At the Arthritis Society, we want to advance our innovation strategy and boldly help people with arthritis. This project will require close collaboration with the Vice President of Innovation and the executive team.

The 3 project goals and deliverables are:

1. Create a master list of all potential incubators, academic partners and venture capital companies that the Arthritis Society can connect with as part of the "Arthritis Ideator Program".

2. Create and develop a proposal for a new Ideator initiative that connects directly with universities/colleges.

3. Support the VP of Innovation in launching the 2023 Arthritis Ideator Awards program.

Some of the tasks required to achieve the project goal are:

- Complete a robust scan of all potential incubators, entrepreneurs, academic partners and venture capital companies that could potentially align with our Arthritis Ideator Program; document and create a list/database of these groups/individuals.

- Outreach and connection to Canada-wide innovation hubs; uncovering potential partnerships and relationship to advance the program.

- Complete a scan of current Ideator 'contests' or initiatives in the academic space (Universities/Colleges).

- Interview or implement a focus groups with key academic partners to generate ideas on what type of contests/initiatives would be worth considering, future focused.

- Collate findings from these scans and interviews to develop a proposal for a new Ideator Initiative that focuses on students in Universities/Colleges.

- Help to launch the 2023 Arthritis Ideator Awards in collaboration with the VP of Innovation.

Students will connect directly with the VP of Innovation, the President and CEO, as well as other members of the executive team for mentorship, guidance and supervision throughout the project.