THE INNOVATION FOUNDATION

MISSION STATEMENT

The Innovation Foundation is a 501(C)3 non-profit corporation founded in 2007 to foster the creativity of children, young adults and their parents across the nation. The Innovation Foundation creates awareness for its cause through high-profile fundraising events and public service campaigns. As part of The Innovation Foundation's mission, we offer support and encourage dialogue between creative children and their parents, helping them take a creative approach to their future through a variety of programs, festivals and projects that encourage their expression.

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN

Dear Creative Friends,

A few years ago I was asked to speak at a conference for the Florida Bar Association. I was told that the lecture would be about dealing with creative industry people as clients, and I am indeed a creative person (and am most certainly a client of several law firms). At the lecture I spoke for some time about the in’s and out’s of being a creative client, how we perceive things differently than regular clients and how we deal with money, schedules and some of the other topics at the seminar. The lecture went well and I closed with a Q&A. Here I am at the front of a room with several hundred lawyers, judges, legal aids and prosecutors expecting questions about what I just spoke about.

 

A federal judge stood up and quickly apologizes for digressing and states his son wants to be a record producer and this has caused considerable friction within his family of lawyers and judges. I was thrilled with the question and I gave him a general answer as to how to deal with a situation like his, which was not at all unlike my situation from my childhood. Then a federal prosecutor stood up and spoke about her daughter who wanted to be a dancer. She wanted to know if I could help them find the right path for a career in dance.

 

This went on and on and on. For nearly an hour, I did nothing but speak to the parents of creative kids. I was not speaking to lawyers or to judges I was speaking with mothers and fathers. I was amazed that after the lengthy lecture on the relationship between a lawyer and their creative client, all they wanted to do was talk about their creative kids and the problems they were having dealing with them. It almost seemed like I was the only person they had ever spoken to with a knowledgeable perspective on dealing with creativity.

 

This is how the Innovation Foundation came to be. I know that just about every family has a creative child in it, and so few of those parents have any guidance or assistance in handling what is often a delicate and sometimes difficult situation.

 

Our goal is to not only help children be creative, but to help their parents foster that creativity in a loving and supportive way.

Ultimately, our goal is to help kids “Be Creative”.

Sincerely,

Will Edwards, Chairman and Founder

The Innovation Foundation

Copperline Ranch • 4636 Lebanon Pike #131  Nashville TN  •: 305-304-8080• Fax: 305-860-5916 • TheInnovationFoundation.com