What in the world is the Flipping Finance Challenge?
It’s no secret that you, if only in part, choose public service because you believe you can use your skills to make Indiana a better place to live and work.
The Flipping Finance Challenge (FFC) is Indiana Bond Bank’s creative niche, designed to connect solution-oriented thinkers like you with local city/county government units in pursuit of innovations that make Indiana’s future better and brighter for the next generation.
“We don't like to talk about problems. We like to try to solve problems,” says Mark Wuellner, organizer of the Indiana Bond Bank’s (IBB) 2022 Flipping Finance Challenge (FFC). And IBB's laser focus on new ways to deliver solutions to the unique local financial issues were the seeds from which grew the FFC event. And like many a great idea, FFC began with a passionate team sketching out ideas on a napkin.
Q: Can you tell me about how Flipping Finance began and how it’s evolved?
Mark: So, the idea started about 5 years ago.
It was born out of the feeling that we needed to do something and the desire to help local governments address some of those sticky challenges that you can't just throw money at.
We threw a lot of ideas around, and the one that stuck and eventually became the Flipping Finance Challenge, borrowed from the “hackathon” concept popular in the tech space. What if we were to create an innovation-friendly environment where communities could bring fuzzy situations needing fresh eyes. At the same time, if we could bring ordinary, civic-minded Hoosiers with diverse skills and backgrounds to bear on these public sector challenges, we believed creative solutions would follow.
Q: So how does FFC work?
Brian: Each year, we select a handful of communities and state-level partners to open-up their worlds to the IBB and our FFC innovators, all for the sake of innovation. We have had over 15 communities bring challenges to the event since 2019, asking for assistance with marketing, communications, community development, youth leadership, technology, strategy, and more.
The Indiana Bond Bank then invites civic-minded individuals throughout the state to design solutions to these local community challenges.
We’d encourage anyone who is interested in joining us for the innovation in 2023 to sign-up for our FFC interest list for announcements on dates, prizes, communities, challenges, and more.
Q: What is FFC culture like? Who gets involved?
Brian: There's definitely a fun, collegial vibe with our innovators, and they're all coming back. It’s about the experience; it's the wanting to give back to communities and wanting to showcase each innovator’s talents.
And then with the sponsors, the enthusiasm and the support year after year is incredible. We grow our sponsors, but we maintain them, too. I can't think of one that's fallen off since we began, so we’re very fortunate and appreciative of that as well.
Mark: In terms of who gets involved, the one thing we stress is no finance background is needed. Do not be scared off by the words “finance”, or “bond” or “bank.” Public finance at its core is how we create communities of choice, through a financial lens. So, if you share our vision of an Indiana filled with flourishing communities, with robust parks and schools and libraries and infrastructure, the skills that you have right now are all you need to participate.
Q: Do the solutions generated at FFC get implemented by their respective communities?
Mark: They do. Now, we see our participating communities leave with sometimes a dozen new ideas, so we don’t see them all get implemented, and certainly not all right away. I’ll share what Mayor Vonderheide from the City of Jasper–a two-time FFC participating community–has said: “We take something out of every single solution. Literally every single one. Sometimes it’s a whole concept. Other times, the solution may not be right for us for whatever reason, but we hear a single word or phrase that creates a major a-ha moment for our team.”
Sometimes they’ve been staring at the problem for so long, and there are solutions out there that they just wouldn't have gotten too on their own. And so, they want to come back for more.
FFC Innovators pose ideas to Jay County leaders as they refine their solutions.
Q: What are your goals and desires for the future of FFC?
Mark: We’re going to foster bold solutions for these public finance challenges in the most inclusive and accessible creative problem-solving event across the United States. How’s that for a bold vision?
That means we have to continue to evolve.
I never thought we’d see repeat communities, but this year we have two: Jay County and City of Jasper loved the innovation experience and are coming back with new fuzzy situations. I never thought we could pull off a statewide challenge – this year we have the State’s cybersecurity leadership bringing a very timely issue related to cybersecurity training adoption in local governments.
One aspect that hasn’t changed is the ideal of delivering ideas through FFC. Not just talking about problems. We really want communities to come in and then walk out with tangible solutions that they could take back to their communities and consider implementing.
The goal is to get to the point where we have to tell people we can't accept registration anymore because of event capacity, and we're getting there!
Q: How would you pitch your hackathon to invite people to join Flipping Finance 2023?
Mark: Well, Kate, having just coming off winning the first ever best-in-show award with your team at FFC 2022, I’m going to turn the tables on you. What would you tell people?
Kate: Thanks, Mark, for putting me on the spot, here!
FFC is a fun, creative way to get connected. In my experience, Indiana Bond Bank welcomes innovators by setting the bar high, energetically. Before the event, the IBB team was clearly diligent about preparation and organization.
Then, IBB’s chosen venue, the Indianapolis Arts Center set the tone for the rest of the challenge: Walking into the Kickoff Event on Saturday, April 9, innovators were greeted by galleries full of artistic creation. So before we began to create, we were inspired by others’ creation.
The best way to sum up my experience in FFC 2022 is this: Energy begets energy. The creation process is fun and lively, but it means putting your personal time and energy into something out of your regular routine. Yet still, I think most who participate will agree that what energy you invest in proposing a solution, you will receive back tenfold in the relationships you build with fellow innovators and the connections you make to communities across Indiana.
10/10 worth stepping out of your comfort zone for!
Interview submitted by Kate Wampler, INSPD Communications