Incremental
Continuous improvement of an existing product or service to create more value.
About the Society
Innovation can come from anywhere.
We champion the people, ideas and creative problem-solving that move Northwest Indiana forward.
Our founding beliefAnyone can be an innovator.
Who we are
Northwest Indiana’s champion for innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Society of Innovators contributes to economic and community development by celebrating ingenuity, connecting people and ideas, and helping develop the next generation of problem solvers.
We recognize innovation wherever it occurs: in businesses and nonprofits, classrooms and communities, established industries and emerging enterprises. We welcome innovators of every age, discipline, industry and background.
Because creativity is essential to innovation, we also celebrate Northwest Indiana’s creative economy and the many ways artists, makers, storytellers and cultural leaders add value to our region.
What guides us
Anyone can be an innovator, and innovation can come from anywhere.
Seven counties. One region.
Jasper
Lake
La Porte
Newton
Porter
Pulaski
Starke
2005Founded in Northwest Indiana
History and milestones
Twenty years of seeing what others overlooked.
The Northwest Indiana Society of Innovators was founded in 2005 from the vision of founding Executive Director John Davies, who wanted “to celebrate Northwest Indiana and discover great things about this place.”
The Society helped the region see that innovation was already happening here. From the beginning, it recognized ingenuity across for-profit and nonprofit organizations, public and private settings, large industries and small enterprises, and individuals and teams.
In 2018, Innovators Northwest Indiana incorporated as a nonprofit organization with IRS 501(c)(3) status, adopted bylaws and formed a board of directors. A new strategic plan followed in 2019, positioning the Society to strengthen Northwest Indiana’s culture of innovation and support regional economic development.
In 2022, the Society received a $500,000 READI grant to lead development of a youth entrepreneurship ecosystem across Northwest Indiana. That work grew from a simple question: If we want more innovators to recognize in the future, what role should we play in developing them?
Today, the Society carries its two-decade legacy forward as an independent nonprofit, recognizing the innovators shaping Northwest Indiana now while helping the next generation prepare to take flight.
What is innovation?
Creativity with purpose.
The Society defines innovation as thinking creatively and developing ideas that provide solutions, add value and are implemented as new or different products, processes, services and social initiatives.
Put simply: Innovation is a new solution delivering value to the community.Many paths to meaningful change
Four types of innovation
Innovation is not limited to a single breakthrough moment. It can improve what exists, apply an idea in a new way, create a new solution or transform an entire system.
Architectural
Adapting an existing solution for an entirely new market or use.
Breakthrough
Creating a new technology, product or approach for an existing market.
Transformative
Applying a new solution in a way that shifts an entire system.
Why innovation?
Our region’s future depends on what we create next.
In a changing global economy, creative thinking and problem-solving matter in every sector. Northwest Indiana needs innovation in education and government, business and industry, agriculture and the arts, and nonprofit and community organizations.
By bringing attention to the ingenuity already here, the Society builds regional pride and encourages more people to turn ideas into solutions. By supporting youth innovation and entrepreneurship, we help develop the next generation that will create growth, opportunity and community value.
Meet the innovators →01RecognizeCelebrate innovators and the value they create.
02ConnectBring together people, ideas and opportunity.
03DevelopEquip the next generation of problem solvers.
04AdvanceUse innovation to move Northwest Indiana forward.
A nonprofit built for Northwest Indiana
There is room in this Society for your ideas.
The Society of Innovators is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving the seven-county region of Northwest Indiana.