Untethered
Unlock your imagination. Find your people. Leave part of a movement.
Untethered is a different kind of child welfare convening — built for community, designed for transformation, and engineered to launch real pilots that change real systems.
You've been to the conferences. Inspiring keynote. Good coffee. Back to the same broken system on Monday.
Untethered is built differently.
Every year, Imagination Factory brings together a curated community of Creative Disruptors for three days of personal growth, bold thinking, and collective problem solving. You'll leave with your people, a renewed sense of purpose — and if past years are any guide, a bright spot innovation worth scaling.
What happens at Untethered:
You go inward. Sessions focused on personal development, values alignment, creativity, and reconnecting with your why. Space to breathe, be honest, and remember why you do this work.
The sector moves forward. Ignite Talks on the most pressing challenges in child welfare set up half-day Design Labs. Small teams dig into specific problems looking for bright spot innovations — and potentially the seed of a new Creative Cluster.
Schedule:
Day 1 — Wednesday evening: Arrive. Connect. Let go of the professional identity you wear every day. An untethering exercise sets the tone. Food, drinks, and a performance worth showing up for.
Day 2 — Thursday, full day: Go inward. Morning sessions on personal growth, creativity, and values. Afternoon Ignite Talks that set up tomorrow's Design Labs.
Day 3 — Friday, half day: Do the work. Design Labs in small teams, digging into Ignite Talk topics for bright spot innovations. Close with a vision of what comes next.
You'll leave with:
A community of Creative Disruptors who become your people
Renewed clarity on your purpose and what you're building toward
Real tools and frameworks from Design Lab work
A connection to the broader IF ecosystem — Clusters, Circles, Accelerator
The fuel to keep going
What Untethered has launched
2024→ Affordable Housing Innovation Pilot, six sites now active in five states: FL, SC, KY, MI, CO
2025→ Rethinking Termination of Parental Rights Pilot, design partners in Washington and Colorado
2026→ What will your cohort build?
Facilitators
Matt Anderson
Co-Founder + CEO
Cheri Williams
Co-Founder + Chief Program Officer
Design Labs facilitated in partnership with Holly Truitt, design firm principal with decades of experience in community co-design.
“This is the space to dream big, drill down into the particulars, and create outside of the constraints that we usually find ourselves within.”
— 2024 UNTETHERED ATTENDEEE
What will you untether from?
Untethered 2026 was a blast!
Stay in the know
Where will Untethered 2027 go?→
Untethered FAQs
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Imagination Factory's annual in-person convening for child welfare leaders. Three days of personal development, bold thinking, and collective problem solving — designed to produce real innovations that become real pilots.
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Child welfare leaders, founders, and creative disruptors ready to find their people, challenge their thinking, and leave with something worth building. Past attendees include practitioners, executives, entrepreneurs, and people with lived experience in the foster care system.
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No. Untethered is intentionally the opposite of a traditional child welfare conference — small, curated, personal, and built around real work, not panels and PowerPoints.
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$299. Scholarships available with priority for those with lived experience in the foster care system.
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Two active pilots. The 2024 convening launched an Affordable Housing Innovation Pilot now running in six states. The 2025 convening launched a pilot rethinking Termination of Parental Rights with design partners in Washington and Colorado.
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Stay tuned for more updates coming soon. Join our email list to stay in the know!
