What We Do

Prova Lab came to a close in 2023. If you'd like to get in touch about Prova Lab's work, Social Innovation or Social Impact, contact Kathryn Baer on LinkedIn.

If you'd like to get in contact about the website, please contact Alec Fernandes at al@fern.haus.

Events

We create and host events that showcase innovation, provide learning opportunities, and facilitate new connections.

We specialize in foundational courses aimed at demystifying the concepts of social innovation and social impact. Through our fun, interactive classes, we provide the tools, tactics and resources to help professionals operationalize and apply these concepts to their work.

The Lab

We are building an immersive research lab for nonprofit organizations to pilot project or program initiatives. This is an opportunity for nonprofit organizations to increase their efficacy and build internal capacity through peer learning, structured educational courses and hands-on supported pilot research.

Partnerships

Collaboration is key to enacting the structural shift we envision for social innovation. We’re a community of nonprofits, for-profits, entrepreneurs, researchers, and activists. We welcome partnerships across sectors for various programming and community initiatives.

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About Us

Kathryn Baer

CEO, Co-Founder

Kathryn is an experienced researcher and analyst in the nonprofit sector. Prior to Prova Lab, she was the Programs & Partnership Manager at Impact Hub, San Francisco. Previously, she was a Co-founder of the Trafficking Research Project — the first policy research organization in Singapore dedicated to human trafficking. With specializations in violence against women and human trafficking, she previously worked at Polaris in the US, and Anti-Slavery International in the UK. She also served on the Board of the Family Violence Law Center in Oakland. Kathryn has an MSc in Social Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and double majored in Political Science and International Affairs at James Madison University. While based in San Francisco, she’s frequently putting her passport to good use.

Helke Ramos

Director of Partnerships, Co-Founder

Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Helke is a trained architect & designer with a certification from the Institute for Sustainability Leadership, University of Cambridge. Her 20+ year career is built on creating live events using sustainability methods, as well as working on events aimed at promoting environmental education. Her previous business, Zada Sustainable Creation, was the first event company in Brazil to receive an environmental certification. Helke has executed events in Brazil, Portugal, the UK, Liechtenstein and the US. She received the 2008 InfoComm/LSA Stage Events Award for Most Innovative Use of Technology for an Outdoor Event: a city-wide festival featuring a floating, 165 ft high, Christmas Tree on Lagoa Da Pampulha, Brazil. Helke is also an enthusiastic trail runner with a great passion for the environment, people’s well being, animals and sustainability.

Alec Fernandes

Web Developer

Alec is a freelance web developer and holds a degree in journalism from San Francisco State University. To learn more about his work, visit his portfolio here or feel free to contact him directly at al@fern.haus.