“This course was the greatest, hands down, no questions asked. I learned so much about myself over this semester. It forced me to get honest and ask myself questions that one doesn't normally ponder when moving through the motions of every day life. Introspection is HARD. I have a tendency to doubt myself, to be hard on myself.... but the exercises we performed helped me realize it's OK not to have all the answers. No one does.... But this isn't a negative. Before this class, I viewed not having all the answers to my life plan as an issue. While I often still have to remind myself that it's OK not to know the next move, I am more prepared and ready to face these difficult questions head on.”

— JHU Grad Student, Problem Solving and Innovation

Welcome to the course “Problem Solving and Innovation” as we explore concepts of innovation, sustainability, and impact to be the solution to some of the world’s biggest, hairiest, most audacious problems. I am thrilled to be going on this journey with you.

This course was designed out of one big need: the world needs innovators who can lead like never before. Why? Lives are depending on it. There are big problems in the world affecting millions of people. Combining the right tools and empathetic approach, you can be the solution to some of the biggest problems. This course will help you explore and apply concepts of design thinking, human centered design, and the lean startup with tools like empathy mapping to better help those you serve.

I am looking forward to hearing your story and passion that drives you to improve the lives of those around you.

This course will take us outside the four walls and apply this innovation process in real life to best help those in need. If you have a passion project/venture you are working to launch or scale, then this class will help you gain the tools you need beyond the classroom. 

As your guide this semester, my passion and purpose is rooted in finding solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems. As a serial entrepreneur and innovator, I have seen first hand how these concepts have provided solutions for clean water in Haiti, poverty in southern Belize, business owners in Guatemala and Honduras, and right here in the U.S. 

Let’s go change some lives.

Philip

Philip Harding bio:

Philip is an impact-driven entrepreneur, investor, international speaker, and has worked with change makers at over 20 universities and in the jungles of Central America. In the last year, over 6,000 completed his innovation and impact programs in five languages. He is global speaker, facilitator, and executive coach on innovation and impact-driven entrepreneurship. He is requested to work with government leaders, the US State Department, leaders of large investment funds, and international non-profit organizations. He designed and teaches a masters-level required course on innovation and problem-solving as a member of the faculty at Johns Hopkins University. He has been a judge for Startup Istanbul, Harvard President’s Innovation Challenge, a mentor at the Harvard Innovation Lab, and keynote speaker at innovation and impact investment events from Uzbekistan and Indonesia to Guatemala and the United Arab Emirates. 

While serving as youth pastor in California with his family, he felt a strong call to government, public service, and entrepreneurship. 

After home school for high school, he went on to complete three degrees in Applied Art and Design, Computer Information Systems, and Business - and advanced certifications at Stanford University. 

He completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at Harvard University and Harvard Kennedy School with a focus on bringing private solutions to the world’s biggest public problems. He was the first distance student ever elected a Harvard student president - first elected while living in California over 3,000 miles away - and was later elected Harvard university-wide student president. In 2014, he was selected to deliver the graduate commencement speech about divine destiny and “going to serve the world with passion” with an audience of over 30,000 in Harvard Yard. 

He served as a Legislative Fellow in US Congress, and at graduation, was selected as a Presidential Fellow. 

In the US Federal Government, he served as senior advisor for innovation and government modernization, from the White House to the Pentagon, on $80 billion in transformation projects. He helped scale the Presidential Innovation Fellows and launched The Great Pitch, which invested over $16 million in good-for-government ideas, now US government’s internal “Venture Capital” arm. 

Philip is helping entrepreneurs, investors, government leaders, pastors, and other leaders solve the biggest, hairiest, most audacious problems in the world as co-founder and CEO of IMPACTJUNKIE. 

IMPACTJUNKIE empowers adventurous doers to “go change some lives today” through creative impact projects, investment deals, and support with a global network of entrepreneurs and investors. With over 100+ IMPACTJUNKIE projects focused on entrepreneurship and innovation education on every continent, thousands of Impact Junkies around the world are working to change lives together.

He loves coffee, extreme sports, and adventure with his family in Northern Virginia. 

He describes his life story as “being on a mission to change as many lives as possible in the short amount of time he has been given.”

Let’s get after it.