Upcoming Events

What is Design Research? Interdisciplinary Perspectives

This is an opportunity to have an open conversation about different perspectives and approaches to design research, and a chance to learn more about the…

To Post or Not to Post: The Highs and Lows of Government Social Media

Join Pearl Gabel, former Digital Director for the State of New Jersey, former Director of Video for the City of New York, and current Founder…

To be rescheduled: Sarah Collins Rudolph: Surviving the Birmingham bombings

Sarah Collins Rudolph was 12 years old and standing close to her 14-year-old sister and three other Black girls when an explosion rocked Birmingham’s 16th…

The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives

Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI Lecture Series presents “The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives” with guest lecturers Brook Manville and Josiah Ober. Attendees…

Open Classroom — Newsroom Confidential: Politics and Media 2023, NU Policy School

Sarah Collins Rudolph was 12 years old and standing close to her 14-year-old sister and three other Black girls when an explosion rocked Birmingham’s 16th…

Modernizing Unemployment Benefits: A Hands-On Workshop for States

In this 90 minute virtual training with leaders from the New Jersey Office of Unemployment Modernization and the New Jersey Office of Innovation, participants learn…

How to harness Smarter Crowdsourcing for stronger EU policies and democracy

A 1-day opportunity for EU policy-makers and civil society change-makers. Featuring Burnes Center Research Fellow Anirudh Dinesh

Newsroom Confidential: What Role Will the Media Play in the 2024 Election?

Burnes Center Senior Fellow Jill Abramson will moderate a conversation about the 2024 Election, hosted by the NU School of Journalism.

Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better

Join Jennifer Pahlka, former U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer under President Obama, for a 90-minute virtual workshop, where Pahlka will discuss how government is failing…

 Food Politics 2023: The Key Issues 

Join guest lecturer Marion Nestle for a presentation on food politics in 2023.

The Future of Work: Challenges and Opportunities for the Public Sector

Join Chike Aguh, former Chief Innovation Officer at the US Department of Labor, for a 60-minute virtual workshop, where participants will learn about the problems…

Assessing the Impact: Evaluation of Public Programs

InnovateUS: How to Write a Generative AI Policy for Your Jurisdiction

The Second Annual State of Open Data Policy Summit

As part of the second annual State of Open Data Summit, Burnes Center Director Beth Noveck will will lead a conversation with leading open data…

InnovateUS: Persuasive Memo Writing

Democracy Impact Studios: Countering Election Subversion

The Burnes Center will host the second of three discussions that will bring together diverse experts in a range of disciplines and fields to surface concrete…

InnovateUS: AI in Government: Bring Your Questions, We’ve Got Answers!

InnovateUS: What the Heck is ChatGPT? How Generative AI will Impact Government

American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) National Capital Area Chapter Annual Meeting

Burnes Center Director Beth Noveck will deliver the keynote address at the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) National Capital Area Chapter Annual Meeting.

InnovateUS: Expanding Partnerships: Designing Missions for Impact

Join Christian Bason, CEO of the Danish Design Center for a 90-minute virtual training to learn how to forge cross-sector partnerships and engage diverse stakeholders…

InnovateUS: Making the Most of New Technologies While Avoiding the Risks and Pitfalls

Join Santiago Garces, Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Boston, for 90-minute virtual training about the uses and advantages of new technologies – including…

Generative AI & Northeastern University: From the Classroom to the Economy

Leading Northeastern University experts will discuss the fast-changing world of Generative AI and how it will change the nature of our work; the technology we teach;…

Democracy Impact Studios: Countering Election Subversion

The Burnes Center will host the first of three discussions that will bring together diverse experts in a range of disciplines and fields to surface concrete…

National Association of Attorney Generals (NAAG) 2023 Symposium

Burnes Center Director Beth Noveck will participate in “Regulating Algorithms: The How and Why” during the 2023 NAAG Symposium in Philadelphia, PA. 

InnovateUS: Using Behavioral Insights for the Public Sector

Workers by the Numbers: Analyzing the March Jobs and Unemployment Report

The Power at Work Blog will host a live analysis of the March Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs and unemployment report.

Cloud Platforms: How Digital Platforms are Overtaking the State and How We Can Regain Control

Book talk: Solving Public Problems

InnovateUS: Using Rapid Evidence Review to Find Solutions in Government

InnovateUS Workshops for Public Servants

The Burnes Center’s InnovateUS program offers both an at-your-own pace curriculum focused on learning how to use data, technology and equitable engagement.

Meet up for faculty, students and staff working on technology and democracy. 

