Labs

A Building block for entrepreneurial Ecosystems.

Many leaders in the global Praxis community are searching for ways to serve like-minded entrepreneurs in their city, within an industry, or around a particular issue. We train these leaders to host 3-day Labs, designed by Praxis using the principles and content behind our Accelerators. Labs Teams contextualize their Labs to support local leaders and ventures through peer community, mentoring, and spiritual discipleship.

What is a Lab?

Labs are 3-day pre-designed, locally hosted gatherings that leverage Praxis’ broadly-applicable content and mentor-driven format, while allowing Labs Teams to contextualize the experience.

Across the gathering, founders are introduced to the Redemptive Frame, share vision presentations, discuss the content of the Redemptive Playbooks, and synthesize their learnings for personal and venture application.

Founders leave the Lab with an understanding of redemptive strategy, operations, and leadership, a series of prototypes to run in their venture, and relationships with peers and mentors for ongoing support.

Labs are hosted locally by Labs Teams who have been trained by Praxis and have a license to run them in their city.

What goes into leading a Lab?

  • Get Equipped at Labs Team Training

    For any city interested in hosting a Lab, there first needs to be a Labs Team. We recommend Labs Teams have at least 2 people who go through the training together: (1) Lead is responsible for recruiting, budget and other major design decisions (2) Integrator is responsible for logistics, operations, and event execution.

    Labs Teams then submit an application to express interest in running Redemptive Labs in their city. Those accepted go through a concise yet robust training with the Praxis team that helps them on everything from learning how to teach the Redemptive Frame to delivering the Labs experience.

    Labs Trainings are hosted twice-annually in New York City, and Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

  • Select Lab Type, Location, and Date

    There are two types of Labs: Business and Nonprofit. They follow the same format but use content from their respective playbooks.

    The Labs experience is designed as a 3-day, 2-night offsite away from everyday life. We encourage Labs Teams to host at a home rental through Airbnb or VRBO that allows ample space for full group sessions, breakouts, and has overnight lodging.

  • Invite Founders and Mentors

    Labs Teams recruit 2 groups of people to go through the Lab:

    Founders: lead decision makers of their ventures -- the Lab exists to help them understand and apply the Redemptive Framework to their venture.

    Mentors: experienced leaders with expertise in venture building who speak on panels and have 1:1 mentoring sessions with Founders.

    Labs are designed for 6-12 founders and a 1:1 mentor:founder ratio.

  • Prepare for the Experience

    Praxis HQ provides Labs Teams with everything needed to plan a great experience. From a User Guide, which includes a customizable task template, to email copy, content guides, scripts, discussion questions, event workbooks, custom logos, and promotional materials for sharing about your Lab.

    Preparing for a Lab takes about 10 weeks, with just a few hours of work each week.

  • Onsite Production & Event Follow-Up

    Lab Teams utilize Praxis resources to run the local experience. We provide a guide for onsite hosting, including tips for moderating discussions, personal story sharing, and closing reflection time. There are also templates for post-event surveys to gather feedback from founders and mentors that will help determine plans for future Labs.

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Who is Labs Team Training for?

Praxis looks to partner with place-minded builders who have a passion to see redemptive entrepreneurship advanced in their city. Each location should have a team of 2 people who are trained and work together to run Labs. We look for:

  • Humble, ambitious Christian builders with entrepreneurial experience
  • A desire to serve founders and help them integrate the Redemptive Framework
  • Convening power with founders, mentors, and funders in their city
  • Visionary, yet action-oriented and able to execute a world-class experience
  • A team of 2 with complementary skill sets (1) a Lead who is ultimately responsible for the license, vision, budget, recruiting and (2) an Integrator who leads planning and execution.

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We encourage Labs Teams to consider recruiting informal advisors and operators who are also involved: 

Advisors: help with high-level recruiting of mentors and founders, and connections to potential funders who can help support the cost of the Lab.

Coordinators: help run the on-site event action plan, including running Audio/Visual, working with the venue to set up rooms and caterers to set up meals.

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What is Labs Team Training?

Training begins with a 3-day in-person immersion with the Praxis team. Think of it as going through a Lab as a participant, and then getting a behind the scenes tour to see how it all works.

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Training then moves to virtual and is self-paced. We provide a resource library of how-to videos, systems, templates and tools -- complemented by  virtual office hours with the Praxis team.

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Training concludes when Labs Teams submit an implementation plan. Upon approval, Praxis grants a license that allows them to run as many Labs as they'd like in their location for 1 year. At the end of the year, we meet to mutually discern license renewal.

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Some key tools offered by Praxis to Labs Teams:

  • Founder application
  • Mentor invitation email copy
  • Mentor and founder onboarding surveys
  • Pre- and post-program founder self-assessment surveys
  • Event book template (with our Redemptive Playbook content and follow-up exercises)
  • Lab Website template
  • Airtable database for CRM, event planning and program management


For more detail, see the Frequently Asked Questions page.

Labs Team TRAINING

August 7-9, 2023 OR August 9-11, 2023 // Submit Interest by June 1, 2023
March 2024
August 2024
Location: New York, NY 

Who you are now

Experienced entrepreneur with a capacity and passion to bring your experience to bear across many ventures; or

Active leader and developer of local entrepreneurial ecosystem with a platform to convene founders, mentors, and capital 

Humble, ambitious Christian seeking to live out your faith as fully as possible in your vocation, and eager to help other entrepreneurs do the same

What you’ll learn

How to run a Redemptive Lab in your context

What redemptive entrepreneurship is—in principle, theology, and practice—and how to guide others in its application

Guided “insider tour” of Praxis’ frameworks, principles, and tools for growing a venture-building ecosystem 

Where you’re going

Using the Redemptive Lab as a tool to convene, test, catalyze, and sustain a venture-building ecosystem in your context

Format

Labs Teams first go through training at a 3-day in-person intensive in New York, NY, with talks, panels, and mentoring with the Praxis team

Virtual Planning Process — videos, templates, tools, content —to develop Labs plan

Office hours with the Praxis team for ongoing support as you run Labs

Timeline

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis

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Next Steps

APPLY FOR A FUTURE LAB TEAM TRAINING

Praxis hosts 2 annual Labs Team Trainings, in March and August. Each training has a limited number of seats, made available through a rolling, invitation-driven process that incorporates those very active in our community as well as those looking to be.

For those ready to host Labs in their city, please fill out the Interest form below and note which of the trainings you'd like to join.

The form should be completed as a team of 2 (see "What We Look for").

If you have further questions, consult the FAQ or you can email us.

APPLY TO HOST nominate

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REDEMPTIVE LABS TRAINING & LICENSE FEES‍
Thanks to the generosity of our funding community, Labs Team Training and Licenses are offered at no cost. Labs Teams are responsible for the cost of their own travel and lodging for the in-person training, held in New York City, NY, USA. Participants from outside of the USA in need of financial assistance for travel costs can inquire about a limited number of international travel scholarships.