Upstream Thinking recognized by Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards
The winners of Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas have been announced, and honor products, concepts, companies policies and designs that are pursuing innovation for the good of society and the planet. “There is no question our society and planet are facing deeply troubling times. So, it’s important to recognize organizations that are using their ingenuity, impact, design, scalability, and passion to solve these problems,” says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company
The design of a new approach to HIV prevention in South Africa led by Upstream was selected as an honorable mention in the category of health. The Relationship Queen Bootcamp was the result of a project that deeply engaged adolescent girls and young women to see the challenge through their eyes. The experience of this intervention supports them on a journey to achieve their unique relationship goals in new ways that prioritize their own health.
“These awards are important because they bring attention to the application of design and innovation to more complex challenges with broader impact” says Jeff Mulhausen, founding partner at Upstream. “This project exemplifies the type of challenges we’ve aimed to address with our approach since we founded Upstream 12 years ago. We hope these awards inspire others to address them as well.”
In our view, this work also recognizes that complex challenges like these can’t be addressed in isolation but need the collaborative spirit of human centered design. We’d like to acknowledge the work of the teams from our other consortium partners that helped make this design possible including Final Mile, AVAC, TBHIVCares, Anova, AskAfrika, and over 200 adolescent girls and young women in South Africa that brought their power to the design process.
More about World Changing Ideas
Now in its fifth year, the World Changing Ideas Awards accepted entries from across the globe, from Brazil to Denmark to Vietnam. A panel of eminent Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 4,000 entries across transportation, education, food, technology and more.
More about Upstream Thinking
Upstream is an innovation firm focused on systemic challenges in health, education and community. Our work spans the globe and combines the principles of human centered design, behavioral science and innovation to bring increased rigor to organizations in the public and private sectors. We are actively looking to share the knowledge gained from this project with others that may find it useful. Learn more about the Relationship Queens Bootcamp.