The Challenge We're Solving
Today, too many individuals with a passion for public service find themselves without a clear path to bring their ideas to life outside of government structures. Traditional systems can be slow to adapt, leaving innovative thinkers stuck between bureaucracy and burnout. The result? Vital ideas that could transform our communities often remain dormant.
We believe that the public good doesn't have to end at the government's door. The Public Value Lab bridges the gap by equipping mission-driven individuals with the tools, networks, and support they need to launch ventures and create tangible public value - no matter where they start.
Our mission
The Public Value Lab cultivates purpose-driven ventures that generate public value beyond government. We empower founders by providing a safe space to explore and refine ideas in a community that is finding new ways to impact shared civic, economic, and environmental systems.
Our vision
A world where entrepreneurial innovation restores the public good, builds resilient communities, and reclaims the commons as a space for shared purpose, dignity and democratic vitality.
Our Origin Story
The Public Value Lab began with a simple coffee conversation in early 2025. As two colleagues, both former public servants, reflected on the rapidly changing landscape for professionals like us, a question emerged: What comes next for people who have built their careers around public service but suddenly find themselves outside of government?
That conversation sparked something. We imagined a space where the values that had shaped our professional lives—integrity, purpose, service—could be rechanneled into new forms. We talked about the need for connection, for creativity, and for the safety to explore new skills and ideas we had rarely been encouraged to pursue before.
So, we organized a workshop.
We weren’t sure what would happen. But what began as a one-off gathering quickly revealed a deep and widespread hunger for community, for purpose, and for a new kind of public service. A public service that didn’t rely on institutional platforms, but on each other.
The first workshop filled up quickly. Participants brought experience, courage, and curiosity. Conversations sparked ideas. People started forming teams, testing concepts, and imagining ventures that could serve the public good in new ways.
What began as a gesture of support became a movement, a lab where people with public service DNA could experiment, build, and grow together. The Public Value Lab was born.
We’re here for those who still feel called to serve but want new ways to do it.
Our team
Years of experience inside and outside of government have been pulled together to help the community think through what public value can be and how they can find new ways to support its creation.
Haider Haider
Executive Director & Founder
MacKenzie Bills
Community Outreach Director
Enrique Martínez-González
Strategic Advisor
Christine Shaefer
Strategic Advisor