From Karl Gouverneur’s vantage point, the possibilities of what lie ahead within Northwestern Mutual’s new 17,000-square-foot innovation center are limitless.
“We want people to explore what is next,” Gouverneur said this week as the company’s much-anticipated Cream City Labs was unveiled to the public last week during a celebratory ribbon cutting ceremony and open house.
Gouverneur, Northwestern Mutual’s vice president of digital workplace, corporate solutions and head of innovation, was on hand at the event and spoke of the process that lead up to the labs’ Oct. 2 debut.
Cream City Labs, which is being housed in one of Northwestern Mutual’s corporate buildings in downtown Milwaukee, has been months in the making.
During the planning process, Gouverneur said leaders behind the initiative visited seven similar innovation centers in various locations, but incorporated some outside-the-box thinking into Cream City Labs’ setup.
“We chose a different path,” he told a crowd of dozens of business and civic leaders and other interested onlookers during the ceremony. “We have democratized innovation across Northwestern Mutual. We have given permission to explore.”
Jo Eisenhart, executive vice president and chief people officer with Northwestern Mutual, also gave brief comments during the ceremony.
“We’ve made a transition from ‘what if’ to ‘what is,’” Eisenhart said as she shared how this is a transformative moment in Northwestern Mutual’s 161-year history.
While there are small, private meeting areas, Cream City Labs, by design, largely has an open, spacious feel to it in an effort to foster collaboration.
In his remarks, Gouverneur made it clear this was done intentionally.
“Innovation is a team sport,” he said. “You need to be a good team player.”
Company officials envision a number of possibilities for the new carved-out Cream City labs space, which is being made available to employees and community partners.
Local startups and the Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute — a partnership with Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee — are current players in the space.
The labs also will include dedicated space for mentoring, design thinking and special events.
Down the line, the innovation space is expected to host hackathons, meetups, programs tailored around STEM and training workshops---all with a larger focus around advancing innovation and technology across Southeastern Wisconsin.
“This is a big moment for us,” Gouverneur said. “It’s a big moment for the community.”
Disclaimer: Northwestern Mutual is a founding partner of Wisconsin Inno.
