RI Commerce
*The Launchpad State

Rhode Island's startup ecosystem had spent decades in Boston and New York's shadow — struggling for recognition, investment, and momentum. I worked with OCTO and Big Dreams, sponsored by the URI Research Foundation, to deliver a strategic recommendation to the Secretary of Commerce. Rather than benchmarking against larger markets and closing gaps incrementally — the conventional economic development playbook — we applied idealist design at the ecosystem level. We defined a preferable future for 2035: Rhode Island as "The Little Launchpad State," a globally connected startup ecosystem that had attracted billions in investment.

From that vision, we worked backward to a quantifiable North intentionally ambitious enough to change the conversation entirely and force new thinking across historically siloed stakeholders.

Agency Partners—OCTO, Big Dreams

[Idealist Design]