"[5] During the 1990s, the foundation granted to a small group of grantees, including the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In 2003, the foundation hired its first executive director and expanded its programs to support young inventors around the world and focus on economic development in poor countries.
"[6] Based in Portland, Oregon, the foundation has donated or committed over $300 million to support education, invention, innovation, and climate action.
Stated programmatic strategies involve creating an ecosystem where inventors and their innovations are supported from start to finish: from conception to full, self-sustaining enterprise.
Examples include sanitation systems for the developing world, locally adapted medical devices, and efficient, affordable sources of renewable energy.
Housed within the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, the Lemelson Center aims to document, interpret, and disseminate information about invention and innovation.
The Lemelson Center also hosts Innovative Lives, an in-person and virtual event series where inventors are invited to share their stories and offer insights into the invention ideation, development, and distribution process.
Formerly known as The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA), VentureWell is a higher education network that focuses on invention and entrepreneurship and their relation to commercially viable businesses.
For over 25 years, VentureWell has worked to support, train, and foster networks to ensure the next generation of science and technology innovators realize – and maximize – their potential in bringing their ideas to impact.
These ventures have reached millions of people in 51 countries with technological advancements in fields such as biotechnology, healthcare, sustainable energy and materials, and solutions for low-resource settings.
[18] Ventures launched through the program include Sanergy (hygienic sanitation systems in Africa)[19] and Ecovative Design (environmentally friendly packaging).
[21] As of 2024, Villgro has funded over 387 enterprises — 82 of which are women-led — created over 8,000 jobs, and estimated its impact, in terms of providing local adapted technologies in rural India, to over 20.8 million people.
[22] The program supported Biosense, a medical engineering and design form working to change diagnostics;[23] Promethean Power Systems, which redesigns refrigeration systems for off-grid areas and other regions with electrical challenges;[24] and OneBreath, affordable ventilators for impoverished areas to address the high rate of respiratory illness in India.
Part of SELCO's work involves building up a supply and demand chain for renewable energy—from manufacturing to design to fulfillment and sales.
According to Lemelson Foundation Executive Director Carol Dahl, Gearbox "will provide a much-needed space for inventors to talk, build, test, and ultimately take their ideas to market.
The RAMPs program began as a partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and the Rural Innovation Network in India, and then expanded to sites in Indonesia and Peru.
[30] While the foundation no longer uses the term RAMPS, in some cases it continues to support the work that came out of these enterprises through partner organizations in India, Indonesia, and Peru (including Villgro).