor to senior executives in business and societal leadership roles, including projects with five Presidents such as William Jefferson Clinton, and Nobel Laureates such a His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kofi Annan and President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica. David has published over 20 books and authored over 50 articles and served as editor of both the Journal of Corporate Citizenship with Ron Fry and the current research series for Advances for Appreciative Inquiry, with Michel Avital. In 2010 David was awarded the Peter F. Drucker Distinguished Fellow by the Drucker School of Management—a designation recognizing his contribution to management thought. His books include Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in Change (with Diana Whitney); The Organization Dimensions of Global Change (with Jane Dutton); Organizational Courage and Executive Wisdom (with Suresh Srivastva) and the 4-volume research series Advances in Appreciative Inquiry. David has served as an advisor to leaders at companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Apple, National Grid, Wal-Mart, Verizon, the United Nations and the US Navy. Weatherhead School of ManagementHosted by the Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit at the Weatherhead School of Management, the Strategic Innovation Lab began work in September 2014.Fowler Center for BusinessBusiness-LedIf humanity is going to navigate the many treacherous challenges of the 21st Century, we will only succeed if our economy is doing the heavy lifting. We think the best way to get business to lead is to place orders for the new world we want to create and have business figure out how to make it happen. Instead of changing culture, aligning policies or navigating legislation, we really just need to just start building it. As the economy starts to really dig into the extraordinary opportunities presented by the transition to sustainability, domestic policy, foreign policy and our governing institutions will fall into line. This approach is at the heart of our two core projects, the Economic Strategy Task Force and the Lake Erie Crescent.Economic Strategy Task ForceThe Task Force will involve CEO-level participation from 100 companies in 10 major sectors and approximately 30 strategic partners to provide critical subject matter expertise. Guided by a Steering Committee, the ESTF will convene in two CEO-level summits supported by sector-specific, delegate-led working groups. Active CEO participation will be kept to two one-day sessions, one per summit. Each company is invited to bring up to three participants (CEO + 2 delegates).Lake Erie Crescent (LEC)The Lake Erie Crescent (LEC) initiative is a regional effort to catalyze and support long-term sustainable growth throughout the western basin of Lake Erie from Detroit, MI, to Youngstown, OH.Jib EllisonSenior Advisor -- Jib Ellison is the founder and CEO of Blu Skye and is a senior advisor to the Strategic Innovation Lab at Case Western Reserve University. Ellison founded Blu Skye in 2003 around the idea that the greatest untapped source of competitive business advantage in the 21st century would be found through the deep adoption of sustainability principles into core business strategy. Blu Skye specializes in complex, multi-stakeholder action projects which has included the creation of sustainability functions for Fortune 50 companies, corporate/NGO collaborations, supply chain reengineering and whole industry actions to become sustainable.Today he leads a small team of strategy consultants who work with Fortune 500 companies to transform markets -- and to create new ones. His clients include sector leaders in the retail, technology, agribusiness, CPG, energy, oil and gas, hospitality and waste industries.Ellison's work was featured in the book, Force of Nature: The Unlikely Story of Walmart’s Green Revolution. He serves on the Advisory Board of Conservacion Patagonica, a Chilean NGO working to establish a network of national parks in Patagonia, and the Corporate Eco Forum, an invitation-only membership organization for corporate leaders. Prior to his work in consulting, Ellison founded Project RAFT (Russians and Americans For Teamwork) that organized citizen exchange programs between the US and Soviet Union. A class V river runner, Ellison has organized and run first descents expeditions on 4 continents.Michael KleemanSenior Advisor -- Michael Kleeman is a strategist whose particular skill is in large scale systems thinking often including the bridging of technology and business related issues and assisting firms in radical transformation. For over 30 years he has been involved in the communications, clean-tech and sustainability fields in engineering, planning, management and advisory roles as well as being a teacher and researcher. He has also worked with a number of start-up firms and been an executive manager in both consulting and industry. