The Workshop on Innovation and Quality was led by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation, a center at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, in partnership with the Ford Foundation Innovations Liaison Group (of which Ash is a member), the Government of Mexico, and the American Society for Quality. It was held over two days, 5 and 6 November, as one of six workshops of the Fifth Global Forum on Reinventing Government under the auspices of the United Nations and the Government of Mexico.

The workshop was attended by over 300 participants who engaged the presenters of 12 examples of government innovation from Brazil, Chile, China, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, and the United States. The audience was approximately 85% Mexican government officials and 15% other nationalities (diverse regional representation). They participated actitely and contributed valuable insight to discussions with presenters.