Frequently Asked Questions

 ideation is a 501(c)3 think tank owned by the Carnegie Group and founded by doctoral graduates from America’s most prestigious universities. Our founders recognized what an incredible resource their colleagues are. Having worked for decades as leaders across sectors, such as healthcare, education, finance, real estate, government, technology, and law, they were acutely aware of the real-world needs and applications for this extremely valuable, yet difficult to efficiently access “brain bank.” Our founders share a vision and passion for efficiently connecting top-thinkers from prestigious educational institutions with leading organizations, in a forward-framed think tank environment, for unprecedented collaborative and mutual innovation, impact, and opportunity. 

Our founders also recognized that many doctoral graduates are special individuals. They are uniquely motivated to apply their high-level knowledge, experience, and expertise, including their own cutting-edge, evidence-based doctoral research,  towards meaningful projects and initiatives. The very best of these candidates are invited to join ideation. Many find our collaborative think tank approach to be particularly rewarding. The ideation platforms and support offer our members an efficient way to increase the visibility of their work through publishing, speaking, white papers, and other important pathways.   

An old proverb tells us that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander- What’s good for the our educational institution partners’ doctoral candidates and graduates is often also good for the educational institution from whence they come. ideation provides an unprecedented think tank platform, support, and opportunities for doctoral candidates and graduates. Our exclusive ideation member profiles are a valuable, efficient, and effective source of course instructors, dissertation advisors, and committee members for our educational institution partners. Partners who chose to do so may receive e-alerts relevant to their needs. All partners receive free content and use permissions featuring ideation members affiliated with their institution, which is suitable for use on their own college or university platforms.

This unprecedented combination creates an unsurpassed resource and think tank environment for our clients, partners, and members. The ideation services and support mitigate the many barriers doctoral graduates face navigating these platforms and pathways on their own, leveraging economies of scale and creating a collaborative space for clients, partners, and members to connect and thrive.  

Because of the wide competencies of our think tank members, ideation clients encompass a similarly wide range of organizations including public and private sector, profit and not for profit companies, government, and associations. Our clients are carefully vetted to ensure a good fit with our members and vision. The projects we accept are purposeful and consistent with the ideation vision.  Once a client is approved, authorization to access exclusive ideation think tank member profiles is granted. A team of ideation members uniquely suited to solving the client’s challenges are then hand-selected for the project.  Member teams evolve over the course of each project in a highly efficient and effective match of the needs with competencies.   

ideation’s think tank members and delivery model are uniquely situated to efficiently, effectively, and meaningfully deliver the follow services for our clients: 

• Project consulting 
• Signature Service 
• Influential white papers
• Workshops and training
• Expert witnesses 
• Event speakers
• Grant writing

Simply put, our think tank partners are the very top handful of colleges and universities in America. Partnership status includes access to the ideation think tank member database. Partners are able to conduct searches as and when needed for candidates who are uniquely qualified and highly motivated to serve as course instructors, dissertation advisors, and committee members, and to assist our partners in meeting other similar needs. Customizable e-alerts for new member matches further enhance the benefits of ideation. 

ideation’s think tank members and delivery model are uniquely situated to efficiently, effectively, and meaningfully deliver the follow support services for our partners:  

• Journal development, publication, and management 
• Course instructors 
• Dissertation advisors/committee members 
• Content production: suitable for high visibility podcasts, newsletters, websites, blogs, social media
• Collective impact alumni engagement
• Grant writing
• Value-add doctoral graduate support and services 
• Value-add doctoral candidate support and services 

ideation think tank membership is open to individuals who are currently students or who have successfully completed and graduated with a doctoral degree from our one of our partners educational institutions. ideation offers any array of think tank support for members seeking to further their doctoral research visibility, including publishing and speaking.  Once a member has been approved, a detailed interview and profile is completed. Members are provided with credentials to access the ideation database where opportunities to work with our educational institution partners and organizational clients can also be identified. Customized new opportunity e-alerts offer an efficient way to manage this information.  

ideation is uniquely situated to efficiently, effectively, and meaningfully deliver the following think tank support and services for our members:

• Access to our private membership content which includes member exclusive resources 
• Exclusive online member only events
• Journal and publishing representation
• Innovation and change leader media and publicity
• Client consulting engagements 
• Expert witness and speaking engagements 
• Graduate level course instructor engagements 
• Dissertation advisor and committee opportunities 
• Prestigious board appointment guidance

Introductory support and services for current doctoral candidates: 

• Dissertation editing services
• Dissertation defense coaching  

The Chief Executive Officer of ideation is a veteran operations and leadership expert. She earned her doctorate degree from one of the most competitive and prestigious programs at New York University. The Chief Executive Officer and other founders remain involved as Advisory Board members, project leaders, and participants.

The ideation Advisory Board consists of members nominated for their qualifications, passion, and dedication to our clients, partners, members, and collaborative impact think tank vision. Each member has graduated from a doctoral program and is recognized as an expert in their sector, bringing unique experience, knowledge, and talent. Our Advisory Board members each demonstrate passion, purpose, skills, and the ability to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world impact. The Advisory Board meets monthly. Together they approve new projects, partners, and white paper topics and drive the ideation mission and vision. Further information about the ideation Advisory Board is available for members on our password protected member page.

One stunning summer New York City day, a four-person doctoral student study group, and the founder of the NYU program they came to know each other through, shared a picnic in Central Park together. In addition to enjoying each other’s company, the five-some began a dialogue around creating a peer-reviewed scholarly publication and other post-graduation “next steps” to enhance their cohort’s impact, the program’s visibility, and enable the collaborative community they were developing to continue long in to the future. During the months that followed, the seeds of ideation and The Carnegie Group think tank germinated and grew. Today’ the flowers bloom in endless, beautiful, and unimagined ways, adding unprecedented value and bridging the impact gap for the benefit of members, academic partners, and organizational clients alike.