Project Timeline
Anticipated Project Timeline
Below is an anticipated timeline as to how InnovateNC can rollout in your community.
| Phase of Work | Participating Communities | InnovateNC |
|---|---|---|
| Hiring Inclusive Innovation Fellow (first month) | Recruit, approve, provide office, and support | Recruit, hire, train, place, and support |
| Forming a cross-sector Innovation Council (first month) | Identify leaders, commit to 18+ months, serve on committees, and contribute to final deliverables | Formation & governance structure, coordination/ facilitation support, national network |
| Systems Mapping (months 2-3) | Support data collection, identify local data partners, feedback on Systems Mapping report | Leads process with national and local data partner; produces final report |
| Identify potential investments (months 4-5) | Provide planning venues; input on planning & implementation priorities | Leads design and delivery of process |
| Investment in Pilots (month 6) | Raise investment funds for pilots & serve on investment review committee; ongoing support for funded pilots | Provide supportive investment funds for pilots & contribute to investment committee; ongoing support for pilots |
| Scaling of High-Impact Enterprises (based on progress) | Identify local impact investment funds & venture philanthropy to scale high-impact enterprises | Identify national impact investment funds & venture philanthropy to scale high-impact enterprises |
| Policy & Advocacy (ongoing through month 12) | Align municipal policy; contribute to attracting state-wide support | Technical assistance to align local policy; advocate for state-wide support; connection to national best practice |
| Story-telling (ongoing through month 12) | Local media support; attend national convening to help showcase work | Share stories across InnovateNC’s media channels and platforms; showcases case studies at state-wide convenings |
For greatest impact, we recommend that participating communities have a population density of over 10,000 people, a concentration of local resources that can be leveraged (i.e. community college/ university, existing economic cluster(s), transportation infrastructure, etc.), and readiness to participate and invest in a collaborative strategic alignment process.