Why We Do What We Do

We are transforming community cultures to set aside personal armours of credentials and affiliations, to reveal how inspiring it can be to work together to change the world we all share. The support we receive from communities we serve allow us to create real social change.

Authors Note: If any part of what you read here makes you feel inspired or aligns with your values and you want to take action, you can make tax-deductible contributions by clicking the “Donate” button on the House of Genius website). This message is repeated at the conclusion of this piece.

House of Genius from Istanbul (top left) to Boulder (bottom right) is changing the world one event at a time.

We believe entrepreneurship is key to economic growth and shared prosperity. It is the best vehicle we have today to galvanize individuals to work together to innovate and solve problems. What we believe that drives us to do what we do:

1. Communities are Broken, Disengaged — Communities all over the world are increasingly divided and siloed. House of Genius is one of only a handful of organizations working to create more collaborative cultures, by opening minds so hearts can engage outside of competition and status.
2. In Unleashing the Magic of Our Diversity — We have come to understand the remarkable power and potential hidden in the diversity of perspectives. When we engage this diversity fully, we immediately see how amazing human beings can be working together for creative innovation and problem solving.
3. Servant Leadership, Gender Balance, for Positive Social Impact — (House of Genius by the Numbers) Hosting events in over 30 cities across 12 countries worldwide, we connect over 600 entrepreneurs and innovators annually to thousands of local thought leaders from all sectors of life and industry. Our appreciation for and desire to achieve gender balance in our leadership is best illustrated by the ratio of men to women filling our City Director roles with 19 of 33 Houses (58%) worldwide currently or previously led by women.
4. Entrepreneurship is Our Best Problem Solving Tool — After hundreds of events all over the world, we’ve come to realize innovation and entrepreneurship is the lingua franca, or common tongue everyone speaks, regardless of nationality, culture, religion, politics, or whatever. The people who attend and present at House of Genius events are trying to solve problems to better enable and empower themselves, their families, or their communities. Entrepreneurship can be the thread we all grab onto to come together and engage in ways our many nations are simply incapable.
5. Our Neighborhood is a Unique Platform — Not another pitch event, the House of Genius formula blends curation and choreography and has helped organizations like the Clinton Global Initiative, U.S. State Department, Meridian International, Chambers of Commerce, and World Trade Center Denver here in Colorado to create highly collaborative conversations to address everything from entrepreneurial ecosystems to the Syrian refugee crisis.
6. Organically Grown and Globally Vetted — We have yet to market House of Genius and we refuse to let anyone solicit our lists of former panelists and presenters. Word of mouth, nominations, and open applications have been our only forms of outreach, yet we have received inquiries from over 100 countries around the world to understand our permit process to open a new House locally and add their community to the Genius Neighborhood. Individuals, groups, and organizations public and private from every continent have knocked on our door.
7. Supporting the Houses of Our Neighborhood — Every month people are sharing their time and energy to volunteer, their expertise and the lens they see the world through, and innovators sharing their solutions to solve problems to make the world a better place. The hundreds of volunteers and community champions who make up the local teams in each city are the heartbeat of House of Genius and we need the resources to support them properly. Our support includes materials, training, outreach, and technology. Donations today will help with updating our website, improve support processes, expansion goals, and ongoing operational costs.

Ultimately, the impact of our work is very much an evolving story, where direct outcomes reveal themselves in both traditional (e.g., securing funding, identifying market segments to focus on, major pivots etc.) and unexpected ways, for example, projects retired before exhausting capital, repurposing teams and resources, broader community engagement, or countless appearances on shows like Shark Tank).

Authors Note: If any part of what you’ve read here makes you feel inspired or aligns with your values and you want to take action, you can make tax-deductible contributions by clicking the “Donate” button on the House of Genius website)

We have so much more we can do, so for now, En Avant!