February 3, 2020
Forging innovative policy ideas through the power of co-creation
A beautiful garden. A balmy seventy-degree climate. Glorious sunshine and hibiscus-scented air. Sound like the ideal vacation setting? Well, Antigua, Guatemala, normally is the perfect getaway for international tourists. But once a year, it becomes the epicenter of collaboration for innovative free-market solutions—all geared toward the ultimate goal of unleashing the power of human ingenuity and free enterprise to dramatically improve the well-being of people everywhere.
For 10 years Universidad Francisco Marroquin (UFM)—based in nearby Guatemala City—has hosted its successful Antigua Forum “unconference.” Dozens of new ideas have been incubated and accelerated in this unique setting. Utilizing the concept of co-creation with project owners, skilled facilitators, and exceptionally successful individuals, ideas are thrown into a cauldron to be refined through two days of intense examination and brainstorming, then emerge stronger and ready to be tested.
Meanwhile, at State Policy Network, we were exploring ways to help our state-based partners more quickly develop vigorous policy solutions that could be implemented faster. We called our model LaunchPad, and we wanted it to be a “co-creation” model. It seemed to us that the Antigua Forum had already specialized in that model, so we formed a partnership. Together, with UFM and the Antigua Forum experts, we brought this unique “unconference” process to the US and kicked off the first SPN LaunchPad. The context and expertise at LaunchPad sparked even more innovation in free-market stated-based policy.
SPN staff members attended facilitator trainings at UFM and honed skills this year at Antigua Forum.
“The Universidad Francisco Marroquin has created a collaborative model where ideas are tested against freedom principles, the realities of the marketplace, and plenty of creative destruction—the perfect model for our network of state-based partners, think tanks,” comments Lynn Harsh, vice president of strategy at SPN. “Where else but Antigua Forum—and now SPN’s LaunchPad—will you find a gathering of such high-caliber individuals helping nascent innovators craft genuine solutions for human flourishing?”
During the 2020 Antigua Forum, six SPN staff participated as both brain trust members and facilitators. They assisted project owners in taking their proposals from idea, to crafting a strategy, to a Monday-morning execution plan.
“SPN’s staff is upping its game by learning the valuable facilitations skills that UFM has refined over the last decade,” observes Carrie Conko, vice president of communications at SPN. “We spent three days immersed in their process, refining our staff’s skills. And we likewise assisted their staff with our own talents and insights from decades of facilitating and coaching for our Network.”
With these freshly sharpened skills, SPN staff headed back to the US ready to further their impact in the states—so that state solutions have national impact.
Moving forward, UFM and SPN will continue to collaborate on the co-creation model that provides valuable examination and refining of solutions unlike any other process available in the free-market Network. It is a vision that will lead to countless lives changed for the better through true free-market innovation and collaboration.
Reflecting on yet another fruitful Antigua Forum this year, Lynn Harsh noted, “I love watching the liberty forge at work, where our precious ideas come up against this intense heat and are shaped by the talent in the room.”
