Walker Lutringer
AccelerateDFW Foundation has unveiled a teaser campaign plugging new branding and new programs over the coming five weeks for its offerings, including the IDEA Works FW incubator.
Each Monday, the foundation will post a new feature on its website.
“That content will include the new programs we have coming on board,” Walker Lutringer, director of the foundation, told Dallas Innovates. Among the features is a new logo for the foundation.
“We are in the process of reimagining what that curriculum and program will look like.”
Marco Johnson
Lutringer, and director of operations Marco Johnson, are hard at work re-establishing the foundation’s and IDEA Works’ place in the North Texas community of incubators and accelerators.
He said that IDEA Works operated under the nonprofit foundation for four years, but that “the foundation got lost behind IDEA Works.”
Lutringer said he and Johnson were brought in to offer ideas on how to turn that situation around.
“We were asked to provide some strategy work in November,” Lutringer said. “We came up with ideas that focus on gaps on the ecosystem.”
Lutringer said he and Johnson are playing it by ear in meeting the needs of the community. On Monday, the foundation released a mission statement.
“We connect dedicated entrepreneurs in the DFW area to the resources they need to develop, launch, and grow their business. We build relationships that generate tangible outcomes,” reads the mission statement on the foundation’s website.
IDEA WORKS REIMAGINING CURRICULUM, PROGRAM
Marco Johnson
Johnson said that IDEA Works’ planning is still in the white board process, but making progress.
“We are in the process of reimagining what that curriculum and program will look like,” Johnson said.
Lutringer said the foundation will have its own programs outside of IDEA Works, such as a startup crawl and other initiatives.
“We run a bunch of stuff,” he said.
“We will reach out to everyone in Dallas to ensure we’re working with the people in Dallas.”
Walker Lutringer
Johnson and Lutringer said they plan to work with and be a part of the entire North Texas startup community.
“We will reach out to everyone in Dallas to ensure we’re working with the people in Dallas,” Lutringer said. “It’s about the whole metroplex.”
The foundation is already involved in some programs, including a workshop on Thursday, April 12, in Fort Worth.
The event is a workshop by Jonathan Silk, which will focus on design thinking — also known as human-centered design — that will help enable organizations to achieve collaborative, interdisciplinary problem solving.
The workshop will be from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at WeWork Clearfork, 5049 Edwards Ranch Road in Fort Worth. You can register here.
Get on the list.
Dallas Innovates, every day.
Sign up here to get what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth.
R E A D N E X T
-
UTD students, faculty, and alumni pitched their big ideas for a chance to win cash to push their ventures forward. New this year: Capital Factory presented the first-ever biotech+ challenge award. The event featured a closing conversation on the entrepreneurial ecosystem with long-time business partners Ross Perot Jr. and Anurag Jain.
-
The DEC@Redbird, an entrepreneurial hub for Southern Dallas, wants to help local Black founders launch the next big idea in business. So it's offering BIG iDEA DALLAS, an intensive seven-week program to help propel them from an idea to "a successful, market-validated business concept."
-
From plucking a string for the first time to performing around the world, Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Young Strings and Young Musicians programs are creating opportunities for the next generation.
-
The City of Irving has won silver certification from Bloomberg Philanthropies' What Works Cities—the national standard of well-managed cities recognizing the most effective use of data to inform policy and funding decisions. The honor comes in a year that's tested the mettle of municipalities nationwide. Since 2018, 40 cities have achieved the certification. This year 16 new cities were recognized, including gold-winning Austin and silver-winning San Antonio. “During the pandemic, using data to inform decision-making was more important than ever for cities," said Michael Bloomberg in a statement. “By putting data at the center of their COVID-19 response efforts, these cities saved lives and…
-
The Dallas Education Foundation is being recognized for driving the creation of an “educational metaverse” for DISD. Developed by Dallas-based STEMuli Technology, the metaverse is currently being piloted at Dallas Hybrid Prep, the district’s first permanently hybrid school. The STOP Awards, funded by Philadelphia benefactor Janine Yass, will provide a total of $3.5 million in prizes for exceptional educational responses during the COVID pandemic.
