This article was written by FUSE Executive Fellow Henrique Cruz and the Salt Lake City Transportation Division
FUSE Innovation Lab: Leadership, Design Thinking, and Active Mobility in Action
In January 2026, city leaders, agency partners, and community-minded innovators convened in Salt Lake City for the FUSE Innovation Lab to explore how the City’s transportation vision can be translated into real-world implementation.
Centered on Connect Salt Lake City’s Citywide Transportation Plan’s Key Move #3: Great Networks for Active Mobility, the Innovation Lab brought together cross-sector participants to examine shared challenges and opportunities. Teams explored strategies to improve pedestrian safety and connectivity, expand low-stress bicycling and micromobility networks, and create active, people-centered public spaces.
The Innovation Lab directly supports the work of FUSE Executive Fellow Henrique Cruz, who is partnering with Salt Lake City to operationalize the Citywide Transportation Plan. By convening city departments, regional agencies, and community stakeholders, this work aims to strengthen coordination, elevate community voices, and advance a transportation system that is safer and more connected for all Salt Lake City residents.
Leadership Starts with Self-Awareness
The day opened with introductions from each participant, which grounded participants in leadership reflection. Through guided prompts, attendees explored questions such as:
- How do I describe myself as a leader?
- Which values do I want to be remembered for?
- What legacy do I want to leave with the people I work with?
These moments of introspection set the tone for the day, reinforcing that innovation begins with clarity of values and purpose, not just strategy.
Design Thinking: Seeing the System Differently
The facilitator, Leila Pedersen, introduced a simple yet powerful design thinking exercise—illustrating the step-by-step process of making toast—and challenged participants to visualize everyday actions in new ways. The activity highlighted a few key lessons:
- What feels obvious to one person may look completely different to another.
- Communication is the key to producing a team product.
- Be aware of even silent communication.
This exercise became a metaphor for systems work, emphasizing the importance of shared understanding, communication, and empathy when designing solutions that affect real people.
FUSE Project Update: From Vision to Roadmap
Henrique Cruz provided context and updates on the status of his FUSE Fellowship project, outlining progress, challenges, and the roadmap ahead. The update helped align participants around a shared mission while connecting individual contributions to broader citywide impact.
Reimagining Active Mobility
A central focus of the Innovation Lab was the Citywide Transportation Plan – Key Move #3: Great Networks for Active Mobility. Participants explored strategies aimed at:
- Improving pedestrian safety and connectivity
- Expanding low-stress bicycling and micromobility networks
- Creating active, people-centered public spaces
Through opportunity mapping, groups identified barriers to implementation and reframed them as possibilities for innovation—encouraging bold thinking before narrowing toward feasibility.
Collaboration Through Mapping and Design Challenges
Using tools like system mapping, service blueprinting, and customer journey maps, participants worked together to better understand how policies, infrastructure, and human experiences intersect. A group design challenge pushed teams to integrate insights and translate ideas into actionable concepts.
Reflection and Moving Forward
The day concluded with reflection:
- What is one thing you are taking forward?
- What is one thing you are leaving behind?
These closing questions reinforced the core intention of the FUSE Innovation Lab: not just to generate ideas, but to inspire meaningful change beyond the room.
A Space Where Innovation Meets Purpose
The FUSE Innovation Lab demonstrated that effective innovation lives at the intersection of leadership, empathy, and systems thinking. By combining reflection with action, and strategy with creativity, the Lab created a powerful environment for shaping more connected, healthy, and inclusive communities.
