2012 has been a year of evolution at New Leaf. Staying true to our founding in 2010, we have pushed forward with an open mind that is constantly seeking to fill niches currently unmet in the social innovation space. As a result, our team has kept quite busy this year. In this report, you’ll see some of the work that we’ve been catalyzing and get a glimpse at the many projects that have walked through New Leaf’s door. You’ll also get a chance to meet some of the people and faces behind all of this great work! Through these projects, we have been able to narrow down on the unique value that our organization plays in the world and how we can best support people in making positive, radical change in the world.

Here’s a little bit of what we have learned...

In 2010, we launched New Leaf by creating a community of dreamers and doers called the allies. These individuals lived all over the world and had immense diversity in their skill-sets and interests. At the time, we had no idea what would come out of the ally community, but we knew it was important to start identifying those amongst us who deeply cared

about making a difference in the word.

After gathering more than 125 people and facilitating numerous virtual hangouts for everyone to meet, we took a step back in the summer of 2012 and asked ourselves how we could evolve; and to what extent the allies served the organization. Through months of conversation, listening and brainstorming, we came to the tough decision to end the ally community. Despite filling an important role in launching New Leaf and gaining excitement for those that walked in our door (who saw the map with little yellow dots identifying where everyone was located), we realized that our efforts were better spent focusing on the allies surrounding us in our immediate community, State College. It was a hard realization, but as a small and nimble organization, we wanted to be honest to ourselves and those apart of the organization in what we were able to provide. The ally community simply became too much of a time-sink for our team.

So in the Fall of 2012, we relaunched our website and removed the official ally community and replaced it with an updated list of projects. By no longer focusing on updating each and every ally, we were able to focus a considerable

more amount of time to the projects themselves. And something incredible happened.

Almost overnight, our organization became more decentralized and the surrounding community no longer looked to us to identify themselves as changemakers. Instead, they self-identified and began launching projects at an incredible rate. The allies that were critical to founding New Leaf had become a hindrance to our evolution 2 years later. But by putting a greater focus on the projects, the community became more deeply invested in the work we were doing. We still have

ideas of when we may bring the ally community back, but that’s for another year and another report!

As we look into 2013, we have some big projects on the horizon, specifically surrounding our co.space initiative that you will read more about later in this report. But despite the size or stage that any of these projects are currently at, we are excited in their growth and ability to profoundly change our communities for the better. Thank you to everyone who has believed in New Leaf from the early days and for those of you who continue to stand with us today. Here’s to

a better tomorrow!!

To our many Friends, Rebels, Supporters, and Advisors...

~The New Leaf Team -

SPECIAL NOTEA

IMPACTAREAS

CONNECTIONS Team Building - Mentors/ExpertiseIntroducing like-minded people

Visualizing the concept

Gathering Financial Support

Translating ideas to paper

Getting the word out

Skilled Resources - Organizational Partners

Proposal - Business Plan

Graphic Design - Web Design - Video - Photography

Social Media - Press Release - Coomunity Mobilization

Sponsors - Grants - Donations - In-Kind

BRANDING

SYNTHESIS

PUBLICITY

FUNDING

Our 5 Areas of Impact

the co.spaceThe co.space (www.thecospace.com) is an international network of co-living spaces for students and young professionals passionate about social innovation. Each co.space home places university students passionate about social innovation alongside experienced changemakers, ranging from social entrepreneurs to community organizers, for two years. In the home, students work on local community projects, global internships, and are connected with personal mentors. Our purpose is to grow and nurture future world-changers by creating and connecting encouraging environments for their innovation and creativity.

The first home will be launched in State College, PA in August 2013. As of the year end, the first class of students have been accepted and the team is in the process of purchasing the property that will house a total of 21 people. Cities to scale to next are currently being pursued so that the program can begin to expand its network and reach.

A quick note about the co.space project?

