Andrew Wolk

What the social innovator needs

Posted on 11. Apr, 2012 by Andrew.

Earlier this year, I asked everyone working within the social innovation field why we were not spreading proven approaches faster. I also said that the answer lay in linking resources to performance. When we efficiently connect resources to the highest performing organizations, we can truly start to spread approaches that work. Today, I ask: How? [...]

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Stanford Social Innovation Review Webinar

Posted on 16. Feb, 2012 by Andrew.

Exploring Social Impact Markets: Examples from the Field

Presented by: Andrew Wolk, founder and CEO, Root Cause
In Conversation with
Sheila Cody Peterson Shawn Dove, vice president of corporate citizenship, State Street Corporation
Shawn Dove, campaign manager, Campaign for Black Male Achievement, Open Society Foundations, US Programs
Bob Giannino-Racine, CEO, ACCESS
Date: Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Time: 11:00–noon PST, 2:00–3:00 p.m. EST
Click here [...]

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From The Gathering of Leaders – A Conversation about Collaboration with Cities

Posted on 13. Feb, 2012 by Andrew.

Last week at New Profit’s Gathering of Leaders conference, I had the privilege of facilitating a session with Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Jim Anderson, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, and Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. The conversation revolved around collaboration between mayors’ offices and private and public sector organizations.  More specifically, it presented lessons on how mayors [...]

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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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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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The Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund

Posted on 30. Oct, 2009 by Andrew.

One of the most exciting examples of government applying the principles of social innovation for accelerated social impact is the U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) Investing in Innovation, or i3, Fund (formerly known as the “What Works” fund). As the name suggests, the fund exists to identify and “support local efforts to start or expand [...]

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Volunteer Fire Departments: a Model of Social Innovation

Posted on 29. Jun, 2009 by Andrew.

This past weekend I was in Jackson, New Hampshire, where I attended the town’s Covered Bridge Dance. You might be wondering what a Covered Bridge Dance has to do with social innovation. The community gathering was to support the Jackson Firefighters’ Association, the volunteer organization that supports Jackson’s volunteer firefighters. Volunteer fire departments [...]

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