AMI, an innovation learning community

What AMI, an innovation learning community does

AMI (Association for Innovation) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit innovation learning community founded in 1983 out of the Center for Creative Leadership. The organization operates as a membership-based community serving innovation leaders, educators and researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovation funders across corporate, nonprofit, government, and independent segments. Its core activities are human-centered rather than technology-centered: AMI does not develop proprietary software or platforms, and instead delivers value through structured dialogue, experiential learning formats, and intergenerational peer exchange governed by explicit values including authenticity, reciprocity, and a prohibition on commercial selling at meetings. The organization's branded methodologies — "Positive Turbulence" and "Beg, Brag, What If" — frame its in-person and virtual programming.

The core product is the AMI Membership Program, offered in four tiers: Corporate Sponsored ($650/year), Non-Profit/Government ($550/year), Independent ($450/year), and Fellow/Yoda ($120/year or $12/month, approval-gated). Members receive access to one annual in-person spring gathering, three virtual learning exchanges, a private LinkedIn group, a book club, and 1:1 member connections. The annual gathering generates secondary revenue through non-member registration ($1,795–$1,995) and member-discounted tickets ($1,395–$1,595+), with optional add-ons including the Babson-hosted AI Innovators Bootcamp ($150) and the Boston Innovation Trail ($50). A 2026 spring gathering titled "AI: Becoming Students Again" is scheduled for April 22–24 in Cambridge, MA, co-developed with Babson College's AI Generator Lab. Auxiliary revenue comes from tax-deductible donations supporting AMI Community Fellowships, and AMI maintains the Positive Turbulence podcast as a content channel.

The go-to-market motion is community-led: growth is driven by member referrals, personal invitations, and the private LinkedIn group rather than traditional marketing. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors drawn from Ahold Delhaize, AAMC, Defense Logistics Agency, Share Our Strength, Colorado College, NextWAVE Innovation, and the Center for Creative Leadership, with a separate "Positive Turbulators" cohort of next-generation innovators shaping programming. AMI is headquartered at a Greensboro, NC mailing address (PO Box 38636), has no parent company, no disclosed funding rounds, and operates on a small staff consistent with a community-sized nonprofit.

Name

AMI, an innovation learning community

Legal name

AMI (Association for Innovation)

Website

https://aminnovation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

AMI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit innovation learning community founded in 1983, serving innovation leaders, educators, entrepreneurs, and funders through tiered annual memberships, in-person spring gatherings, virtual learning exchanges, and the Positive Turbulence methodology.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Development Services

NAICS

Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Innovation & Design Thinking Programs (EDAMAHAD)

Keywords

• Innovation learning community
• Professional development membership
• Innovation leadership peer network
• Experiential leadership gatherings
• Nonprofit professional association

Headquarters

HQ city

Greensboro

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Annual Membership Dues: AMI generates revenue through annual membership dues paid by individuals sponsored by corporations, nonprofits, government organizations, or self-paying independent members. Membership fees range from $450 to $650 annually, with a special Fellow/Yoda tier at $120/year or $12/month.
2. Meeting and Event Registration Fees: AMI charges registration fees for annual community gatherings held in-person. Non-member meeting fees range from $1,795 to $1,995 depending on sponsorship type, with optional add-ons including pre-workshops and innovation trail experiences at additional costs.
3. Donations: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, AMI accepts tax-deductible donations from supporters to fund community activities and expand access for next-generation leaders through community fellowships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

AMI operates a nonprofit innovation learning community that connects individual innovation leaders through annual membership, in-person annual gatherings, virtual meetings, and curated experiential learning programs. Members engage via member-led rituals (Positive Turbulence, Beg/Brag/What If), the Positive Turbulence podcast, and special programs such as the AI Innovators Bootcamp, the Boston Innovation Trail, and topical gatherings like "AI: Becoming Students Again."

Product overview

AMI is a nonprofit innovation learning community operating as a single, unified membership-based program. The core offering is the annual AMI Membership, which provides access to face-to-face annual gatherings, three virtual learning exchanges per year, informal community circles (book club), a private LinkedIn group, and 1:1 member connections. Major branded gatherings include the Face-to-Face Annual Gatherings and the AI: Becoming Students Again spring 2026 event. Optional add-on experiences include the AI Innovators Bootcamp at Babson College and the Boston Innovation Trail. The community also maintains the Positive Turbulence Podcast as a branded content channel.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Positive Turbulence: AMI's concept that by inserting some turbulence into thinking or organizations, opportunities for ideas to collide and innovation to thrive can be created.
• Beg, Brag, What If

