Phoenix Project’s Greg Werkheiser and I made our way through the various halls of the Capitol, passing office after office of senators and members of Congress with name plaques on the doors − Kerry, Collins, Frank, Cao, Barton − to arrive at our next stop, Representative Jim Moran. We met with his Legislative Director, Tim Aiken. This meeting focused on the 8th Congressional District in Northern Virginia that Congressman Moran represents.
The Phoenix Project has been doing amazing work along the Route 1 corridor in Virginia, an area that has faced major challenges over time. Greg talked about his work. Tim found the stories interesting and offered us the opportunity to present our work at Congressman Moran’s annual summer conference. But it was clear he was looking for more concrete examples of results.
Our last stop was a meeting with Dominic Bonaiuto, Legislative Director to Congressman Gerry Connolly. Congressman Connolly had just recently been elected, and Dominic was also new to Congress. This proved to be beneficial for Greg and me − the Connolly team is seeking new ideas they can champion to bring about change in Virginia, whereas it was clear from our meetings with veteran representatives and senators that they already have long lists of priorities they are trying to move forward. With them, we would need to get in line. Greg and I explained to Dominic that, right now in Virginia, models that are delivering real results for issues that Congressman Connolly cares about already exist among the more than 34,000 nonprofits in that state alone. It is critical to develop ways to spread these innovative models for the greater good.
As I walked out of the last meeting, making my way down the steps of the Capitol, my original observation still held: we have a lot of work to do − years of it − to bring a comprehensive social innovation agenda to Washington. With that thought, I turned my attention on what needs to happen next: a greater focus on data and results to showcase what works.
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