With several professionals across Wisconsin working from home to avoid contracting the COVID-19 virus, The Commons, a skills accelerator for college students and corporations in Wisconsin, has launched a virtual innovation series for those longing for opportunities to still network and brainstorm with other thinkers.
The first session for Isolation Innovation, which was scheduled for Friday, March 27, reached its capacity for signups within 48 hours after opening. The next session is planned for April 10.
Isolation Innovation works in the same style as The Commons’ existing programming. Teams will virtually create startup ideas from solutions for challenges presented by The Commons.
Through its skills accelerator, groups of students respond to real-life challenges faced by Wisconsin companies by creating ideas for new consumer products, smartphone apps or cost-saving models. Students are placed in either spring or fall multi-week cohorts, which are conducted inside the Ward 4 co-working space in the Pritzlaff Building just south of downtown Milwaukee, where The Commons has office space.
Since its creation, thousands of students from 24 colleges and universities in Wisconsin have been impacted by programming produced by The Commons, which is an initiative of the Greater Milwaukee Committee. More than 100 ideas have since been created by students, some of which have been adopted by companies.
About two years ago, The Commons began operating accelerators and pop-up workshops for groups of employees within companies, from new hires to executive teams. The Commons is now expanding those tactics into Wisconsin high schools. In the past few months, they’ve become a convener of a talent consortium comprising about 40 nonprofit groups, all focused on skills development for high school students.
