A Message From the Founders
Some collaborations are strategic. Ours was inevitable.
We came together through a shared ambition: to serve something larger than ourselves. To accelerate the evolution of human potential in a time that demands adaptability, agency, courage, and strength.
We founded the Human Innovation Institute as a platform to create our greatest possible impact by unlocking human potential at scale. After decades working at the intersection of innovation, leadership, and transformation, we recognized a clear need for people, organizations, and systems to evolve more intentionally, with greater purpose and a focus on creating what comes next. We set out to build a space that bridges the inner work of human growth with the outer demands of a rapidly changing world. The Institute is our way of bringing everything together into a living system, a platform and ecosystem that supports people, teams, and institutions in evolving who they are, how they lead, and what they build.
As a team, we believe in the power of one plus one equals three. When the right people come together with shared purpose, complementary strengths, and deep alignment, something greater emerges. The Human Innovation Institute was born from the fusion of complementary forces, a balanced partnership rooted in distinct yet deeply aligned approaches to change. Together, we integrate the personal and the structural, the human and the systemic, to help people and organizations evolve with intention and impact.
In the end, it’s the sharing, the co-creation, and the belief that together we can build an eco-system that enables the advancement of human evolution. That’s how the Human Innovation Institute came to be - as a call to imagine, build, and become what this world now needs.
Thomas 'Tommy' Knoll
Co-Founder of the Human Innovation Institute
For over 25 years, I’ve worked at the intersection of entrepreneurship, innovation, strategy, and personal development - founding or co-founding eight ventures and advising some of the world’s most forward-thinking corporate leaders and senior executives.
My journey began with a deep curiosity about how businesses and people adapt and grow. I’ve built companies from scratch, navigated market shifts, and helped shape entirely new categories. But over time, I discovered that my greatest impact wasn’t simply launching new ventures, but it was found in helping others grow what matters most: revenue, teams, strategy, and themselves.
Why I co-founded the Institute
I co-founded the Human Innovation Institute to explore a powerful hypothesis: that human evolution is the most urgent and overlooked frontier of innovation. As the world accelerates through disruption, we don’t just need better technology although it's critical. We need better humans that are more adaptive, with more agency, exploring new possibilities, with intense curiosity.
Key Roles, Ventures, and Areas of Expertise
For the past 16 years, I’ve served as a trusted advisor to Chief Innovation Officers and senior leaders inside major global enterprises, including Fortune 500s, mid-cap and privately held firms, federal research labs, not-for-profits, and fast-growing startups, bringing a systems level view to the practice of enterprise innovation. These leaders are managing change, designing their organizations' future, and the very industries where they operate. I support them as a strategic guide, scout, and thought partner, helping translate complexity into clarity and outcomes.
I'm married with two children and live in Louisville, Colorado.
Joss Warburton
Co-Founder of the Human Innovation Institute
For the past 20 years, I’ve worked at the frontier of innovation where I led product, brand, and business growth across global companies and industries. I’ve helped launch new categories, scale global brands, and guide leadership teams through complex transitions. My work has always lived at the intersection of innovation, strategy, and human performance where I have been shaping not just what gets built, but how and why we build it. It's always been about unlocking the potential in front of us.
That journey took me from creating world-class products, to leading billion-dollar portfolios, building high-performing teams, and driving organizational culture and direction. Over time, the pattern became clear: the systems that thrive are the ones led by humans who are aligned, adaptive, and fully engaged. There, my interest drew me deeper into advising and coaching high performers, getting into the mindset and psychology to fully understand and help advance people at the center of my focus.
Why I co-founded the Institute
I co-founded the Human Innovation Institute because I believe the final frontier of innovation is human. Advancing human capability at the level of mindset, identity, coupled with action is the single greatest opportunity for lasting impact. My work here is about helping craft the tools, environments, and models that serve the builders, the challengers- those who desire to unlock that edge.
Key Roles, Ventures, and Areas of Expertise
My background includes senior leadership roles in innovation and growth at companies like Dyson, PepsiCo, and CamelBak. I’ve operated globally, leading cross-functional teams where I shaped the future of some of the world’s most recognized brands. I’ve also worked as a leadership advisor and certified high performance coach with founders, executives, and mission-driven companies to help navigate inflection points and build what’s next.
At the Institute, I bring a strategic and systems-oriented lens to human advancement where two decades of innovation experience combine with lived experience in mindset, performance, and practice to help people grow, shift, and lead at their best.
A maker and adventurer at heart, I spend my time in the US and Australia where I surround myself with family, friends, projects, and nature.