Your Community Has the Answers. We Help Bring Them to Life.

Let's co-create the future - one conversation, one pop-up lab, one solution at a time.

We believe that the solutions to your community's greatest challenges are already here - in the hearts, minds, and lived experiences of the people who call it home. Our job isn't to provide all the answers, but to unlock the wisdom that already exists and turn it into action.

man's hand is in his pocket
Building resilient familiesBuilding resilient families

Introducing, Solve Studio

A creative space for communities to solve what matters, together.

You don’t have to wait for permission, policy, or perfect conditions to start solving problems in your community. You just need a space built for action - and the support to make it real.

‍Solve Studio is a digital-first, locally-powered innovation space that transforms "someone should fix this" into "we're making this happen, together." It is a fresh alternative to tired community engagement.

It's a space for citizens, community leaders, and businesses to come together to spot emerging challenges, co-create solutions, and bring them to life. It’s part idea lab, part community gathering, and fully driven by the people already living the experience.

It puts you at the center of creating real change - the kind people can see, touch, and benefit from.

And right now, we're looking for bold community leaders and future-forward organizations to partner with us in bringing Solve Studio to life.
Partner With Us

The Gap We're Bridging

Let's be honest about what's happening in communities:

  • Citizens spot emerging problems first, but often have nowhere productive to take their insights
  • Leaders want meaningful input, but lack effective systems to engage their communities
  • Businesses want to invest locally, but struggle to identify which initiatives truly matter
That's where Solve Studio comes in.
We're creating the essential connection between seeing problems and solving them - powered by the people who understand these challenges firsthand.
stop keeping your ideas in your head and put them down on paperstop keeping your ideas in your head and put them down on paper
Empowering communities to co-create the future
community innovation in action

What Is Solve Studio?

At its heart, Solve Studio is a digital community innovation platform with real-world impact created to help communities move from frustration to forward movement.

More specifically, it's:
Your community's dedicated problem-solving environment
A structured space for surfacing challenges, forming teams, and mobilizing volunteers
A platform where leaders and citizens collaborate transparently
The connection point between community priorities and business resources
woman and man collaborating on a project together at workwoman and man collaborating on a project together at work

Every community receives the complete digital experience, with the option to add in-person elements that bring the work into physical spaces.

book a call to learn more
Solve Studio guides ideas through a full problem-solving cycle

How It Works: From Idea to Action

1. Surface Real Challenges

Community members share the issues they're experiencing or observing. From infrastructure needs to social concerns, all perspectives find a home here.

2. Community Sets Priorities

Users upvote the challenges that matter most and resources flow accordingly. Your community sets the priorities, not outside agendas.

3. Teams Form & The Work Begins

Citizens and leaders use our Challenge Kits - step-by-step frameworks that make innovation accessible to everyone, regardless of background.

4. Connect With Resources

Local businesses and organizations contribute meaningful support - offering funding, space, expertise, or materials for initiatives they value.

5. Implement & Learn

Teams move from ideas to action with proper support and accountability, sharing outcomes and insights for everyone's benefit.

6. Scale What Works

Successful solutions get documented, refined, and expanded - creating a growing library of proven approaches that other communities can adapt and build upon.
two ladies working and collaborating together
Solve Studio Digital Innovation Platform

What's in the Digital Toolbox?

Every Solve Studio digital space includes these essential tools:
  • Challenge Hub – Where problems find visibility and traction
  • Team Workspace – Structured collaboration for diverse groups
  • Volunteer Connection – Matching talent with opportunity
  • Challenge Kits & Templates – Templates that prevent starting from scratch
  • Leadership Initiatives & Citizen Challenges – Direct communication across traditional barriers
  • Sponsorship Pathways – Clear routes to funding what matters
  • Impact Dashboard – Tracking progress without complexity
  • Messaging, Updates & Sharing Tools – Keeping everyone informed and engaged
The platform is designed to be self-managed by communities with support from The Visionry.
Explore What Solve Studio Will Do For Your Community

Beyond Digital: The Physical Experience

Complement your digital platform with these powerful in-person elements:

🧪 Pop-Up Labs – Transform available spaces into hubs of innovation
🧠 Co-Creation Sessions – Bring diverse perspectives together for breakthrough thinking
🎤 Community Listening – Gather insights where people live and work
🌆 Neighborhood Pilots – Test solutions in controlled, real-world settings
📣 Impact Showcases – Celebrate progress and share learning
Empowering citizens to solve community problemsEmpowering citizens to solve community problems

Who Leads This Work?

Your community does.

Solve Studio is designed to be community-led and locally owned. The Visionry provides the digital infrastructure, toolkits, strategy, and support, but the real work and decision-making stay in your hands.

We onboard you, train local stewards, and offer optional support as you grow.

Pilot Solve Studio In Your Community
Go beyond check-writing. Co-create and co-fund grassroots solutions

How Businesses Meaningfully Contribute

Solve Studio gives businesses a structured approach to community investment with visible impact. As our partner, you don't just fund the lab - you become a part of its DNA while accelerating your CSR, DEI, and innovation goals in one bold move.

