Archive by Author
A Milestone for Social Impact Markets
Posted on 30. Jan, 2012 by Andrew.
Last week marked a milestone for social impact markets. Massachusetts became the first state in the U.S. to issue an RFR (Request for Response) for Social Impact Bonds or ‘Pay for Success’ contracts as dubbed in the RFR. While not as sexy a term as ‘Social Impact Bond’, ‘Pay for Success contract’ serves as a more appropriate title, as it orients government towards the need of allocating resources based on performance. This orientation towards linking resources to performance will in turn further solidify the infrastructure and tools for social impact markets. In the past few months, the concept of Social Impact Bonds or Pay for Success contracts has garnered an enormous amount of attention. While I have already written about Social Impact Bonds, and Root Cause has also hosted a forum featuring Kennedy School Professor Jeffrey Liebman – an advisor for the state – it is important to mark this milestone. It represents enormous change, and signifies the hope I have of being able to continue this momentum.
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Why?
Posted on 24. Jan, 2012 by Andrew.
Why is it that in a country with so many resources, and government and nonprofit programs devoted to education, economic prosperity, and health and well-being—social issues we know to be essential to our success—are we unable to spread what works faster? As of 2008, nearly one-quarter of the American population failed to finish high school, 21 percent of American children lived below the poverty line, and the U.S. health care system ranked 37th in the world—lower than any other developed nation. With 1.4 million tax exempt organizations in the country working towards these social issues, why are we not spreading what works faster?
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What social impact bonds mean for nonprofits and performance measurement
Posted on 25. Oct, 2011 by Andrew.
Starting with the Obama administration including Social Impact Bonds in the FY12 budget to the Rockefeller Foundation’s recent $500,000 grant to Social Finance US, Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) have become the newest frontier of public innovation and an excellent way to further build social impact markets.
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A Social Issue-Based Approach to Finding and Funding Social Innovation
Posted on 10. Mar, 2011 by Andrew.
The establishment of the Social Innovation Fund last year marked a great milestone for the field of social innovation in the United States. As the Corporation for National and Community Service is receiving applications for its 2011 Notice of Funds Opportunity, I want to share a few insights that I believe are relevant to any [...]
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End-of-Year Reflections on Social Innovation and Investing in What Works
Posted on 29. Dec, 2010 by Andrew.
As 2010 draws to a close, I have found myself reflecting on the journey that the field of social innovation and entrepreneurship has experienced.
In February of 2011, Root Cause will celebrate its seventh birthday. It is amazing to me to consider how far we have come as a community working to advance the field [...]
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Social Innovation: The Next Chapter
Posted on 19. Aug, 2010 by Andrew.
With the establishment of the White House Office of Social Innovation, the announcement of the Social Innovation Fund awardees earlier this summer, and last week’s article on social innovation in the Economist, social innovation is now officially the hot term of the day – so hot that there is a danger that it will end [...]
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A New Role for Government … and Foundations
Posted on 28. May, 2010 by Andrew.
Yesterday, I was at the White House to attend First Lady Michelle Obama’s announcement of the first round of philanthropic commitments Social Innovation Fund. By now, especially for those of us working to bring the sectors together to invest in what works, the Social Innovation Fund is not news. But it was hard not to [...]
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Deval Patrick’s commitment to advancing social innovation in Massachusetts
Posted on 16. Apr, 2010 by Andrew.
Today was a landmark day for anyone interested in improving the way we address social problems in Massachusetts. In a ceremony at Year Up this morning, I joined Governor Deval Patrick along with Vanessa Kirsch and Kim Syman from New Profit, Inc. and a group of over 40 nonprofit leaders including Jumpstart, Playworks, Year Up, [...]
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New Orleans in the Spotlight
Posted on 08. Feb, 2010 by Andrew.
This past weekend was a big one for New Orleans – not just because of the Saints’ Super Bowl victory over the Colts but also the landslide victory for Mitch Landrieu in the election for mayor that took place on Saturday.
Landrieu’s job will not be an easy one, to say the least. As we approach [...]
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What’s hot in New Orleans?
Posted on 04. Feb, 2010 by Andrew.
No, it’s not just that the Saints are going to the Super Bowl − it’s Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu’s candidacy for the mayor of New Orleans.
This Saturday’s election in New Orleans features the latest in a string of campaigns in which a candidate’s core messages include social innovation or civic engagement. Lt. Gov. Landrieu, for [...]
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Lawrence Baker: Social Innovation? What a concept! What we need in...
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JBRootCause: Hi Rhesa, You can find the interview here: ...
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Rhesa J: Looking for updated link to an interview mentioned...
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E Favorite: Hi, Tom - if you're talking about a teacher f...
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