Innovation Currency
The Podcast
We’re here to reimagine who qualifies as an innovator and to provide practical tools to help anyone discover their hidden innovator. Hosted by Leigh-Ann Buchanan, this limited series podcast features dynamic conversations and solo episodes designed to help you learn how to use innovation more adeptly in your day to day life. New episodes drop every Tuesday.
The Book (Fall 2024)
The stories we tell about the world's greatest innovators often exclude people from diverse backgrounds, experiences, identities and geographies.
Innovation Currency explores how barriers like culture and identity prevent us from understanding a few simple truths: innovation is for everyone and, with the right guide, anyone can discover their hidden innovator.
Developed using years of qualitative inquiry and observational research, the Innovation Currency® framework was designed to make innovation more accessible to everyday people so that they too can use this powerful tool to improve the world around them.
Through anecdotes, practical insights and a personalized assessment, you'll learn how to:
Understand how to differentiate the act of innovation from creativity or idea generation
Identify common internal and external barriers that innovators encounter
Discover your unique innovator style and how to better incorporate innovation into your daily life
Maximize the value innovators add to teams, educational settings and organizations
By examining four styles—the Disruptor, the Connector, the Distributor and the Influencer—Innovation Currency offers a new model to explain how people naturally innovate (and where they fall short). These powerful strategies will teach you how to drive meaningful change within organizations as well as help you understand how to use innovation to develop better solutions to challenges in your community and the existential threats that are facing our planet.
If you have ever asked yourself, "Am I an innovator?" then this book is for you. Join the presale list. Available for purchase in Fall 2024
The TEDx Talk
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world.
The Quiz
Developed using years of research and observation, the Innovation Currency® framework offers insight into the question: what type of innovator am I? Take the free 5-minute quiz to discover your answer. Don’t worry, your responses are confidential, though we’re sure you’ll want to share your results !
Hi. I’m Leigh-Ann
Leigh-Ann Buchanan is a founder, investor, and strategic advisor. Her body of work explores how technology, innovation and social investment intersect with equity to transform communities. Her insights and ideas have been featured in the New York Times, Inc. Magazine, Bloomberg, the American Psychological Association and other notable publications.
Leigh-Ann's professional pivot away from practicing law as a business litigation attorney marked the starting point of her curiosity about innovators. Since then, she has relied upon innovation to launch and lead a diverse portfolio of social impact initiatives that collectively have unlocked more than $75 million in philanthropic support to bridge opportunity and access gaps for underrepresented groups.