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"We are a community of possibilities, not a community of problems."
Community: The Structure of Belonging by Peter Block


The Office of Possibilities (OOPs) seeks to inspire and build systemic innovation capabilities (to innovate reliably and repeatedly over time) at Northwestern Michigan College and within the region by acting as an ideation “sounding board” and connector to encourage the generation of new ideas and new partnerships.

Powered and funded by support from NMC and the NMC Foundation, OOPs works within the college and the community to support ideas, create a community of sharing, and be an idea incubator, all toward the vision of driving innovation.

We encourage you to come visit us and we welcome any and all ideas!


Our Mission: To create, nurture, and support the capability to innovate reliably and repeatedly in our community.

Our Vision: To leverage these innovation capabilities to encourage new ideas and create new partnerships resulting in impactful change.

Our Goals

The Office of Possibilities has two major innovation goals as it works toward ideation and innovation with the college and our community. Education: To seek new ideas in education and develop new ways of solving our learners’ needs.​ Community: Develop ideas with our community members and partners to help incubate solutions for our community.​

Connect With Us

How to Connect

You can connect with the Office of Possibilities through our indefatigable Co-Directors, Will Kitchen and Steve Rice, at oops@nmc.edu. We have regular meetings on Tuesday mornings at Commonplace and Thursday mornings on the NMC campus. Reach out to Will and Steve and make a plan to join us!

Learn More
What We Do

What We Do

We welcome anyone with an idea and anyone with a passion to support others with their ideas and innovation. If you want assistance, and space to get feedback, learn, and network, then OOPs may be a great fit for you. Explore our process and see if this is what you’re looking for!

The OOPs process
Who We Are

Who We Are

We are entrepreneurs, educators, volunteers, and connectors. We have the innovation and entrepreneurial mindsets that put us in a unique situation to help entrepreneurs, innovators, and anyone with an idea! Learn more about the people who are leading the OOPs way.

Meet Us
Success Stories

Success Stories

Though our formal organization is fairly recent, we've already helped people refine their goals, connect with others, and move their projects forward. Learn more about what we've accomplished and what’s underway!

Success Stories