The Context
Our work is grounded in the idea that some of our hardest challenges - posed by increasing inequality and climate change - are some of our biggest collective opportunities to innovate.
As a civic incubator, Edge partners with public, private, and nonprofit organizations to tackle systemic economic challenges in Stockton. With a focus on three key areas – jobs and workforce, climate, and community wealth – Edge seeds and supports partner-led initiatives with a range of tools. These tools include access to capital, talent, policy support, and coalition-building.
As we identify those 'edge' challenges, we partner with organizations to design creative, non-traditional solutions to them - and incubate them (anywhere from several months to several years), until the point at which they're ready to be 'spun out' to live on their own. By virtue of the way that we work, we are always interested in learning how others think about these things.
The Engagement
Don't see a role that's a good fit for you, but intrigued by our work as a civic incubator? We'd love to hear from you. While we have a small and mighty team that is focused on incubating existing initiatives (in Stockton, CA), we're open to meeting individuals across the US who are in pursuit of tackling civic challenges. For individuals who want to share their emerging interests and learn from the way that Edge Collaborative does civic incubation, we've created an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) engagement.
The EIR opportunity is open-ended and open to interpretation - and up to the individual with the vision to propose something. What is the engagement, exactly? For inspiration,
we've shared here an example of what this could look like. But don't let that limit your imagination.
If you have a pressing concept or project to share, we'd love to hear from you. Please feel free to outline the answers to these questions in your proposal, in addition to whatever else you'd like to share with the Edge Collaborative team.
Part A
1. What civic challenges do you believe are being ignored? Why are these critical to address now?
2. What idea (earlier stage) or concept (later stage) would you like to work on? What compelled you to think that it needs to be further explored and better understood? What initially inspired you?
3. Are you proposing to affiliate with Edge Collaborative for a shorter or longer period of time? Do you have a sense of what type of support you might require from the Edge team? Examples: intellectual sounding board, access to community relationships, technical assistance, fundraising support, etc. Are you interested in a volunteer position, or a paid one?
Part B
4. Please describe your background, history and/or areas of specialization as it pertains to the civic concept that you're aiming to pursue.
5. Please describe your approach and/or methodology to building a project around the concept which you're seeking to pursue. For example, what's your preferred method for information gathering? Who would you talk to validate this effort? How would you gauge if you're on the right path, or need to pivot?
6. Please detail the high level budget under which you'd seek to advance this effort; over what period of time? What major milestones would you aim to reach within this budget?
Team Values
Beginner’s mindset - we love asking the ‘stupid questions’ to understand what is possible. Our greatest asset is our curiosity as beginners (not experts). We want to discover how and why particular systems and people have been historically neglected by the public and private sectors.
Undaunted - we believe that bold solutions emerge from the margins (or edges, as we might say). The first answer is usually never right, but we’re not afraid of being wrong. We bring a passionate persistence to breaking through the stalemates and road blocks.
Boundless creativity - we thrive as a team. We take inspiration from “keystone species” in ecology - modeling our work after the resourcefulness of penguins and the vibrancy of bees. We cross-pollinate ideas, sectors, and institutions to help manifest the untapped potential of the people we serve.
Humility in service of community - we care deeply about the communities in which we work, and endeavor to put their needs at the center of how we design and incubate new initiatives. We strive to balance the boldness of our imagination with the recognition that slow, sustained trust building with partners is critical to the long-term viability of the work.
Sheer whimsy - we believe that serious work calls for a playful attitude, as we imagine what is possible. Play is derived from a place of joy and speaks to how we aspire to brighten our days. Plus, what’s life without a lil bit of whimsy?