InnovateUS: Conducting Effective and Equitable Community Engagement

Postponed: Movie Screening of ‘She Said’ and discussion with Jill Abramson, former executive editor of the New York Times

AI Procurement in Government

In collaboration with Google, the Burnes Center and the GovLab are running a series of workshops for people inside government who hope to use artificial…

InnovateUS: Human-Centered Design for Public Servants

Second Burnes Center Meet-Up on Labor Issues

InnovateUS: Defining Your Problem

Masterclass Series – Solving Public Problems: Innovation for the Workforce Ecosystem

This Masterclass will be facilitated by Beth Noveck, PhD. Dr. Noveck is New Jersey’s first Chief Innovation Officer and professor at Northeastern University, where she…

Writing for Social Change

Northeastern University faculty are invited to learn more about “How to Turn Topic and Policy Papers into Engaging Narratives” in this two-hour workshop. Open to…

A Snapshot of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) Procurement Challenges

Masterclass Series – Solving Public Problems: Innovation for the Workforce Ecosystem

This Masterclass will be facilitated by Beth Noveck, PhD. Dr. Noveck is New Jersey’s first Chief Innovation Officer and professor at Northeastern University, where she…

Masterclass Series – Solving Public Problems: Innovation for the Workforce Ecosystem

This Masterclass will be facilitated by Beth Noveck, PhD. Dr. Noveck is New Jersey’s first Chief Innovation Officer and professor at Northeastern University, where she…

InnovateUS: Results Framework: Getting Important Work Done

Social Media for Social Change with Cory Doctorow

On December 5th at 12 pm at 271 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, The Burnes Center for Social Changeand the Department of Journalism are hosting…

Chokepoint Capitalism Book Talk

Open to the public! The Burnes Center will cosponsor a talk by Cory Doctorow and Rebecca Giblin about their newest book, Chokepoint Capitalism: How Big…

Solutions Journalism Convening

On November 17, 2022, Burnes Center is convening leading practitioners and teachers of solutions journalism to discuss how to advance and deepen the field of…

Op-Ed Workshop with Bruce Schneier

In today’s age of constant media babble and a vast explosion of online and print publications have transformed the traditional pathways of publication, prestige, and…

Oakland City Challenge: Persuasive Pitches

To implement your projects, you will need to persuade people at every step of the process. Decks and pitches can help you gain support for…

Oakland City Challenge: Budgeting

In this session, we will focus both on developing a budget for your pilot and a budget for scaling your project. This will include an…

Solving Public Problems Accelerator: Convening Global Social Innovators

A four-day convening at the Bellagio Center in Italy will bring together finalists in the Solving Public Problems Accelerator program.

Solving Public Problems Accelerator: Diagnosing Your Data Needs

The goal of this session is to discuss your data needs and ways that data can be used to improve your understanding of your problem…

Oakland City Challenge: Designing Your Pilot and Measuring Impact

This session will focus on articulating the pilot you want to launch in 2022 and addressing how your pilot will test your solution, what steps…

InnovateUS Summer Series: Effective Measurement and Pilots

With the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, the Burnes Center is running a coaching program to support global social innovators working to improve education, learning,…

Oakland City Challenge: Fast Field Scanning and Powerful Partnerships

The goal of this session is to discuss your strategy for implementing your social innovation project. In particular, we will discuss: 1) fast field scanning,…

Creating a Performance Context with Strategic Outcomes, Strategic Foresight, Strategic Planning, and Enterprise Risk Management

The Burnes Center’s InnovateUS program offers both an at-your-own pace curriculum focused on learning how to use data, technology and equitable engagement. The Center is…

Resolviendo Problemas Públicos con Inteligencia Colectiva

Beth Simone Noveck is joining this virtual discussion organized by Ideas Labs, where she will be presenting findings from The Burnes Center’s City Challenges program.…

InnovateUS Summer Series: Persuasive Memo Writing

In this one-hour virtual training, we will cover strategies for persuasive memo writing in order to help you write the killer memo to advance your…

InnovateUS Summer Series: Powerful Partnerships

In this one-hour virtual workshop, we will discuss different examples of partnerships, the advantages of cross-sector partnerships, and how to manage implementation challenges and risks.

InnovateUS Summer Series: Behavioral Insights

In this virtual workshop, you will learn about behavioral science concepts and explore tools that can help you develop and test policies and services that…

InnovateUS Summer Series: Defining Problems with Data

In this one-hour virtual workshop, we will describe how data can be used to help define and solve problems. You will walk away with an…

InnovateUS Summer Series: Defining Problems with People (Human Centered Design) – Interviewing and Journey Mapping

Human-centered design puts the end user of a product or service at the center of the development process. People practicing human-centered design observe and interview…

InnovateUS Summer Series: Innovation 101

In this 2-hour workshop, participants will develop their innovation literacy by exploring the concept of innovation, reflecting on their own examples and learning about how…

Oakland City Challenge Design Workshops

In collaboration with the City of Oakland and the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation, the Burnes Center and Mills College at Oakland ran an open…

Solving Public Problems Education Accelerator Coaching Program

With the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, the Burnes Center is running a coaching program to support global social innovators working to improve education, learning,…