Innovation cannot be forced. It can become inevitable.
When people, purpose, and practical structures reinforce one another, ideas have somewhere to go.
About Sophia Network
A practice built for change that lasts.
Sophia Network was founded by Ilene Fischer to help organisations build the living systems that turn disruption into capability.
The story
More than three decades learning what helps change take hold.
After 36 years working with organisations across healthcare, biotech, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, energy, government, and startups, Sophia Network’s work begins with a simple observation: the methods are rarely the whole problem. The conditions around them are.
Ilene’s experience spans Fortune 100 pharmaceutical companies, other large pharmaceutical organizations, medium-sized biotech companies, medical device companies, large consumer companies, oil and gas, research and development (R&D), and small nonprofits. She has also worked with NASA.
That is why the work connects culture, people, strategy, technology, and execution, instead of treating each as a separate initiative.
Point of view
What Sophia Network believes.
People drive innovation, not processes.
Methods provide shape. People bring curiosity, judgement, commitment, and insight to the work.
Leaders need partners, not more experts.
The work is done with organisations, building their capacity to lead what comes next.
The team
Experienced guides for consequential work.
Ilene Fischer
Founder & CEOIlene Fischer is a leading authority on organizational innovation and the creator of the Innovation Ecosystem methodology, a proven, integrated framework that changes the way companies work, collaborate, and grow. She spent a decade as a Partner at Innovation Associates working alongside Peter Senge, eight years as Managing Director at the Tom Peters Company, and 36 years as an organizational change consultant and Founder and CEO of Sophia Network, working with Fortune 500 companies, executive teams, and global organizations across healthcare, biotech, technology, and consumer products. Her central message: organizations today face nine converging disruptive forces that cannot be solved in isolation, making the ability to think and act systemically the single most important leadership skill of our time. Her book Innovation Ecosystems by Ilene Fischer (John Murray Press, a division of Hachette, October 2026) draws on 35 in-depth interviews with innovation thought leaders, decades of consulting practice, and her proprietary 9 Forces framework, with a foreword by Peter Senge and a cover quote from Tom Peters. She is also the founder of WomenLEAD, a MassChallenge finalist and Verizon Powerful Answers Award winner. She lives in Denver, Colorado.
Julia Ross
Senior ConsultantJulia brings more than 30 years of organisational change and leadership development experience. Her systems-thinking work focuses on helping teams and multi-stakeholder groups address complex issues and sustain results.
What comes next