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the University of California. While his primary industry focus has been in communications and computing he has also worked on energy and sustainability issues, and served as an advisor to the Natural Capital Project on Ecosystem Services at Stanford University and on the US Board of the International Business Leaders Forum. Formerly a Vice President at The Boston Consulting Group, Director at Arthur D. Little, and founding executive at Sprint, Mr. Kleeman has been involved with numerous firms in North America, Europe and Africa as advisor and executive. Most recently he co-founded of FibreCo, a nationwide carrier in South Africa and serves on the Board of Directors of SEACOM, whose subsidiary, Pamoja, is developing a Pan-African Cloud service. He was also the founding CTO of Global Telesystems Group and headed strategy for WilTel. As a volunteer he serves as the National Chair in the office of the President/Humanitarian Services for the American Red Cross and on the Board of the Marine Mammal Center in the San Francisco area. He also serves on the Boards of the Institute for the Future (IFTF) and SEACOM, and is advising the South African Government on their 2020 policy.Rick MillerSenior Advisor -- Rick Miller is a senior advisor to the Strategic Innovation Lab at Case Western Reserve University. Miller is also a senior business executive with over 30 years of experience including President and CEO roles in Fortune 10, Fortune 30, nonprofit, and startup companies including AT&T, Opus 360, and Lucent Technologies, where he was recruited to turnaround poor performance. In each case, his team tripled growth rates, establishing his reputation as a go-to Chief. For the past 7 years as CEO at BEING CHIEF LLC, Miller has been in demand as a confidential advisor to Chiefs in many industries focusing on sustainable growth. Miller is extensively connected within the global business and leadership communities and is also in demand as a speaker. His unconventional approach to business has been highlighted in Harvard Business Review, Selling Power, USA Today, Small Business Opportunities, Thomson Reuters, Yahoo, and MSN Business. Miller’s next book titled Being Chief is due in 2015. Miller has earned a BS degree from Bentley University and a MBA from Columbia University. For more information, visit http://beingchief.com/rick-miller/.Lawrence WilkersonSenior Advisor -- Lawrence Wilkerson is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Government and Public Policy at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. His last positions in government were chief of staff to Colin Powell at the U.S. Department of State (2002-2005) and Associate Director and member of that department’s Policy Planning staff under Ambassador Richard Haass (2001-2002). Wilkerson served 31 years in the Army as both enlisted man and officer from 1966 to 1997. His final assignments were as Special Assistant to then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell (1989-1993) and, later, as Deputy Director and Director of the U.S. Marine Corps War College (1993-1997). For more information, visit https://www.wm.edu/as/government/faculty/directory/wilkerson_l.php.Nicole BrownellDirector of Advancement and Partnerships -- Nicole Brownell is the Director of Advancement and Partnerships for the Strategic Innovation Lab at Case Western Reserve University. Nicole was a key leader of the development team responsible for raising $125 million to complete a successful $350 million capital campaign at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Prior to that, she worked for 14 years as an Economic Development Specialist for the State of Illinois at the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. She worked with key business leaders, elected officials and Federal, state and local entities to help retain and expand companies, in conjunction with attraction efforts, to promote economic competitiveness throughout Illinois. During her time with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, she helped spearhead a brownfield redevelopment initiative and also worked in the Recycling Market Development Division to assist companies who used recycled content in their manufacturing process. She holds a BA from the University of Iowa and studied Italian language and literature in Rome, Italy through Loyola University of Chicago.Molly McGuiganEconomic Strategy Task Force Project Manager -- Molly McGuigan brings more than 15 years of experience in designing and facilitating organization development with corporations, small businesses, non-profits, and school districts. Molly has extensive experience designing and facilitating multi-stakeholder system design summits using a process called Appreciative Inquiry. She has collaborated on client projects for years with the pioneers of this approach, including Dr. David Cooperrider. Together they have partnered on client engagements with organizations such as, Clarke, Sherwin-Williams, Fairmount Minerals, Alcoa, AkzoNobel, Agnovos, Roadway Express, and Scottish Enterprise. Molly is a published author on Appreciative Inquiry including a chapter in