Throughout the 2023-24 school year, I completed a year-long fellowship through Stanford University's design school. 

 

I, along with Yale Miller and Caroline Berger - two of my closest peers - applied to the program as a cohort in April of 2023. In July, we were announced as candidates and then after completing the 8-week training were officially launched in October. 

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After conducting landscape research and interviewing relevant stakeholders on campus, our team decided to spearhead the "NEXT New Deal", a strategic plan consisting of multiple projects aimed at leveling up the NEXT Innovation Scholars program.

 

To start this, we sat down with Aaron Bradley, Director of NIS, to define our mission statement as well as our values. Through this process, we were able to not only define who we are but also point to where we want to go. For the spring semester, our team tackled three big projects: a leadership development program, the NIS handbook, and a portfolio for external use. 

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In April, we had the opportunity to attend the global meet-up at the Univeristy of Twente in Enschede, Netherlands. There, we met with other fellows, attended workshops, and heard from industry leaders in the innovation field. 

 

One of my largest takeaways from this experience is innovation is not linear nor is change linear. There is no "right" way to solve a problem and there is a true art to embracing ambiguity. I'm excited to watch our project evolve as I continue my college career. 

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