Past Projects 
The Journalism Lab

The Journalism Lab, incubated at The Collaboratory, works with local residents – ‘citizen correspondents’ – who are passionate about learning core journalism skills (story pitching, writing, audio/podcast, video and photography), offering a bi-monthly ‘bureau meeting’ series where participants learn how to research, write, and pitch stories to newspapers, magazines, and websites. Attendance is currently online and free of charge.

The Journalism Lab, now an independent nonprofit organization, has graduated four classes of participants who have published more than a dozen stories in leading regional media.



Dayton Sewing Collaborative


The Dayton Sewing Collaborative is determined to make sewing a viable career option in the Ohio Valley. We are building a sewing makerspace and training facility in Dayton, Ohio to help people get jobs in industrial sewing, or build their own sewing-based businesses.


We can help with product development, prototyping, and small-run production of sewn products specializing in canvas and durable materials.

Learn More

Wright Brothers Institute


We are partnered with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), a $4B technology powerhouse, to energize world-class R&D collaborations and technology innovation.


With AFRL, we reach out to universities, small businesses, industry, federal, state and local government agencies, and international experts to solve complex problems in aerospace and national security. We also partner with AFRL, and regional, state and national economic development organizations to stimulate a vibrant industrial base by transferring technology from AFRL to businesses and the public sector. We do all this as a non-profit and neutral third party to facilitate free and open interchanges.

Office of Re-Entry


Ex-offenders come in many different shapes and sizes. In fact, there is great variety in the nature of the crimes they’ve committed. These crimes often produce profound wounds in their victims, who are our parents, spouses, siblings, children, friends, and neighbors.


The Montgomery County Community-Wide Ex-Offender Reentry Task Force members spent significant time contemplating the impact of these crimes, and the glaring fact that they were committed by the very people we aim to serve through this initiative.


 - Montgomery County Ex-Offender Reentry Task Force

Blue Sky Project

Founded in 2005 and relocated to Dayton in 2009 after four seasons in McHenry County, Illinois, Blue Sky Project is a summer experience that empowers professional artists from around the world and area teens to collaborate and build community through the creation of ambitious works of contemporary art and performance.
UD Magazine Article
TECH-ARTS Collaboration

The TECH-ARTS Collaboration, co-originated with Joe Sciabica, Director of the Air Force Research Lab, began with “what if” AFRL engineers and researchers could utilize the mental models and tools artists use to seek new approaches to immediate and long-term technology challenges.

The pilot, involving eight AFRL researchers and seven artists from multiple disciplines, opened everyone’s eyes to a whole new set of possibilities, generated three new R & D proposals, and resulted in the development of a new ideation tool, “Divergent Collaboration,” developed collaboratively for AFRL with the Wright Brothers Institute.

Today, the TECH-ARTS Collaboration has moved beyond the work at the base and spilled into the public sector, with the large group from both communities convening weekly to consider projects that have technology, arts and/or civicimpact.
Collaboration Accelerator 

The Collaboration Accelerator originated in 2014, a second-generation outgrowth of the 2011 TECH-ARTS Collaboration between AFRL, The Wright Brothers Institute and The Collaboratory. The concept came to life when Brian LaDuca, from UD’s Institute for Arts Nexus (now Institute of Applied Creativity for Transformation) and Kevin Hallinan, from UD’s School of Engineering joined the conversation. 

The Collaboration Accelerator, which was piloted in the summer of 2015, is focused on developing new approaches to problem solving and opportunity generation through trans-disciplinary collaboration. In its inaugural effort, 12 students from across the University of Dayton campus were selected to work on two challenges, one involving AFRL technology that offered opportunities for commercialization and one community challenge. The Collaboration Acceleration team members engaged with the challenge owners, outside subject-matter experts and a small group of innovation facilitators, against a two-fold objective, 1) provide outside the box idea-generation and solutions and 2) gain further insight into trans-disciplinary collaboration and how to enhance it.

Today, the Collaboration Accelerator sits inside UD’s Institute of Applied Creativity for Transformation (IACT), where it takes on multiple challenges from multiple stakeholders each summer. It also served as the catalyst for UD’s GEM-nasium, where trans-disciplinary collaboration involving up to a dozen classes per semester have been build into the curriculum.

Outdoor Markets 

3rd on Third is an Eclectic Outdoor Market that takes place on the 3rd Sunday of the month on East Third Street in Dayton - hence the name. 

A joint effort of the COLLABORATORY, the East Third Street Business Association and the Huffman Historic District, 3rd on Third Eclectic Outdoor Market features local artists and artisans, antiques, crafts, collectibles, fair trade, clothing, jewelry, handmade items, food trucks and more.

3rd on Third represents a first step in a larger strategic push to spark retail and residential development along East Third from Keowee to the intersection at Linden/Springfield and on into the Huffman Historic District, creating a diverse, vibrant, walkable and sustainable community that attracts a mix of young professionals, families, artists, and immigrants.



10 Living Cities Symposium 

In August 2008, Forbes published “America’s Ten Fastest Dying Cities” list. Purely data driven, this was one of those lists, positive or negative, that constantly pop up on the web to drive traffic. It surely drove traffic and a whole lot more. Rather than wallowing in our misery, the list became the catalyst for the Ten Living Cities symposium to celebrate some of the most imaginative urban renewal programs in the country.

Held on the one-year anniversary in August 2009, the inspiring event was attended by some 300 people and included representatives from 8 of the 10 cities. Forbes writer Josh Zumbrun gave the keynote. The day was highlighted
by presentations from Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, Buffalo ReUse founder Michael Gainer and Shannon Polk from Flint’s Mott Foundation, sharing their nationally-recognized land banking model.

Ten Living Cities created wonderful new connections and opportunities and resulted in new collaborations between communities, both from the event itself and the corresponding national media coverage, including NPR, the Wall Street
Journal and a follow-up opinion piece in Forbes.
Drum Dayton 
The purpose of Drum Dayton is twofold, 1) to celebrate the diversity of the region though the universal language of drumming and 2) to add creative energy and vibrancy to the downtown core. On November 2, 2013 on Courthouse Square in the heart of downtown, ten drum groups and individual percussionists, and one Bamboo Stick Orchestra made up of Drum Dayton attendees, performed for a diverse audience who shared in the spirit and energy emanating from the stage. 

While Drum Dayton was an ends unto itself, with the potential to grow, it really was intended a means to build community by bringing people together who would not normally find themselves together. We are confident that new conversations and collaborations will result from these improbable Drum Dayton connections.


 1Million1's 

Non Profit with a goal to disrupt traditional philanthropy and bring new voices and resources to the table when it comes to determining what the future of what our communities look like!

Conceptualized and beta-tested by Chicago tech start-up CEO Mike Doyle, The Collaboratory has built a national leadership team to brand and launch this national web platform to enhance philanthropy and engagement among Millennials and GenZs. Launched April 2019 

Ethnosh Dayton


Ethnosh is an organization created to get you in the know and out to eat at all of the excellent immigrant-owned international food businesses in your area. Pairing a rich online experience with real-world events, Ethnosh works to foster  cross-cultural discovery and enrichment, and to drive business to potentially underserved areas within your community. It’s a really delicious way to get involved.


5000+

ConnectionsMade

2500+

Individual Collaborators

97

Institutional Collaborators

44

 Initiatives Launched, Co-Created or In-Progress