Dear Labs,
Our very first experiment is coming to an end, and it’s a bittersweet time for us. In 10 months, we’ve taken Open Labs from a speech and some slides to a member led community capable of harnessing the creativity, empathy, and intelligence associated with brain conditions and turning it into tangible change.
We are a vehicle for a movement.
The results — a member led community of 50 people impacted by brain disorders, half of whom are active on a weekly basis. Three running experiment teams, two in talks to become a long term project with a partner organization. 10 monthly socials and leadership meetings, an Open Summit, 2 Brain Crawls, 5 experiment planning sessions, 2 storytelling workshops, and the first ever Opening Act. This is an exciting time to be a part of Open Labs!
As founders, we are about as neurodiverse as any 2 person team could be, and for our very first experiment we wanted to learn what it would be like to be completely Open in our founder relationship. Specifically, if we can redirect the energy spent trying to appear and perform contrary to our present cognitive emotional state into something more productive?
We learned we could. The next question, could we duplicate it? We could. Could we do it with a large group? We could. Could we create tangible change? We could.
Can we sustain the Open Movement?
The next question is, can this community grow without our day to day, hands on involvement? If we continue to do the strategic work we have been doing as founders, growing partnerships and keeping true to our vision as we grow, can the community thrive and expand? Put another way, if we take off the training wheels, will our community ride faster and longer?
We cannot express how proud we are of this group and what we have accomplished. Our mantras have always been, these are your experiments, this is your Labs, and seeing that sense of ownership reflected back has made the thousands of hours we’ve invested completely worthwhile.
There is no doubt in our minds a movement is slowly building somewhere. As imaging gets better, as more people Open up, and as we realize the cost of brain disorders, it’s inevitable. We have been waiting for that movement to turbocharge Open Labs. But we aren’t waiting anymore, every movement starts somewhere, sometime, with some group.
Why not here? Why not now? Why not us?
It is time for us to give the movement a name. We are not a vehicle to power a movement. We are Open Labs, the birthplace and vehicle of The Open Movement.
Our mantra has changed: This is Our Labs. This is Our movement. This is the Open Movement,
Now what shall we do with it?
To start, register for the Open Weekend May 18th — 20th, bring an experiment idea, or choose to become an experiment leader (RSVP).
With Hope,
Lance Powers & Alexandra Weiner
Founders, Open Labs
The Next Phase of Open Labs
There are some things that will change…
Open Weekend!
- We’ve consolidated some of the best parts of Open Labs into a three day event 2x/year.
- Friday — Brain Crawl
- Saturday — Experiment Workshop
- Sunday — Community Connection Day
(members rsvp here)
Powered by Partnerships!
- Successful experiments can find new homes with partners to help sustain the outcome and grow the project long term. These will be designated as “powered by Open Labs”
Open Labs Handbook!
- We are compiling the structure and learnings of Open Labs into a handbook available for all members to reference in planning events, workshops, and Labs processes. This is a living document that grows with Labs.
New staff!
- If you need to find information on the handbook, calendaring, booking a room, and other logistics we will have a new Community Manager to make that happen!
- Funneling resources toward the Open Movement in Colorado — The Mission of Open Labs is to empower people living well with brain conditions in the Colorado startup and tech community to live openly.
Starting June 1st, we will officially be the member led community we set out to create as both of us leave our staff roles and pass the torch to the staff born from the membership.
And many things that will stay the same…
- Vision — A world with the Hope we need to live Openly
- Member led community (this is your labs) — the power of this movement lives with the people who experience it
- Experiment groups are full steam ahead
- Brain Crawls/Open Weekend at Boulder and Denver Startup Weeks
- Alexandra and Lance board leadership and sources of institutional knowledge
- Recruiting and engaging new partners and community allies
- Lance as an Evangelist and speaker
We hope to answer any questions you have about this next step in Open Labs and look forward to creating this movement together!
We will see you at the Open Weekend (RSVP)!
Thank you to our Advisors and Open Council for guiding Open Labs in this next Chapter!
Zach Nies, Program Designer and Facilitator
Zach is the VP of Education at Techstars and an expert in lean and agile methodologies. He scaled the Rally Software from startup to IPO as their CTO and brings his knowledge of technology and lean to the Open Labs experiment process. He is connected to Open Labs’ mission through his personal experience with loved one’s brain condition.
Carol Barash, Storytelling and Communications
Carol is the CEO of story2, a partner organization of Open Labs. Carol trains the Open Labs membership in how to message and communicate their stories in written and spoken format using a proprietary storytelling method. Carol holds a B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. from Princeton.
Matt Helt, Community and Handbook
Matt Helt is the Director of Startup Week at Techstars. In this role, Matt works with organizing teams all around the world and maintains the volunteer handbook. Matt brings his personal experience with loved ones and their conditions.
Amy Reichlin, Facilitator
Amy is a certified coach, corporate trainer and strategist with over 22 years of experience in a wide range of settings including technology, consumer products, healthcare, and education. Amy has earned an MBA from Kellogg, Masters in Psychology from Naropa University while authoring the Effects of Stress on Youth with Bipolar, and is certified by Google’s Search Inside Yourself ENGAGE program.
Sam Elmore, Facilitator
Sam Elmore is psychotherapist, who took therapy off the couch and into the office. He has brought together his background in Somatic Counseling Psychology and theatre to teach authentic leadership to technology leaders for past 7 years.
Joshua Scott, Workplace
As Faculty with the Center for Health, Work, and Environment and Health Links Colorado, Josh is developing the Open Workplace Assessment alongside Labs members. His goal is to better understand the wellness and safety needs of businesses and their employees.
Transitioning from staff to Board Members
Lance Powers, Technology and Evangelism
Lance’s experience as a worker in tech and suicide survivor living with Type I bipolar disorder gives him a unique perspective into this experience. Before Open Labs, Lance launched his career by building a $5 million dollar energy efficient lighting company in just a few years. He then transitioned into high-tech as the lead frontend developer at Orderly, a Techstars Company working to reshape the way we manage our personal healthcare.
Alexandra Weiner, Partnerships
Alexandra Weiner brings her background in technology and wellness program design to Open Labs. She led her previous company through the Techstars Accelerator, a nationally ranked startup program that accepts less than 1% of applicants. As the token ‘neurotypical’ in Open Labs, her dream is to have every workplace value neurodiversity.
