Photo: three people seated on stage for a panel discussion under blue light.
About us
A philanthropic purpose with a business-oriented mindset
Who we serve
Built for self-employment, from idea to operation
The Solutions Lab is built for individuals with disabilities who are pursuing self-employment, whether at the idea stage or already in motion.
Unlike accelerators focused on rapid scaling, we support small-scale businesses designed to provide real, sustained employment for the owner and their team.
Many of these entrepreneurs don’t have a credit history, so they can’t access traditional financing such as loans or lines of credit from banks. This gap is especially sharp in mid-size communities and rural areas, where both financial and social capital are hard to find.
Ingredients for success
Who we prioritize, and why
The Solutions Lab wants every entrepreneur to be successful. Unfortunately, we cannot serve every entrepreneur, no matter how compelling the work.
To foster shared success, we will prioritize the following for participation in The Solutions Lab:
- Entrepreneurs with disabilities pursuing self-employment to build a career
- Businesses that have been in operation for at least 12 months with a track record of success
- Entrepreneurs that can clearly articulate the value proposition, market opportunity, and future plans of their business
- Businesses that need capital to meet a specific initiative or to meet a defined opportunity to grow the company
The Solutions Lab realizes that every entrepreneur is in a different stage of their journey, and businesses of all sizes need capital.
What matters most to The Solutions Lab is supporting entrepreneurs, no matter how small their business, who have shown they are ready to take the next step forward in their journey and have a clear plan for how to take that next step.
We help people build their dreams. We do not lend time and money in the hope that a dream becomes a reality.
How we think
Why a nonprofit runs like a business
The Solutions Lab has a philanthropic purpose, but it operates with a business-oriented mindset. There are two reasons for this.
- Donors expect impact. They want their funds to create the most impact in a reasonable time, something the private sector does well.
- We model what we teach. If our entrepreneurs are expected to generate a profit, The Solutions Lab must do the same.
All profits earned by The Solutions Lab are turned back into the organization.
Bob Ludke, Founder and Executive Director
Over his career, Bob Ludke has advised policymakers in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, taught at the United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya, and provided counsel on sustainability, corporate governance, and supply chain management strategies for companies across the global economy.
As the co-founder of Value Inclusion and as a fellow at The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement, Bob works with private and public-sector organizations to advance competitive integrated employment for persons with disabilities, scale universal design principles and make the world more accessible for everyone.
He is the author of Case Studies in Disability-Driven Innovation, an Amazon bestseller, and Transformative Markets.
Advisory Committee
Five senior advisors provide counsel to The Solutions Lab as we build and scale our operations, raise our profile, and work with entrepreneurs.