>10%
Live below the poverty line
More than one in ten people across Metro Phoenix falls below the federal poverty line.
Foundation for Innovation in Society
Novel solutions to meaningful problems.
We create value by reimagining how communities meet their most basic needs — beginning in the Phoenix Metro region with food resilience and a community-wide pay-it-forward meal program.
Why we exist
We apply novel solutions to meaningful problems
Innovation, to us, is the process of creating value by applying novel solutions to meaningful problems. We look for the new model that makes the old one obsolete — then build it alongside the people closest to the need.
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You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.
Architect & systems theorist -
Innovation is seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.
Nobel laureate in Medicine -
If the future is to remain open and free, we need people who can tolerate the unknown, who will not need the support of completely worked out systems or traditional blueprints from the past.
Cultural anthropologist
Our first project · Phoenix Metro
Community food resilience in the Valley
Less than 1% of the food eaten across the Phoenix Metro region is grown here, even as more than one in ten residents lives in poverty. Food insecurity in the Valley is not one problem but many — overlapping, systemic, and felt most by those with the fewest options.
What’s driving it
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<1%
Of Valley food is grown here
Less than 1% of the food consumed in the Valley is grown in the Valley — too little land and labor are dedicated to production.
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Food deserts
Whole areas of the Valley lack retail outlets, or any access to food banks that provide food for free.
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Waste at every stage
Edible food is lost at every point in the system — plowed back into fields, rejected as unmarketable, expired on shelves, or over-purchased and stockpiled.
Who it hits hardest
Beyond poverty, some neighbors face additional barriers that put even a free meal out of reach.
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No transportation
Unable to reach retail outlets or food banks.
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Unable to prepare food
Disability or illness can make cooking impossible.
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No kitchen facility
Nowhere to safely store or prepare a meal.
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Gaps in public support
Government entities cannot always provide the help that is needed.
How we’re approaching it
Produce more, waste less, and adapt what already works
We are exploring ways to increase local food production and design out the waste built into today’s system — building on programs already proven in other cities and tailoring them to the Valley.
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Grow more food, locally
Dedicate land and labor to production so that far more than 1% of what the Valley eats is actually grown in the Valley.
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Design out the waste
Capture the food currently lost at every stage of the system before it ever becomes waste.
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Adapt proven models
Build on programs already working in other cities and tailor them to the realities of the Valley.
Proven model Denver, CO · Portland, OR
Think outside the box with us
We’re looking for people willing to rethink how a whole community feeds itself. If that sounds like you, let’s talk.
Innovation in action
Pay It Forward — a community that feeds its neighbors
Our first program is already live. Pay It Forward lets anyone buy a healthy meal for someone experiencing homelessness — prepared with dignity by local restaurants — while people take steps toward fuller participation in society.
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Donors pay it forward
Supporters purchase healthy meals that will be served to people experiencing homelessness.
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Restaurants provide
Local restaurants join the program as meal providers, preparing nourishing food.
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Partners distribute
Community organizations act as distribution centers, getting meals to people on the street.
Get involved
Help build a more resilient community
The work of the Foundation depends on people who show up — as donors, volunteers, restaurants, and partners.
For donors
Donate to the Foundation
Support our mission directly. Your tax-deductible gift powers the Foundation's work applying novel solutions to meaningful problems — beginning with food resilience across the Phoenix Metro.
DonateThe Foundation for Innovation in Society is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Pay it forward
Pay a meal forward
Prefer to give a meal directly? Your gift puts a healthy meal in the hands of someone who needs it through our pay-it-forward board.
Donate a MealVolunteer or partner with us
Restaurants, distribution partners, and out-of-the-box thinkers — we'd love to hear from you.
Bring a project to your city
Want to adapt these models where you live? Start a conversation with us.