The Imagination Gap

BLOG 3: The Imagination Gap

Opening Scene: A Question That Shifted Everything
“What if learning didn’t just prepare students for the future—but invited them to create it?”

It’s a question we kept returning to in the earliest days of iFp. We were seeing too many programs that offered students exposure—but stopped short of expectation. A glimpse of innovation, without the invitation to shape it.

We believed that wasn’t enough.
So we started imagining something different.

From Sugar High to Studio Model
Out-of-school STEM programs were often short-term, standalone experiences—disconnected from each other. We called it the “sugar high” effect. Excitement was easy to spark—but who was there when the program ended, school got hard, and self-doubt began to whisper?​​

We wanted more than a jolt. We wanted a journey.

So we built iFp as a year-round, lab school-style studio—a place where students could experiment, struggle, iterate, and grow. A place where they weren’t just learning about innovation; they were doing it.

Why Reimagining Matters
Too many young people internalize a narrow definition of who gets to innovate. If you’re not a coder, you don’t belong. If you’re not at the top of your class, you’re not ready. If you’re not confident, you’re not cut out for it.

We reject that.

Reimagining the innovation economy means reimagining who it’s built for—and who gets to lead it. At iFp, students:

• Join interdisciplinary teams where design and storytelling matter as much as code

• Work on real-world challenges that connect tech to justice, creativity, and community

• Learn that agency isn’t something they wait for—it’s something they practice
  

Closing Reflection: Curiosity Is the Starting Point
We don’t need to spark curiosity. It’s already there.
What we need to do is protect it. Sustain it.

Design for it.

Because when you reimagine what learning can look like, you unlock what students can become.

Building Pathways | Reimagine It

Each post in this series lifts up one of the four actions in our framework: Question It. Understand It. Reimagine It. Build It.

This week’s focus: “Reimagine It”—because if we want different outcomes, we need different systems. Systems that honor creativity, curiosity, and youth leadership.

Purpose. Possibility. Pressure.

The pressure is necessary—because the pathways won’t build themselves.

This is part of Building Pathways into the Innovation Economy—our (almost) weekly series from the front lines of youth empowerment and inclusive innovation.