THE CO.SPACE

Do Life Better, Together

MilestonesIdentified an appropriate property to purchase and was connected with local realtors

Received a grant from the Centre Foundation

Won the Mobilize.org Pennsylvania Civic Engagement 2012 Award

Won the 2012 Green Economy Eco-Business Innovation Initiative Competition

Obtained personal investors to purchase the property

Assembled a team of 30 interns to develop proposal

Developed branding and overview video

Won the AshokaU 2012 GOOD Maker Challenge Award for top disruptive innovation in higher

education

Developed in-depth business plan

Received 40+ student applicants for the program

PROJECTS

PROJECTSAfter an idea has planted

itself among some motivated

individuals, they develop clear

objectives and milestones to

structure their process and

growth as a team + idea.

WILD SCHOLARS

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

Create interest driven, community-based project learning programs in local schools,

and identify the key concepts needed to develop a fully sustainable and replicable

system. The team is currently working with Darrell Velegol (author of Wild Scholars)

and Park Forest Elementary to pilot some experiments.

“New Leaf has helped the project most

specifically by being a space where project

ideas can be bounced around and talked about

openly and freely. Suggestions come easily,

support comes often, and that’s been a big

help thus far.” ~ Matt McGee

Assembled a team

Began working with Darrell Velegol (Author + Mentor)

Introduced to Park Forest Elementary

Acquired donated shipping container

Ran pilot curriculum projects on

recycling at PFE

Connected with the Learning Enrichment program of SCASD

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

GreenTowers is a micro-farming social business initiative, conceptualized by a

multidisciplinary Penn State student team. The business model is designed with the

intention of delivering hyper localized, small-footprint organic agricultural production

into the hands of everyday citizens, community groups, small grower/producers,

and on-site restaurants. The team will be constructing vertical aquaponics system

into recycled shipping containers during their prototype phase.

Educate 20/20 (www.educate2020.com) is a month-long roadtrip in February 2013

from NYC to San Diego to visit and uncover the top education innovations around the

country. The project goal is to create a clear vision of what the future of education

might look like by 2020 and how entrepreneurial thinking may influence and disrupt

the education system as we know it. The team will be filming a documentary of the

trip and are partnering with organizations like AshokaU to make the trip a reality.

“New Leaf has given me the support I needed to

create my educational dreams where traditional

education left off. They’ve given me exactly the

resources I needed and the confidence to fail

boldly in order to achieve those dreams.”

“New Leaf helped me to meet some new, great

and passionate people, and they have advanced

my project goals far beyond the scope I could

have accomplished otherwise.”

GREEN TOWERS

Educate 20/20 Roadtour

~Dustin Betz

~Rachel Thor

Utilized nonprofit status for crowdfunding

Secured spot to present at the

AshokaU Exchange

Built expert team through networking

Identified key city

destinations to visit

Website & Logo Design

VideoProduction

Recieved donatedMotorhome for the trip

Introduced team members

Won AG Springboard Competition

Video Production for AG Springboard

Comptetion

Identified Mechanical Engineer to join team

Acquired donated shipping container

Won MNE Innovation

Competition

Secured PSU engineering

capstone team

FRESHLY

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

In the Fall of 2012, a team began working alongside the State College Area Mobile

Home Residents and Tenants Association to keep the Hilltop Mobile Home Park from

being rezoned. As an alternative to closure, the team worked with homeowners

at Hilltop to propose forming a residents’ cooperative to purchase the park and

establish it as a stable neighborhood and a much-needed housing resource.

Freshly is a business which is dedicated to reversing the trend of unhealthy eating

habits in college students. To develop a following of potential customers, the team

created (1) a Facebook page for healthy eating tips, local healthy food specials,

and easy recipes for college students, (2) a Twitter account which links interesting

articles about convenient, healthy eating for busy lifestyles, (3) and LiveFreshly.

com (under construction) which will serve as a blog for team members to talk about

their health eating experiences.

SAVE HILLTOP

“New Leaf, in my opinion, is one of Penn State’s

most underutilized resources for students

aspiring to make positive change in our society.

At any given time of the day, you can drop in

and expect to be captivated by some of the

coolest ideas around, and more importantly,

some of the coolest people around.”

