Futures

New Frontiers in Education Innovation

In 2021 the foundation launched Watson Futures, an education innovation program that takes bold risks on new ideas. Futures built the foundation’s pioneering human development innovation portfolio, a platform of human-centered technologies; the Civic Futures Lab with the City University of New York’s Macaulay Honors College, and launched World Studios, an international community of student-led innovation studios, partners and organizations. In 2026, World Studios received United Nations Economic and Social Council special consultative status.

Futures Case Study: Design for America (DFA)

In 2021, Watson onboarded Design for America (DFA) a program at Northwestern University, that pioneered the social innovation network model. DFA’s innovative student-led studios on college campuses had produced over 1200 initiatives that ranged from local community projects to new global companies, all connected by a collaborative innovation process.

Watson Futures worked with DFA's faculty founder, Dr. Liz Gerber, and its program team to review DFA's impact model and sustainability. Together we recognized DFA had enormous potential but was fixed in an early-stage of development -- nested within a university framework that challenged a larger vision from emerging.

Working with the Northwestern administration Watson transitioned DFA from the university to the foundation where we provided strategic, financial, operations, legal and technology guidance, developed a five-year plan with partners and students, and established DFA as an independent non-profit. Its studio model is integrated into World Studios.