Local Innovation Works supports recovery and resilience in Southern Oregon by supporting and training emerging leaders in values-aligned social and commercial organizations. We also host conversations that align values and promote action for the benefit of our diverse, thriving community. We focus on conversations to clarify values, identify opportunities for collaborative solutions, and aligning on actions that can move us toward our shared goals.
Our Work
We started as a loose group of concerned citizens and is now a 501c3 focused on helping our communities and leaders thrive. We pursue three core projects:
- Digital Leaders Active in Disaster – supporting the formation of a team of local digital and community leaders to be sure every person is counted and tracked as they recover from any future disaster. A partnership with SOU’s Institute for Applied Sustainability. Learn more about DLAD
- Local Innovation Lab – Internships and leadership development in partnership with SOU to support fire relief efforts, nonprofits, and businesses who can serve local needs and create good local jobs. More
- Community Conversations – hosting conversations that align values and promote action for the benefit of our diverse, thriving community. We focus on conversations to clarify values, identify opportunities for collaborative solutions, and aligning on actions that can move us toward our shared goals. More
We start locally because that’s a quick route to what’s true and relevant, but we are always looking to develop models and methods we can share with others.
Board Members
Stephen Bárczay Sloan is founder of the Humane Leadership Institute and author of Humane Leadership: Tools to Engage, Empower, and Improve Performance.
Ellen Holty is our Disaster Response Community Liaison and now leads efforts to build the support navigators program in cooperation with Rogue Community Health and many other community-based organizations.
Bret Anderson, is the Chair of the Economics department at Southern Oregon University and a founding member of the Institute for Applied Sustainability