2016 Innovation Next Award Winners Announced
Washington, DC (PRWEB) September 07, 2016 -- Innovation Next—a program of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy made possible through a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health—today announced the five winning teams that will receive the inaugural program’s second round of funding as determined by a contest in August. The five teams have been chosen to receive up to $325,000 to develop innovative technology interventions for preventing teen pregnancy.
Micro-volunteerism for sex education. A sex ed app for middle school students. Personalized appointment scheduling for teens. Important conversation starters for Latino families. A small revolution for electronic health records. These are the ideas that will be brought to life through the Innovation Next Awards.
The five winning teams are:
- Boink - Francisco Ramirez, Will Luxion, Amelia Holstrom, and Elise Schuster
- MySexEd - Liz Chen, Vichi Jagannathan, and Cristina Leos
- An Instant Gratification Situation - Liz Romer, Lauren Butts, and Stephanie Begun
- Hablemos - Julie Yegen, Eliana Loveluck, and Laura Lourenco
- Starting the Conversation - Breione St. Claire, Dannelle Pietersz, and Amber Eisenmann
“The declines in teen pregnancy and childbearing over the past two decades have been historic,” said Lawrence Swiader, Vice President of Digital Media at The National Campaign. “These interventions will help ensure that this important national success story continues. Each concept adds something new to the field and addresses audiences that have previously been underserved, like Latino parents and middle school students.”
In addition to the funding that each team will receive over the next 18 months, they will also be given technical assistance and support from The National Campaign and the renowned design and innovation firm IDEO. The result will be five audience-tested and medically-accurate products ready to go to market in early 2018.
“Reducing unplanned pregnancy—and its emotional, familial, fiscal, and social impact—has significant implications for all of us,” said Kate Lydon, Public Sector Portfolio Director at IDEO. “We’re excited to see how the winning Innovation Next teams create lasting, positive change by bringing a design thinking lens to this issue.”
The judges for the contest were Linda Dominguez, nurse practitioner at Southwest Women's Health in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Weston Lee, Youth Leadership Team representative at The National Campaign from Utah now attending Utah State University; Jenn Maer, design thinking expert and Creative Director at Omada Health; Kayla Smith, BedsiderU representative and peer health educator at University of Maryland Baltimore County; and Kirsten Thompson, Program Director and public health expert at the UCSF Bixby Center.
The National Campaign, along with key partners IDEO and the HHS Office of Adolescent Health, hope that the Innovation Next Awards will establish an ongoing discipline for design and encourage additional successful approaches to preventing teen pregnancy.
About The Innovation Next Awards
Ten teams were awarded $80,000 in round one to use design thinking to validate and iterate upon their ideas. Round two offers up to $325,000 to five winning teams to build their products over 18 months. This opportunity is made possible by Grant Number TP2AH000023-01-00 from the HHS Office of Adolescent Health. Contents are solely the responsibility of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Office of Adolescent Health. Learn more at http://www.InnovationNext.org.
About The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
The National Campaign is a private, non-profit organization that seeks to improve the lives and future prospects of children and families by preventing teen and unplanned pregnancy. Please visit http://www.TheNationalCampaign.org to find out more.
Larry Swiader, The National Campaign, +1 202-478-8574, [email protected]
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