Social Innovation around the World
Posted on Jul 16, 2009
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 Jul 10, 2009
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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A Historic Day – Are you ‘all in’?
Posted on Jul 01, 2009
I was sitting in the East Wing of the White House next to Bob Grimm, Director of Research and Policy Development for the Corporation for National and Community Service, waiting for the program to begin. I turned to him with my camera and camcorder in hand and asked, “Have you been here before?” He [...]
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An Invitation to the White House
Posted on Jun 30, 2009
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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Volunteer Fire Departments: a Model of Social Innovation
Posted on Jun 29, 2009
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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Back from the Future Trends Forum in Madrid
Posted on Jun 12, 2009
I am just returning from Madrid, Spain, where I attended a small convening of 40 people from around the world called the Future Trends Forum (FTF), hosted by the Bankinter Foundation of Innovation, a Spanish bank. Spain is yet another country (see my post on China) interested in advancing a social innovation agenda. There were [...]
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State Offices of Social Innovation?
Posted on May 29, 2009
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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China’s Opportunity for Social and Public Innovation
Posted on May 18, 2009
Last week I was in Portland, Oregon where I joined Greg Dees, David Sawyer, Kim Alter and others to contribute to the Social Innovator Leadership Program led by Mercy Corps. We worked with a 20-person delegation made up of representatives of China’s public, private, and NGO sectors from the All-China Youth Federation.
Besides the fact that [...]
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Why the Social Innovation Fund is on the right track
Posted on May 14, 2009
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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The 2009 Social Innovation Forum Showcase Event
Posted on May 12, 2009
Last week, Root Cause held its annual Social Innovation Forum (SIF) Showcase event in Boston. With social innovation just now hitting the streets of our nation’s capital, it’s hard to believe this was our sixth Showcase event.
Since 2003, we have been searching the Boston area for Social Innovators whose models are in the early stages [...]
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End-of-Year Reflections on Social Innovation and Investing in What Works
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A Milestone for Social Impact Markets
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What the social innovator needs
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ericverhaeghe: Very clear and precise. But... you seem to forget ...
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Joy: Many wonder what it means to get involved with pro...
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tbg: HI Andrew, Thank you for your analysis of Massa...
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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: ...
