State Offices of Social Innovation?

State Offices of Social Innovation?

Posted on 29. May, 2009 in Public Innovation, Role of Government, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation

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 don’t yet have a specific perspective on how details of such an arrangement should be executed, I think we can learn from how the SBA and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) link the two. As you know, in addition to the White House Office of Social Innovation, two states have already established similar offices: the Louisiana Office of Social Entrepreneurship was established within the Lt. Governor’s office, while in Texas, the Center for Social Impact is a nonprofit organization with a direct connection to state government – the governor even appoints the executive director. These organizational structures are similar to the way state-based Service Commissions have been set up, and these commissions are connected to AmeriCorps and the CNCS at the federal-level.

Please take a moment to read the op-ed, and then let me know: do you think a state presence is important? If so, what might be good ways to link this presence to federal activities? Comments encouraged below.

Here’s an excerpt from the op-ed:

“The public spiritedness and creative energy of Massachusetts citizens have often led to breakthroughs in the way we live. From being the first state to abolish slavery, to providing the first shelter for homeless women, to creating the program that became the model for AmeriCorps, the commonwealth¹s citizens have been pioneers in social innovation.

“Today - as the economic meltdown sends our social service providers scrambling to provide increased services with vanishing resources - Massachusetts should demonstrate civic leadership again, by establishing a state Office of Social Innovation.”

Click here to read the full article.

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2 Responses to “State Offices of Social Innovation?”

  1. Andrew

    02. Jun, 2009

    Thanks to America Forward for their thoughtful response to this post at http://www.americaforward.org/2009/06/calling-for...

    Reply to this comment

  2. Nancy Gallant

    15. Jun, 2009

    While I'm hesitant to support anything that leads to bigger government, I readily admit that my knowledge base is minimal with regard to whether these "offices" do contribute to the greater good.

    Consideration should be given to what has and hasn't worked in other states, though Social Innovation is still, relatively speaking, in its infancy, one concept among many that is contributing to a paradigm change in attitudes, lifestyle, consumer and investment choices that take into account people, planet and profits, sustainability, conscious capitalism and the like…

    Closer to home, wondering if the development of a Creative Business Council in our state might provide a model for the creation of an Office of Social Innovation.

    Here's a link on the topic:
    http://winterstreetarchitects.wordpress.com/2009/...

    One last link is to a discussion on the Social Entrepreneur Linked In Group:

    http://www.linkedin.com/newsArticle?viewDiscussio...
    If you can't access it, let me know and I'll cut and paste the entire text.

    Reply to this comment

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