The United Way: Innovation Isn't About Being the Most Creative Person in the Room

The United Way is a nonprofit organization that works with over 1,200 local United Way offices throughout the country. It’s a coalition of community-based and community-led solutions that focus in three key areas: education, financial stability and health. United Way is committed to innovation in really concrete ways: they have a social innovation center, a social innovation accelerator, coaching and mentoring programs for leaders across the country, and United Way was added to the Fast Company’s list of most innovative companies for 2019. Edwin Goutier is the VP of Innovation for the United Way and he's responsible for inspiring and coordinating efforts across their global network. In this episode, Edwin teaches us about what lessons a Vice President of Innovation learns along the way. For example, innovation is not about just being the most creative person in the room. According to Edwin, the best innovators are those that also have an understanding of their business and how these ideas can be implemented to that business.