Impact Studio Course & Design Lab

Who We Are

We are a studio for impact creators and innovators. Launched from within the Business+Impact Initiative in 2019, our mission is to bring impactful ideas to life using business and design tools along with research expertise from our university community. Along the way, we hope to create a generation of architects able to work with communities to address pressing problems.

Our team’s unique blend of expertise powers this work, with experience in design innovation, behavioral science, social entrepreneurship, social work, tech, and higher education, and digital design and technical skills.

+Impact Design Lab

In the studio’s co-curricular +Impact Design Lab we develop, nurture, and launch early-stage prototypes. Business+Impact and the +Impact Studio are honored to partner with Applebaum Family Philanthropy in creating powerful student experiences through the Impact Design Lab. The Lab includes an interdisciplinary Applebaum Impact Design Fellowship, a Founders Program for student social innovators, and an Applebaum Impact Design Internship for students pursuing studio-related work during the summer. Applebaum Innovator-in-Residence Moses Lee, along with our studio faculty and staff, provide coaching for our Fellows, Founders, and Interns. Our Founders Program is where impact-driven student innovators come together to nurture and launch their big ideas to change the world.

The +Impact Studio Course

BA670 +Impact Studio: Translating Research into Practice received an Aspen Business & Society “Ideas Worth Teaching Award” for its “resilient, inclusive, sustainable version of capitalism.” The award was given in recognition of its expansive purpose, innovative thinking, reconsideration of the relationship between business and society, and integrated, multi-disciplinary approach.

Students develop a toolkit for social innovation that is desired by top employers across industries. In the interdisciplinary +Impact Studio course, students gain a mindset, a process, and a set of tools and experiences for developing impacttful solutions to societal challenges. The course combines management acumen, design thinking, and interdisciplinary expertise and insights. Interdisciplinary teams made up of graduate students from schools across campus translate research into impactful real-world applications.

Innovation for Impact During a Crisis

The pandemic imposed new demands constraints and created new norms in our community. So we asked ourselves – how can we use the knowledge and resources of the University of Michigan and the social sector to create a more rewarding and democratic society? And how might we design solutions with resilience and equity in mind?

In academic year 2020-21, students engaged local businesses and nonprofits to design solutions for tackling challenges and increasing resiliency through the pandemic. The studio prioritized organizations facing inequities in the wake of the pandemic including women and minority-owned businesses, and nonprofit organizations developing solutions for the unique challenges of Covid-19. This generated work for students from Michigan Ross and the Ford School of Public Policy who took part in the summer program +Impact Studio for Local Business, launched in summer 2020. 5 5