Dr. Cooperrider’s 2014 edition of Advances in Appreciative Inquiry. In addition to her work with Appreciative Inquiry, Molly’s work encompasses consulting and facilitation in strategic planning, collaborative innovation, strategic visioning, and team development. She also serves as an Executive Coach with a focus on helping leaders champion and sustain organizational change. Molly holds a MBA from The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and an undergraduate degree in English from John Carroll University.Morgan BulgerResearch Associate -- Morgan is a PhD Student of Organizational Behavior at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management, studying sustainability and residential social inclusion. Before joining the Strategic Innovation Lab team, Morgan worked as a research associate for the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition and as a contributing writer for Seedstock, a sustainable agriculture news source. Morgan received a BS in Business Management with concentrations in Marketing and Sustainability from Case Western Reserve University.Dylan BeachResearch Associate -- Dylan is an MBA student at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management, focusing on strategy and sustainability. He is excited about the opportunities that the business community has to shape a new sustainable world. Before joining the Strategic Innovation Lab team Dylan spent time at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, and volunteering on organic farms across southeast Asia. Dylan received a bachelor's of science in biology from Denison University and has a master’s in Environment and Sustainability from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. There he used a scenario planning process to help Yukon Territory wildlife managers develop goals for managing wildlife during rapid social and ecological change._f89ff31e-5b0e-11e5-97a1-3463206d5c14To develop, test and implement a new grand strategy for the United States that can power a new era of prosperity, security and sustainability._f89ff346-5b0e-11e5-97a1-3463206d5c14Business PlanDevelop and implement a business-led strategy for sustainable growth in the 21st Century._f89ff347-5b0e-11e5-97a1-3463206d5c141The Economic Strategy Task Force is a platform to develop and implement a business-led strategy for sustainable growth in the 21st Century.Amid mounting risk from Asia's rise, urban unrest, and climate change -- and with the 2016 election not likely to fix Washington -- it is time for American business to find new ways to lead. Adapting frameworks originating in the Pentagon that call for accessing large pools of pent-up demand, an unparalleled opportunity is facing business. The question is how to seize it. In contrast to Beltway-centric advocacy, we propose to convene business leaders to design an economic strategy that can be executed by business independent of new legislation or rules; pulling Washington instead of pushing. We call this strategy, A Business Plan for America._f89ff348-5b0e-11e5-97a1-3463206d5c14Lake Erie Crescent InitiativeCatalyze and support long-term sustainable growth throughout the western basin of Lake Erie from Detroit, MI, to Youngstown, OH._f89ff3f0-5b0e-11e5-97a1-3463206d5c142DetroitYoungstownClevelandGetting Started: A Focus on Cleveland -- Cleveland has tremendous assets: one of the largest freshwater resources in the world; affordable, available urban land; underutilized industrial capacity; world renowned academic institutions; and a competitive workforce infused with a Midwestern pragmatism and an ability to get things done. As such, Cleveland has enormous economic potential and will serve as the launchpad for the LEC concept that is intended to be both replicated and scaled across the entire region.Advanced Materials Development Group (AMDG)With the realities of climate change, we face a seemingly intractable stranded asset problem with regard to hydrocarbon resources: we can't afford to burn hydrocarbons, but we can't afford to wipe them off the balance sheets either. The opportunity is just as clear: we can preserve the very real economic value of hydrocarbons if only we move them up the value chain as materials and products rather than up the smokestack as nonrenewable energy. To capture this opportunity, the AMDG is being established as a partnership of the engineering colleges of Case Western Reserve University, the Ohio State University, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Akron working alongside regional industrial partners such as Fairmount-Santrol, Lubrizol, PolyOne, and Ford. The purpose of the AMDG is to creatively integrate and leverage Ohio's academic, industrial, technical, intellectual, and human capital resources to create economically viable businesses to transform the nation’s hydrocarbon stranded assets into an economic opportunity through the development and commercialization of sustainable advanced material products, technologies, and services to meet the market demand of a growing global middle class.Case Western Reserve