“Since September, when we were first told our community would be closing, New Leaf has been supporting our campaign to preserve Hilltop Mobile Home Park by utilizing the creative talents of program directors and students. We are grateful to New Leaf for their organizational support and for bringing our community’s plight to local attention while helping us frame it in the larger context of regional affordable housing needs.”

Developed business plan

concept

Launched Social Media

Sites

Designed Company

Logo

Conducted quick feedback sessions with students on the street

Mobilized volunteers for community flyering

Launched Website

Introduced to local food leaders, farmers & mayor

~Matthew Rooke

~ Matthew Dantone

Increased awareness and gained supporters for a letter campaign

Presented at College Township Council Hearing

Built websiteSaveHilltop.org

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

The affordable housing team is developing community designs which emphasize

high-quality, small footprint housing, provide a wealth of shared community

spaces (kitchen, garden, playground, lounge, guest rooms) to supplement small

private spaces, and offer community-owned cooperative models as an alternative

to developers/property managers.

The Happy Valley Time Bank was started in 2012 with three primary goals: (1)

Strengthening the fabric of our community, (2) serving people and give them a

means to serve, and (3) establishing new relationships and meet real needs of our

community members. Timebanks are a pattern of reciprocal service exchange that

use units of time as currency.

“The Happy Valley Time Bank could not have been possible without the networking help that connected our team. They also provided the planning tools and space to meet to take the idea to creation stage. We also see New Leaf as a launching point for informing change agents about the project.”

“Doing projects in the real world is difficult. It is also important to be well-connected in the community you hope to work for. Through New Leaf, we had the opportunity to connect with a diverse group of people. This wide range of interests and skills definitely sparks creativity and innovation.”

happy valley time bank

affordable housing

~Rachel Fawcett

~Sean Morgan

Assembled team of architects and community planners

Submitted proposal for affordable housing community to local land owner

Introduced to community landowner interested in

affordable housingAttended community affordable housing events

Introduced team members

Purchased Timebank software for Website

Promoted onsocial networks

Launched the local Timebank Website

Introduced to Penn State researchers developing

timebank mobile app

~Kerry Small

PLASTIC BAG BAN

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

Rattle the Box was developed in the summer of 2012 as a social business in

partnership with Surge Business Development, to create an online platform to help

parents help their students make the transition to college. The site allows parents

of incoming freshman to find local products and experiences that they can give as

a gift to their new student, who is then able to redeem it at a local retailer.

Many cities around the world have already eliminated plastic bags because of

their inherent wastefulness and negative economic and environmental impact.

The plastic bag ban team is focused on creating a plastic bag free downtown

State College. They are working on developing an advocacy campaign that will

influence local policy-making.

RATTLE! THE BOX

“New Leaf quickly connected me with State College Borough Council members that are supportive of my project. They are an extremely effective catalyst for completing sustainability projects. I still can’t believe it actually exists!”

KERRY TESTIMONY

~Kerry Small

~ Jake Plevelich

Provided design team to prototype site

Identified State College retailer

partners

Video & Graphics produced

Competed in Ben Franklin Techcelerator

Launched beta site to incoming Penn State freshmen

Began advocacy campaign Promotion on Social Media

Introduction to Borough Council Members

Each and every day,

creatives and innovative

individuals find their way into

our office. On the pages that

follow you will find some of the

ideas that have found their way

onto our walls, and where New

Leaf has provided impact.

IDEAS

O U R I M P A C T

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

The globalization of currency drives a disconnect in knowledge of our investments, enables global companies to externalize their impacts, and separates investors from the benefit of this money staying within their own community. The locavest project is exploring ways to develop more local investment opportunities in small towns across the US through investment crowdfunding.

LOCAVEST

> Assembled team

> Introduced to professor working in rural economics

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O NP R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

O U R I M P A C T

The rail trail project is an effort to support rail trail planners with additional resources to make the case for a rail trail. In addition to focusing on the engineering costs and requirements for preparing the trail, what other metrics could be presented to make a more favorable case? For example: Does the trail knit together small businesses / shops, could the trail have a theme, with promoted stops, tourism?

