This year, IDEO.org turns 15.

The world has changed quite a bit since our founding back in 2011, and while we love a good reflection, ours is a moment inviting us to trade reflection for action.

Fractures have become a defining symbol of this era, touching everything from our systems to the ties between us. Wading through the consequences has been overwhelming. And yet, as designers, we're trained to see fractures as invitations — and inside this one, alongside the grief, is a generational call to rewrite what's possible, shoulder to shoulder with those most impacted by our greatest challenges.

We see health systems built to hold, so no one falls through the cracks. We see pathways to learning, work, and care redesigned so opportunity belongs to everyone. And for the millions forced from their homes, we see solutions that refuse to let displacement become diminishment.

Fifteen years in, we're clear-eyed and unwavering in our belief that a better world, where we might all thrive and author our own futures, is imminent.

That optimism is fueling our next era. We're doubling down on relationships and shared humanity as our greatest resource, bringing co-design and co-creation into everything we do. We're also putting our full weight behind three anchors that have always shaped our work: Health, Resilience, and Opportunity.

Medicine has advanced, but care has been rationed. We design coalitions, services, and strategies alongside communities to restore care worthy of the name.

In an age of disruption, people have been left to carry resilience on their own. We design services and strategies that carry the load, so the millions forced to move and the millions fighting to stay can adapt and endure with dignity.

The windows to reshape work, care, and learning have opened all at once. We design programs, strategies, and products alongside the communities who have always powered these systems, so what gets built in this moment is built for an abundant, choice-filled life.

The arrival of the year of the Fire Horse feels like an omen made for this moment. A perfect mirror of our momentum, our desire for action over analysis, and our headlong sprint towards a future where we may all thrive.

Suffice to say, we’re entering this next era galvanized, and we’re reaching for the hands of everyone ready to rewrite what’s possible.

With you,
Michelle Kreger