Andrew Wolk

Michelle Rhee, Public Innovator

Posted on 12. Nov, 2009 by Andrew.

As many of you know, one of my main focuses at the moment is on enabling government to become more actively engaged with on-the-ground, community-based solutions. So from time to time on this blog I plan to highlight what I call public innovators – those who work at the city, state or federal levels of [...]

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Debriefing SOCAP09

Posted on 08. Sep, 2009 by Andrew.

It was really amazing to be at the SOCAP09 conference last week, and I wanted to share some great resources for those who weren’t able to attend and want to learn more about the conversations that took place there.

The Pop!Tech blog has great summaries of different sessions during Day 1 and Day 2, all of [...]

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People, Ideas, and Why I’m Going to SOCAP09

Posted on 27. Aug, 2009 by Andrew.

Next week I’ll be heading out to San Francisco to attend the SOCAP09 (Social Capital Markets) conference. This marks the 2nd year of the conference, and boy have they already made quite a splash! Last year, despite the recession, it was sold out. This year looks to be the same…and with a stellar line up [...]

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Around the World Part II: Citizens & Communities

Posted on 20. Jul, 2009 by Andrew.

I am leaving Portugal with great inspiration and practical knowledge about how to further advance a social innovation agenda in the United States.
Friday, I sat on a panel with Christian Bason from MindLab in Denmark, who has been leading a citizen-based agenda for the Danish government for over eight years – and there is much [...]

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Social Innovation around the World

Posted on 16. Jul, 2009 by Andrew.

It is early morning in Lisbon, Portugal, on day two of the Social Innovation eXchange (SIX) International Summer School on Social Innovation. The first day was quite inspiring and also eye opening for me. There are about 120 people here from 24 countries around the world, all of whom are advancing social innovation [...]

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On “Why the Social Innovation Fund Matters”

Posted on 10. Jul, 2009 by Andrew.

Over on the Tactical Philanthropy blog, Sean Stannard-Stockton has provided some great arguments in support of the Social Innovation Fund.  I’d like to add in a few additional thoughts and concerns of my own:
First, we have to be careful not to get too caught up in the dollars − because in reality, $50 million (or even [...]

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An Invitation to the White House

Posted on 30. Jun, 2009 by Andrew.

Late Saturday night, I got home and checked my email for the first time that day to find an invitation from the White House to attend an event with President Obama to highlight the extraordinary efforts in communities to solve some of our country’s toughest problems.  Needless to say, it was an exciting moment for [...]

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State Offices of Social Innovation?

Posted on 29. May, 2009 by Andrew.

I recently had an op-ed published in the Boston Business Journal entitled “Time for civic leadership.” In it, I call for the establishment of an Office of Social Innovation in Massachusetts.
I believe that in order for us to advance a social innovation agenda, we will need to link federal initiatives to state-level activities. While I [...]

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Why the Social Innovation Fund is on the right track

Posted on 14. May, 2009 by Andrew.

There has been a great deal of chatter since the Social Innovation Fund appeared, first in the Serve America Act, then in the President’s budget, and recently in some high-profile mentions by the First Lady, the Secretary for Health and Human Services and the Director of Domestic Policy Affairs.
Since then, a post by Allison Fine [...]

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Marching to the beat

Posted on 07. May, 2009 by Andrew.

I received an email yesterday from America Forward,  a strong partner in the area of government and social innovation. In the email they asked, “Can you hear the drumbeat?” They pointed to a variety of factors coming together simultaneously, beginning with the signing of the Serve America Act, that signify our government’s recognition of social [...]

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