Sponsor A Challenge

Co-design a Sprint around issues aligned with your mission - mental health access, environmental concerns, for example - and follow their journey from concept to implementation.

Sponsor A Studio

Sponsor a Studio in a local community you care about (and get the keys to local genius), or at the national level for a wider reach, and help power innovation long-term.

Activate Your Employees

Your team can join us as mentors, facilitators, or resident experts (watch them come back to work inspired and transformed).

Local Innovation: An Inside Job

Host Internal Solve Studios to empower your teams to work on community-aligned innovation.

Tangible Impact. Measureable Returns.

While others donate and disappear, you'll build and belong. Solve Studio converts ordinary corporate giving into extraordinary community partnership.

Impact That Hits Different

Forget passive philanthropy. Co-create solutions that actually move the needle (and feel the difference). See exactly where your investment goes and what it accomplishes.

Retaining Creative Talent

Give your people what they're quietly Googling for - purpose-driven work that flexes their superpowers beyond the day job.

Authentic Community Engagement

Connect with community stakeholders in authentic ways, aligning corporate repsponsibility with community priorities.

Living Market Research

Discover needs and opportunities that focus groups and surveys will never reveal. It's innovation intelligence you can't get anywhere else.
align your csr objectives to tangible impact

See How Real Community Issues Flow Through Solve Studio

the challenge:

There’s no safe walking path between the elementary school and the community center.

This challenge illustrates how a citizen-initiated challenge moves through the Solve Studio ecosystem.

Here's What Happened Next
children playing togetherchildren playing together
a citizen posts a concern in the digital studio:

There’s no safe walking path between the elementary school and the community center.

After review, it’s published to the platform and begins gathering attention and upvotes.
digital studio

The challenge gains visibility.

The challenge climbs the leaderboard.
A local nonprofit focused on youth safety takes notice - and so does a regional athletic shoe company headquartered nearby. They see alignment with their brand’s mission around youth wellness and mobility.

digital or in-person add-on

A Solve Circle is formed.

Solve Studio facilitates a Solve Circle: a small-group, cross-sector brainstorming session with residents, city staff, the nonprofit, and the athletic company’s community impact team.

physical studio option

A Pop-up Lab is activated.

The momentum leads to a Pop-Up Lab hosted at the library.
Dozens of citizens attend, prototyping potential solutions: walking school buses, signage improvements, reflective gear for kids, and more.

business engagement

Business becomes a Sponsor.

The athletic company sponsors the Pop-Up Lab and provides branded reflective gear for the pilot program.
They’re recognized on-site and in-platform as a project partner.

digital + physical

Solutions are prioritized and acted on.

The top ideas are voted on in the digital studio.
The city greenlights a walking school bus and signage pilot. A local agency is hired via a Solve Studio bid opportunity to design the signs.

ongoing studio engagement

Shared impact is tracked and celebrated.

The company shares impact results in their ESG report.
Citizens see their contributions in action. The challenge journey becomes a template for solving future issues—together.

on to the next challenge
the challenge:

There’s nowhere to go when I’m feeling overwhelmed. I wish there were more safe spaces or mental health check-ins for adults.

This challenge involves the digital studio + solve circle + pop-up lab + business sponsorship.

Here's What Happened Next
A resident anonymously posts:

“There’s nowhere to go when I’m feeling overwhelmed. I wish there were more safe spaces or mental health check-ins for adults.”

The post is approved and begins circulating on the digital studio. Comments and upvotes quickly reveal it's a shared concern.
digital studio

The signal grows stronger.

As more users upvote and comment, patterns emerge:
People are struggling with stress, isolation, and burnout, and don’t know where to turn. Solve Studio flags this as a “rising challenge,” which pushes it to the attention of both community leaders and partners.

community leader initiative

A leader steps up.

The local library system, known for its community role, decides to lead. They propose exploring a “Mental Health Mondays” program - low-pressure drop-in spaces with rotating peer support, wellness workshops, and resource sharing.

business engagement

A Corporate Partner joins.

A local HR tech company, passionate about mental health at work, sponsors the initiative.
They provide funding for a pilot series and volunteer time from their internal wellness committee to co-host sessions.

digital + physical

Solve Studio gathers community insight.

A digital survey and discussion thread help shape the content of “Mental Health Mondays.”
Then, Solve Studio hosts a small in-person Solve Circle with mental health professionals, community members, and the library team to finalize the format.

digital + physical

The program launches.

The pilot runs weekly for six weeks.
Sessions feature quiet zones, creative expression activities, and rotating local facilitators (including a yoga instructor and a therapist from a local clinic). The company sponsors refreshments, materials, and signage - and is highlighted as a wellness partner throughout.

digital studio

Feedback is collected.