UniversityOhio State UniversityUniversity of CincinnatiUniversity of AkronFairmount-SantrolLubrizolPolyOneFordAffordable Passive Housing InitiativeMuch of the demand for advanced materials will come from the housing market. Across the entire region, there is a distinct need to develop affordable, energy-efficient, and healthy homes located in mixed-use, mixed-income, transit-oriented neighborhoods. The Cleveland Museum of Natural History's PNC SmartHome Cleveland project proved that it is possible to build a high-quality, good-looking house that meets both the housing need and the Passive House energy standard -- the most rigorous residential energy performance standard in the world. However, the current high per unit cost of these homes (approximately 30% higher than a conventional home) is an affordability issue, mostly due to the costs of using imported advanced materials to meet efficiency standards. By integrating the AMDG with the Affordable Passive Housing Initiative, costs can be reduced by both increasing the volume of available passive homes on the market and by using locally-produced advanced materials, technologies, and services.Clean Energy Finance HubInfusing these initiatives with capital will be key. Recognizing this, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish announced on April 20, 2015 the creation of the Cuyahoga County Clean Energy Financing Hub -- a new program the Strategic Innovation Lab helped to develop. The "Hub's" purpose is to assist businesses, institutions, local governments, and eventually homeowners in cutting energy costs as well as purchasing new clean energy retrofits and renewable power supplies. By leveraging $225,000 of County resources, the County’s Department of Sustainability will make up to $120 million available of private sector money for low cost financing to help consumers to save money by purchasing more efficient homes and home systems to include HVAC equipment, motors, and renewable energy systems. As the "Hub" matures, its processes, frameworks, and finance ecosystem can expand to include a wide array of products and services such as energy producing anaerobic digesters that leverage local/urban agriculture byproducts, microgrid and smartgrid systems, and advanced energy storage technologies.Cuyahoga CountyLeveraging Regional Institutional Purchasing Power -- By redirecting the purchasing and investment power of key regional institutions (community foundations and major universities, as well as professional sports teams, banks, and hospitals) back into the region, the capital basis for a sustainable regional economy can begin right now. The LEC seeks to redirect an initial $1 billion of the collective purchasing and investment power of these institutions to develop a regional purchasing and investment framework that leverages increasing demand for smart growth, locally grown regenerative agriculture, and renewable/carbon neutral energy systems. As an example, CWRU's 2012 energy audit has identified up to $21 million in energy efficiency upgrades it would like to implement as part of its carbon reduction plan. All or part of these upgrades are ideally suited to leverage Cuyahoga County's Clean Energy Finance Hub and, in the process, help provide jobs, investment opportunities, and demand for advanced materials and technologies.From the Rust Belt to the Maker Belt -- Changing the direction of this nation doesn't require American businesses, local officials (mayors, county councils, etc), civil sector foundations, and academic institutions to wait on Washington. We have the capacity and opportunity to act now, locally and regionally, to tap into the economic opportunities that will continue to emerge over the coming decades. Accordingly, the Strategic Innovation Lab is creating a series of "bottom up" regional initiatives across the U.S., each designed to focus regional stakeholders toward generating their own prosperity and security by pursuing, capturing, and tapping into the three largest pools of 21st Century market demand available today:Smart Growth[Support a] walkable, service-rich, transit-oriented lifestyle_f89ff51c-5b0e-11e5-97a1-3463206d5c142.1Sixty percent of Americans now want a walkable, service-rich, transit oriented lifestyle, which is only available on one percent of metropolitan land.Regenerative AgricultureIncrease the global food supply and make production regenerative._f89ff68e-5b0e-11e5-97a1-3463206d5c142.2Global food supply will have to increase 60 percent by 2050 and 100 percent of production needs to be regenerative in nature; rebuilding soils, cleaning waterways, and fixing nitrogen and phosphorus cycles.Resource ProductivityRevolutionize resource productivity._f89ff7e2-5b0e-11e5-97a1-3463206d5c142.3To meet the demand of three billion rising middle class consumers, the race is on for a revolution in resource productivity, driving new energy, materials, products, services, and integrated systems.2015-09-14https://weatherhead.case.edu/centers/strategic-innovation/about/OwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net