
OUR STORY

Founded in 2015, Social Innovation Lab (SIL) began as an idea to fuse innovative, research-driven practices and the non-profit format, with the end goal being to improve social programs that benefit the disempowered, disenfranchised, and at-risk populations.


That Pop-Up Restaurant
Combating Food Scarcity
That Pop-Up Restaurant (TPUR) is an innovative social program that offers free meals to youth between the ages of 1-18 and operates as a summer feeding program. While there are specific criteria that a summer feeding program must meet, that doesn't mean the food has to be bland and boring. The format at of TPUR shakes up the summer feeding program format by providing quality food options that taste good and are presented in an environment free of social stigmas that are typically associated with summer feeding programs.

Better Futures Projects
Teen Pregnancy Prevention
The federally funded Better Futures Projects (BFP) work with Family and Consumer Science teachers in Kansas and Oklahoma classrooms. With a focus on bringing quality curriculum to under-resourced schools in rural areas, the BFP have reached nearly 3,000 students across the region with evidence-based programs that help youth have the best start to their adult lives possible.


Beacon For Hope
Suicide Prevention
Beacon for Hope was founded in 2017 by SIL Executive Director Melissa Owen as a tribute to the memory of her sister lost to suicide in 2006. Beacon offers suicide prevention training, life-saving educational materials, and events to provide information to community members that may save lives.