ABOUT

Jeff Leitner

Organizations come to Jeff when they want to do something bigger — something that doesn't have a template and that will fundamentally change the impact they make. He helps them define what that bigger thing is, design it, and bring it to life. He's been doing this for more than two decades, across every sector, for organizations ranging from the US State Department and USC to Panera and the Poetry Foundation.

Models & Approaches

• As Innovator in Residence at USC, he helped design and launch the nation's first doctorate in social innovation. The program created a new professional path for driving large-scale social change.

• As Fellow at New America, he collaborated with the OECD to develop the first-ever sequence for achieving all of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. By surveying economists, political scientists, and social scientists around the world, they identified which goals create the conditions for others to succeed — turning an overwhelming agenda into a strategic roadmap.

• He helped develop the first norms-based approach to social change and co-authored a book about it: See Think Solve. It provides a systematic method for identifying social norms, understanding how they shape behavior, and thinking through interventions that change them.

Organizations

For more than two decades, Jeff has also helped dozens of organizations navigate major transitions and identify new ways to leverage existing resources for greater impact. The work has spanned every sector — from arts and culture (Chicago Architecture Center, Poetry Foundation) to corporate (Panera, Clear Channel) to philanthropy (Jim Joseph Foundation, Foundations of East Chicago) to science and education (Shedd Aquarium, Council for Interior Design Accreditation).

Platforms

• He founded Insight Labs to tackle the kinds of challenges that couldn't be solved through traditional consulting or academic approaches. Over four years, he convened more than 600 scientists, artists, academics, and executives to rethink strategy for more than 50 governments, institutions, and NGOs — including the US Department of State, NASA, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, National Endowment for the Arts, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, TED Conferences, and Ashoka.

• He co-founded UX for Good as the first organization to leverage experience design to solve social problems. The work has included partnering with the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education to integrate mindfulness and social-emotional learning into public education, working with partners in Rwanda to strengthen the impact of genocide memorials in Africa and Europe, and partnering with the GRAMMY Foundation to raise the standard of living for professional musicians in New Orleans.

These collaborations have been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Inc., and The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Jeff has also shared the learnings in talks, workshops, and lectures at institutions including Harvard and Stanford and dozens of organizations and conferences around the world.