O U R I M P A C T

The student farm is a 7-acre permaculture educational agriculture playground located within 5 miles of campus. Students will be able to work on the farm, raising animals and vegetable crops, while learning about sustainable agriculture and homesteading skills. Eventually, opening opportunities for on-farm student assistantships.

O U R I M P A C T

> Assembled team

> Introduced to Gregg Township Council member

> Assembled team> Interest Farm + Owner with property> Developed student farm proposal> Developed proposal for housing on student farm

> Assembled team> Identified desire for bike share and developed proposal> Introduced to Penn State Bike Share club> Introduced to sustainability council and UPAC

BIKE SHARE STUDENT FARM

RAIL TRAIL

Bike Share programs provide access to bicycles when and where individuals need them. The bike share team is looking to develop a sharing platform for the PSU campus and downtown state college that will enable students and community members to checkout and use bicycles utilizing a cellphone powered interfaces.

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O NP R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O NP R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

O U R I M P A C T

While cars address the majority of our transportation needs, in many cases, its an overcompensation - the same value could be achieved by lighter, shorter-range, slower, and cheaper vehicles.The human powered vehicles project seeks to increase options for alternative vehicles by identifying barriers to riding bicycles, and designing vehicles in response to each.

O U R I M P A C T

O U R I M P A C T

The living wall team designed a living wall to be constructed on the municipal building in downtown State College. The wall will serve as a reminder of the commitment to sustainability the city has made. To integrate the wall more deeply into the community, sections of plant material will be integrated with sections to mount artwork.

O U R I M P A C T

Operation Collaboracam is designed to improve communication among innovative spaces within State College, PA by installing a webcam and digital collaboration system. The Collaboracam network will feed video to a central online location and allow participants to share ideas and ask questions to other members connected within the system.

> Assembled team> Connected to student thesis researching motivations / obstacles for bicycle transportation> Facilitated field trip to Recumbent Bike Shop

> Assembled team> Introduced team to local landscaping company> Developed living wall proposal> Presented to Borough council> Facilitated field trip to construct a mini living wall

> Developed proposal document

> Secured Penn State engineering capstone team

> Connected with web development

> Introduced to community network

PS YOU CONNECTCOLLABORACAM

LIVING WALL HUMAN POWERED VEHICLES

Students are often unaware of opportunities available to them. PsYOUconnect is a web platform that seeks enable students to connect with groups and organizations on campus, in the community, and on a national and global level. psYOUconnect will include a directory of groups whose focus falls under the umbrella of social innovation and entrepreneurship, sustainability, local agriculture,

outdoor activities, or anywhere in between.

O U R I M P A C T

O U R I M P A C T

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

Next Idea is an online think tank that invites leaders to join a Google hangout and discuss big ideas ranging from education reform, innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability. Next Idea hopes to promote problem solving, sustainability, and innovation by streaming our discussions through YouTube Live, and by inviting you to continue them by providing a website platform to connect with other like-minded individuals.

Purchase Empower seeks to bring transparency to food and product supply chains to educate businesses and consumers of effects of purchasing decisions. We hope to provide businesses with marketing materials that can clearly show customers the sustainability initiatives an organization has been making.

O U R I M P A C T

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

The Build a Better Campaign consists of three phases: a GOOD Maker Challenge, a TEDxPSU Bootcamp, and a Dialogue experiment; all designed to engage the State College and Penn State community in discovering and implementing creative ideas to build a better future for our home and university.

> Introduced team of education specialists> Built youtube channel> Hosted first conversation> Business Plan Canvas exercise

> Connected to TEDxPSU and www.GOOD.is

> Developed project proposal

> Assembled team> Connected with supply chain researchers at PSU> Facilitated field trip to local farms and restaurants

Purchase empower

P R O J E C T D E S C R I P T I O N

NEXT IDEA

BUILDing A BETTER