2014 Innovation Grants Program Award Recipients
Illinois Homecare & Hospice Council
The Illinois Homecare & Hospice Council (IHHC) is currently working with the award-winning online learning center at the University of Illinois-Springfield, the Illinois Hospital Association, and Southern Illinois University School of Medicine to offer a high quality Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on “Best Practices to Reduce Hospital Readmissions through Care Coordination.” While the program modules will target members of IHHC and the Illinois Hospital Association who work in hospital, home care and hospice settings, as well as nursing home colleagues, the free MOOC will be widely available—to anyone anywhere.
By showcasing groundbreaking work done by physicians at several Illinois medical schools working with local hospitals and by sharing best practices developed by members of our professional association, the project developers will encourage the kind of education and networking that has been largely missing between the medical “silos” that care for patients. The MOOC will also foster the kind of learning and networking needed to establish “cross continuum caretaking teams”—much needed in the New Health Age. It will not only bring added credibility to the partnering organizations, it will serve as a reminder that when college educated adults need further training, professional associations can present competent and creative solutions.
Marble Institute of America
With their IGP award, the Marble Institute of America (MIA) will develop, prototype, test and evaluate the interest and value of bringing multiple industry segments together to meet member needs, taking both MIA and the industry in a new direction. As part of their project, MIA will develop a website portal where members can obtain key industry statistics and benchmarks in one place, and they will create an industry blog to keep the members and partners updated and informed. MIA will also participate in multiple presentations at industry trade shows, chapter events, and online forums to share and discuss their data. Internally, a new steering committee and workshop training for staff, the steering committee, and stakeholders will help MIA shift to pursue these innovations.The project centers on establishing benchmarking data and presenting that data to the industry, but the big picture goal is to connect and engage the stone industry in a meaningful discussion for the common good. The stone industry is mostly comprised of small-to-medium-size family business without the means to assemble this information on their own, so MIA is proactively moving to assemble and provide the data and foster conversations that advance the industry.
Soroptimist International of the Americas
Soroptimist International of the Americas (SIA) plans to energize the Soroptimist brand and increase global awareness of one of its programs by expanding a new innovative online community called Live Your Dream (LYD). LYD is a recently-launched dedicated community of supporters who take both on- and offline action in support of Soroptimist programs that empower women and girls to achieve their dreams.
LiveYourDream.org was founded as a new entry point for people who wanted to support and participate in the mission without the barriers of club membership. LYD got off to a great start in its first year, but through IGP funding, SIA will seek to increase the number of LYD supporters engaged through social media, increase the number of advocacy opportunities available, increase awareness of the LYD community, and increase awareness of and engagement with SIA programs more broadly through new partnerships, better relationships with constituents, and the recruitment of new supporters.
Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity
Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) was awarded a hybrid grant to implement Better In/Better Out (BIBO), a multi-faceted initiative designed to generate new ideas, develop processes to support innovation within TKE, and enhance communication across all levels of the organization. TKE is comfortable with innovative thinking but is now concerned with new and better ways to channel ideas and conversations into actionable strategies – thus the title “Better In/Better Out.”As part of their project, TKE will pursue inputs from external organizations outside of the fraternity market, colleagues in other fraternal organizations, and undergraduate leaders within the TKE fraternity through site visits to innovative leaders and TKE-hosted events. TKE staff will be trained in intentional learning and in how to apply what they learn in new contexts. TKE will engage staff at all levels in different ways in the process of developing ideas, evaluating potential projects, and implementing new innovations. The end goal is an internal dialogue at TKE that will create positive momentum, increase morale, and spark meaningful change.