ChangeLabs: Design Thinking for the Navajo Nation
/Took journey to Gallup, New Mexico to work with native artists and innovators from Samsung, The Tofu Project and Catapult Design.
A journey to Gallup, New Mexico to work with native artists and innovators as part of ChangeLabs. DESCRIPTION: With an unemployment rate reportedly as high as 60%, the Navajo Nation was deemed the last frontier for entrepreneurship by The Economist in 2008.
With an unemployment rate reportedly as high as 60%, the Navajo Nation was deemed the last frontier for entrepreneurship by The Economist in 2008.
Despite a skilled and ready workforce, a wealth of business opportunities, many new businesses fail to register or sustain.
On March 27, 2014, Catapult Design, in collaboration with UNM-Gallup and Grand Canyon Trust, hosted "Change Labs: growing strong communities through creative entrepreneurship" at Dine' College in Shiprock, NM. Change Labs was a day full of workshops and dialogue on how we can promote innovation and new ways of thinking about old problems that plague tribal lands. Workshop topics ranged from leveraging mobile tech to sustainable farming practices to new models for renewable energy distribution to rural households. Workshop leaders included: Byron Shorty (Navajo Word of the Day), Anisha Jain (Facebook), David Kaisel (Catapult Design), Stacey Jensen (North Leupp Family Farm), Victor Pascual (DGTL.NVJO), Tom Wiltzius (Google), Noel Wilson (Catapult Design), Micah Lande (ASU), Alice Loy (Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship), Adrian Manygoats (Eagle Energy), Ann Marie Chischilly (NAU ITEP), Al Henderson (UNM-Gallup), Natasha Johnson (Grand Canyon Trust), Nicholas Taylor (Dine' Naataani Community Development), Jessica Stago (Navajo CDFI), Colleen Mountain (ATVO), Eddie Cal (Terraform), Penny Emerson (Native Resource Development Co.), Raymond Nopah (Navajo Nation Government), Shayne Watson (Shayne Watson Designs), Vice President Rex Lee Jim Change Labs is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts.
At Change Labs, organized by our friends at Catapult Labs, participants explored methods to overcome these barriers, new ways entrepreneurs are tackling these challenges in similar environments around the globe, and connect promising entrepreneurs with the mentors and resources they need to succeed.
