Andrew Wolk

An Obama Social Innovation Agenda

Posted on 11. Feb, 2009 in Public Innovation, Role of Government, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation

Over the past year, we have seen tremendous excitement about the possibility that an Obama Administration would spur the advancement of social innovation. On the campaign trail, Obama consistently spoke about opening some sort of office within the White House that would focus on advancing innovation for social impact.

Now that time is close. Possibly within the next month, President Obama will launch the White House Office of Social Innovation. The details behind this office are still in the works – but that’s what makes this so exciting. The commitment to advancing this work at the federal level of government presents a major step forward for accelerating social impact.

Why?

Because at the federal, state, and city levels, our government provides three levers that ultimately drive the progress we make on critical social issues: (1) government makes the laws, (2) government has access to major systems like schools and healthcare, and (3) government provides the majority of funding.

Many people and organizations have contributed to this amazing moment. Perhaps most importantly, Michele Jolin (Center for American Progress) has written regularly about the role of an office and guided this topic along. America Forward, the coalition formed by New Profit, Inc., was instrumental in at least two ways: getting the ideas onto the campaign trail and then into pending legislation through the Serve America Act. State efforts have also played a role, including: the first-ever state Office of Social Entrepreneurship launched by Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu in Louisiana, The OneStar Foundation’s Texas Center for Social Impact, and the Phoenix Project in Virginia.

In our own work at Root Cause, we have shared our perspective about the role government can play to advance social innovation and entrepreneurship. Through Public Innovators, a nonpartisan Root Cause initiative launched in April 2008, we have been actively focused on introducing policymakers and government agencies to social innovation and social entrepreneurship.

Many other organizations are helping shape recommendations for the new office by engaging in dialogue (Social Edge), promoting ideas (change.org), and publishing additional reports (Independent Sector and the National Council of Nonprofits).

This is an exciting time – let’s make sure that the rigor we all hope to bring does not get lost in the fanfare of this incredible moment in history. Stay tuned…

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/whiteafrican/ / CC BY 2.0

Tags: barack obama, michele jolin, mitch landrieu, office of social innovation, Social Entrepreneurship, social impact, Social Innovation