The La Porte-based Center for Creative Solutions and Purdue Northwest’s Society of Innovators are celebrating World Creativity and Innovation Week April 15 through 21.

As part of the week, the center will honor community members and organizations for “encouraging a culture of innovation,” and grant scholarships and awards to students.

The celebration begins with the Community Kick-Off Breakfast at 8 a.m. April 12 at the A.K. Smith Career Center and Technical Education Center in Michigan City. Auzi Mahmood will be the guest speaker. Mahmood is a junior at Purdue Northwest and an intern for the Center for Creative Solutions. During the breakfast, the center will present the Tej Ram Gupta Scholarships and Student Innovation Awards.

World Creativity and Innovation Week celebrates the ability to imagine, make new decisions and create a better life. World Creativity & Innovation Week began in Toronto in 2001. By 2002, people in businesses, homes, schools and communities in over 46 countries participated by expressing their creative spirit during the week.

World Creativity and Innovation Week marks the birthday of Leonardo da Vinci. A painter, inventor, mathematician and engineer, da Vinci experimented and applied what he learned in one discipline to another. More information about the week is available here.

The Center for Creative Solutions aims to help people discover creative solutions to their personal, professional, business, organizational and community challenges. A nonprofit organization, the center offers management training for businesses and individuals. The center hosts two public events: World Creativity and Innovation Week and the Fall Innovation Forum.

The Society of Innovators at Purdue Northwest works to promote economic and community development by championing innovation in the Region. Founded in 2004, the Society aims to identify, recognize and celebrate innovation in Northwest Indiana.