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Launched in the spring 2026 semester, the Innovation and Design Lab for Business and Government (MBA 797) is a new experiential course offered at the at 911����. 

"The Innovation and Design Lab students approached KEYS 365's challenges with curiosity, compassion, and a genuine commitment to meaningful impact," says Deborah Casello, president of KEYS 365. "This work matters deeply because it will help KEYS 365 continue to empower more communities with free suicide prevention education." KEYS 365 is based in Fairfax, Virginia.

Created by its co-instructors, , director of the MBA and MS in Management programs at Costello, and , senior advisor at 911����’s University Business Consulting team and adjunct professor at Costello, the Innovation and Design Lab is a student-led course that was developed in partnership with , a corporate and community partner of Costello. 

“My vision for this course was to create an innovation experience that infuses an entrepreneurial, problem-solving mindset—one that is valuable whether students go on to become entrepreneurs, work in industry, serve in government, or lead in mission-driven organizations,” says Bellos. “Innovation is not just about launching new ventures; it is about learning how to engage with stakeholders, navigate ambiguity, test assumptions, and develop practical solutions under real constraints.” Working with a nonprofit, the students had to devise creative solutions with limited resources while meeting the timeline of their client. 

“Effective innovation begins with understanding human needs and designing meaningful experiences that solve practical problems in ways that create lasting impact. The course also taught me that in consulting, the problem a client initially presents is not always the problem that ultimately needs to be solved, and that process of discovery is often what leads to the most innovative and user-centered solutions.” 

— Lyne Joseph, Costello College of Business MBA student

Continuing the trend of increasing experiential learning curricula across Costello’s academic courses, Bellos and Foley collaborated on their overlapping areas of expertise and interests in design thinking and nonprofit organizations. After developing the course framework, Bellos and Foley connected with NobleReach Foundation, knowing they shared a commitment to experiential learning, mission-driven innovation, and preparing students to tackle meaningful, real-world challenges. 

To complement Foley’s background in innovation consulting with Fortune 500 companies and large nonprofits, they were able to tap into ���Dz������𲹳���’s resources for the social impact component. “Over eight weeks, 911���� students worked directly with , a mental health and suicide prevention organization, to tackle two challenges that constrain small nonprofits everywhere: how to build sustainable fundraising without burning out leadership, and how to recruit and screen volunteers for emotionally demanding work,” says Jessica Knocklein, education manager at NobleReach Foundation. “They talked to stakeholders, tested their thinking, and delivered practical solutions. That process is exactly what the next generation of mission-driven leaders need: the ability to bring an entrepreneurial mindset to the hardest problems communities face.” 

The course was experiential from day one, led by students rather than instructors. “We didn’t start with a lecture,” says Foley. “The student teams kicked off each class, presenting their field work from the past week, noting ‘this is what we did, this is what we learned, this is how things changed.’ I was really impressed with the level of ownership.” Students did customer interviews every week, pushing them to develop and iterate innovative solutions in a fast-paced, real-world environment. 

“The course was not only a great opportunity to apply what we had learned throughout the MBA program, but it also gave us new tools that I think are crucial for every MBA student to know about,” says David Pagan, a Costello MBA student. “Some of the best businesses in the world solve problems with design thinking, and I’m excited to take the lessons I learned here to tackle whatever challenges I take on next.” 

A major takeaway for Lyne Joseph, another Costello MBA student, was learning that in people-centered work and business, it does not have to be one or the other. “Effective innovation begins with understanding human needs and designing meaningful experiences that solve practical problems in ways that create lasting impact,” she says. “The course also taught me that in consulting, the problem a client initially presents is not always the problem that ultimately needs to be solved, and that process of discovery is often what leads to the most innovative and user-centered solutions.” 

“The Innovation and Design Lab students approached KEYS 365’s challenges with curiosity, compassion, and a genuine commitment to meaningful impact,” says Deborah Casello, president of KEYS 365. “This work matters deeply because it will help KEYS 365 continue to empower more communities with free suicide prevention education.” 

By integrating innovation and design thinking frameworks with hands-on experiential learning, the Innovation and Design Lab provides a space for Costello students to take ownership of their work and navigate complex, real-world challenges with confidence. Furthermore, through strategic business partnerships like these, students learn to address the needs of clients, lead with empathy, and deliver solutions that create meaningful impact. 

Ioannis Bellos and Natalie Foley have been selected to speak more about the course at the this September.