Products and services

• AMI Membership Program Annual membership in the AMI innovation learning community, granting access to the private LinkedIn group, virtual gatherings, the Positive Turbulence podcast, member rituals, and eligibility to attend in-person annual gatherings. Available in tiered pricing for corporate-sponsored, non-profit/government-sponsored, independent/self-paying, Fellow/Yoda, and Student/Educator members.
• Face-to-Face Annual Gathering The flagship in-person annual gathering of AMI members, typically held in a U.S. host city, featuring peer-led sessions, experiential rituals such as Positive Turbulence and Beg/Brag/What If, keynote conversations, and member networking. Available to AMI members at discounted registration and to invited non-members at higher registration.
• Virtual Gatherings Recurring online sessions for AMI members that sustain peer engagement between in-person gatherings, including topical discussions, guest conversations, and member-led workshops accessible through virtual meeting platforms.
• Positive Turbulence Podcast A podcast produced by AMI that features conversations with innovation leaders and explores the community's experiential learning methodology, including the Positive Turbulence and Beg/Brag/What If rituals. Distributed through standard podcast channels.
• AI Innovators Bootcamp An optional, deeper-dive experiential program for AMI members focused on applied innovation practice, delivered as an add-on to membership and offered alongside core gatherings.
• Boston Innovation Trail An optional curated on-site experience tied to the Boston innovation ecosystem, available as a member add-on to in-person gatherings.
• AI: Becoming Students Again Gathering A specialized gathering for AMI members focused on AI as a learning topic, framing senior innovation leaders as students again and connecting them with educators, researchers, and AI practitioners in the community.

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and flagship.

• Boston Innovation TrailminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 April 2026Dr. Robert Krim (Boston History & Innovation Collaborative) and Scott Kirsner (formerly Boston Globe Innovation Economy column) lead an optional post-gathering walking tour through Cambridge and Boston, exploring four centuries of innovation breakthroughs. This experience serves as a capstone to AMI's Boston gathering, showcasing the region's innovation legacy.
• Babson College AI Generator LabcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 April 2026The Generator at Babson College serves as the host venue for AMI's 2026 spring gathering in Cambridge. AMI participants experience core elements of The Generator's AI Innovators Bootcamp, an initiative to train 1,000 Small Business Owners in AI for business growth. Professor Erik Noyes and Babson student fellows collaborate with AMI to deliver hands-on AI literacy workshops and live demonstrations of cutting-edge AI tools.
• Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)flagshipOthersAMI was born out of the Center for Creative Leadership. Stanley S. Gryskiewicz, AMI's Founder and Board Chair Emeritus, is retired from his VP role at CCL. Sylvester Taylor, Past Chair of AMI's Board, currently serves as Director of Thought Leadership at CCL. CCL images and events are featured in AMI's historical materials.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• IDEO: IDEO is a pioneering design and innovation consultancy with an alumni community, U.Lab platform, and public programming. It overlaps with AMI's innovation-practitioner audience and human-centered methodology but is fundamentally a commercial firm rather than a membership community.
• The Conference Board: The Conference Board is a long-established, dues-funded business membership organization providing research, peer networks, and executive conferences. It serves a comparable enterprise-sponsor member base but operates at much larger scale across all executive functions, not innovation specifically.
• Singularity University: Singularity University runs executive programs, summits, and a global community around exponential technologies and innovation. It targets a similar innovation-leader persona and competes for the same AI/innovation programming budget, though at much larger scale and with a for-profit orientation.

Direct peers

• Aspen Institute: Aspen Institute is a 501(c)(3) membership-driven leadership and ideas community running seminars, gatherings, and policy programs. Like AMI, it monetizes through dues and events, convenes cross-sector leaders, and operates values-driven, non-commercial dialogue spaces.
• Center for Creative Leadership: CCL is the founding organization of AMI and a global nonprofit leader in leadership development and innovation research. It shares AMI's practitioner-researcher orientation and serves similar innovation and creative-leadership audiences, making it the closest comparable for mission, methodology, and target persona.
• Society for Organizational Learning (SoL): SoL is a global, member-based learning community for organizational learning and innovation practitioners. It directly parallels AMI's horizontal community-of-practice model, peer learning methodology, and cross-industry dialogue format.
• PopTech: PopTech is a nonprofit innovation community that convenes leaders around breakthrough ideas through an annual gathering, fellowships, and a media platform. It competes for the same innovation-leader audience and shares AMI's gathering-plus-fellowship-plus-content model.
• Creative Education Foundation: CEF is a nonprofit community advancing creative thinking and innovation practice (rooted in CPS/TRIZ traditions). It mirrors AMI's nonprofit, member-driven, learning-community model focused on creativity and innovation practitioners — a direct functional peer.

Regional players

• Council on Competitiveness: A U.S.-focused, membership-based policy and innovation convener bringing together corporate, government, and academic leaders. It mirrors AMI's cross-sector convening model but emphasizes competitiveness and policy rather than innovation methodology and learning.

Others

• Babson Executive Education: Babson's executive education arm is AMI's active programming partner (host of the 2026 spring gathering and AI Innovators Bootcamp). It is an adjacent enabler, not a direct competitor, but competes for the same enterprise innovation-learning budget and helps shape AMI's program content.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/association-for-managers-of-innovation

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about AMI, an innovation learning community