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Getting into Chicago a little early? You can watch emerging social entrepreneurs pitch innovative project ideas designed to solve environmental challenges at Q: You’ve been doing this since 2012, and you’ve awarded more than $50,000 now to social innovation projects in Chicago. Can you give us one or two good examples of past winners that…

/ by Christian Clansky / There’s a wonderful quote about music that’s attributed to Billy Joel. It’s one of those quotes that appears on a suspicious number of tacky memes and sends you on a wild goose chase through a maze of “best sayings” websites if you try to seek out the original source. But…

Starting the Day with a Bang As the sun hid low behind the skyscrapers of Downtown LA and rush hour quietly hummed in the streets below, the serenity of the early morning Public Square was suddenly disrupted with a loud BOOM. A beat later, another BOOM echoed out, followed by a melodic stream of clacks…

This Upswell registrant Q&A features one of California’s own. Kristin Feltz of

/ By Pickett Slater Harrington / You may recall that Detroit holds a very special place A warm welcome The Lab was generously hosted by our partners at the What did we learn? Detroit’s changemakers are navigating a complex web of challenges to create and lead some amazing change efforts in the areas of housing,…

/ By Christian Clansky / It’s May the Fourth – the biggest Star Wars holiday of the year – and, for some inexplicable reason, we don’t get the day off work. So, I’m going to turn work into a celebration of Star Wars instead! I’ll say up front that I am a massive Star Wars…

/ By Katie Jones / When my friends and I head to LA for Upswell, we’ll be sure to check out happy hour at a little restaurant called SUR (short for Sexy Unique Restaurant). SUR is the set for the Bravo television show called Vanderpump Rules. I have been thinking a lot about this odyssey…

/ By Debra Rainey / Which city recently won the gold for use of data to help improve the lives of its residents – and also happens to be your destination city for Upswell LA? Yes, the City of Angels, Los Angeles, was the only city to receive a gold certification in January 2018 from…

/ By Robert Jones / Drew Ferguson spent approximately 100 hours pouring himself into a three-page narrative about the nonprofit sector and its value to society. Then he watched, unfazed, as 15 sector leaders in Los Angeles tore it apart. After all, this kind of creative destruction was always part of the plan, and finding…

Have you ever come across a product or service that made you say, “Wow! That really works for me?” The reason why we feel this excitement when we encounter a well-designed product or service is because it was probably made with the end user in mind. This design method is known as Human-Centered Design—or HCD—and…