Attendees leave feedback in the digital studio.
The program earns high ratings, and other branches express interest. The model is turned into a downloadable Solve Studio “Challenge Kit” so other communities can replicate it.

on to the next challenge
the challenge:

Multiple upset citizens post about different abandoned lots and rundown properties in their neighborhood.

This challenge showcases how Solve Studio helps cities crowdsource ideas from those closest to the problem, create low-risk, high-impact pilots, attract business sponsorship that’s meaningful and visible, and build momentum without waiting for years-long master plans.

Here's What Happened Next
Turn abandoned properties into thriving community ecosystems.Turn abandoned properties into thriving community ecosystems.
A pattern emerges:

Multiple citizens post about different abandoned lots and rundown properties in their neighborhood.

Some are overgrown. Others attract dumping. Most have sat empty for years. Solve Studio connects these related posts into a single Challenge Cluster and elevates the issue based on high upvotes and community concern.
digital studio

Community Leaders take note.

City staff and a local neighborhood development group flag the issue for deeper investigation.
They see an opportunity to align it with their goals for public safety and beautification, but they don’t want a top-down solution.

digital + physical

The community weighs in.

Solve Studio launches a citywide survey asking: “What should we do with vacant lots in our neighborhoods?” Ideas pour in: urban gardens, pocket parks, tiny homes, outdoor art installations, and Entrepreneur pop-up spaces. Top suggestions are mapped to actual city-owned lots via Solve Studio’s interactive map tool.

physical activation

A Pop-up Lab brings ideas to life.

A design-focused Pop-Up Lab is held at a vacant site.
Residents, artists, and urban planners co-create mockups and low-fi prototypes. Kids design play spaces. Local teens pitch a mural wall. Ideas become visible, tangible, possible.

business sponsorship + physical activation

A Developer partners up.

A local real estate developer known for mixed-use spaces offers to sponsor one pilot site, contributing materials, fencing, and landscape help.  In return, they gain visibility as a community-first developer, access to community insight, and a potential model for future projects in partnership with the city

physical implementation

Action is taken.

One lot becomes a seasonal pop-up park featuring benches, rotating art, and vendor stalls for local makers.
Solve Studio helps recruit volunteers and track community usage, feeding insights back to city leaders.

studio expansion

It becomes a model.

The project is documented in the Solve Studio archive and becomes part of a replicable Blight-to-Use Challenge Kit for other neighborhoods. Other businesses step forward to sponsor new sites, turning a long-term issue into a rolling wave of small, community-driven wins.

on to the next challenge

The Solve Studio Empowers:

Community Leaders

Better visibility into emerging priorities
Structured citizen engagement that actually works
Low-cost way to test and validate initiatives
Tools to organize and track impact

Citizens

A clear place to be heard
Opportunities to volunteer, lead, and collaborate
A community of like-minded problem-solvers
Tools to bring ideas to life - even without experience

Businesses

Strategic direction for community investment
Deeper understanding of local priorities
Clear ROI through storytelling and visibility
as your partner:

We're Here To Help You Build What's Next, Now.

As creators of Solve Studio, The Visionry:

Builds and maintains the digital ecosystem
Equips communities with creativity and innovation tools, challenge kits, and platform onboarding
Offers strategic support for facilitation, business partner matching, or community strategy, where requested
Ensures scalability by helping communities lead themselves

We believe in your capacity to lead this work.  We're not here to run your program, we're here to empower and equip you to run your own.

The Visionry is a strategy and innovation company on a mission to make bold ideas real. We believe that the people experiencing the problems are the ones holding the solutions - and we’re here to help you build the infrastructure that brings them to life.

Intrapreneurship Consultant DeAnna McIntosh sitting on a couchIntrapreneurship Consultant DeAnna McIntosh sitting on a couch
DeAnna McIntosh, CEO and Idea-to-Execution Strategist

Help Us Build Solve Studio

We're currently seeking partners to help develop the Solve Studio digital platform.

If you represent:
1) A Foundation or Grant-Making Organization
2) A Community Interested In A Pilot Program
3) A Business Interested In Founding Sponsorship
‍
Let's connect about how you can help bring this vision to life.

FAQ

Here are some common questions you might have.
Q: How much does it cost to bring Solve Studio to a community?
A: Every community starts with a digital portal license. Costs vary based on optional physical activations, onboarding support, or customization. We’ll walk you through pricing on your intro call.
Q: Is Solve Studio run by The Visionry?
A: No - communities run their own Solve Studios. We provide the platform, toolkits, and onboarding.
Q: How do businesses sponsor challenges?
A: Sponsors choose active challenges and work directly with the initiative or nonprofit leading it. We can help with matching where needed.
Q: Are sponsorships tax-deductible?
A: Not directly through Solve Studio, but many community projects partner with nonprofits who can serve as fiscal sponsors.
Q: What if my community doesn’t have funding?
A: Communities can self-fund, seek grant support, or invite businesses to sponsor. We provide outreach templates to help.
Q: Is training included?
A: Yes! Every new Solve Studio gets a community onboarding guide, leader training, and access to support materials.

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