Root Cause

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

Andrew Wolk — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:14:47 +0000

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 today are reaching out to partner with the private and nonprofit sectors to drive change in their cities. It was particularly exciting for me for two reasons.

A Corporation's Role in Building Local Communities - A response to Acumen Fund Lesson #4

Elly Brown — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:40:50 +0000

Lesson #4: "We won't succeed in the long-term without cultivating local leaders, local money, and strong local communities."

Over the past 10 years, Acumen Fund has refined its approach for investing in market-based solutions that uplift the poor from rural Pakistan to the slums of Kenya. Acumen Fund's 10 lessons from the past decade were highlighted in Scott Anderson's recent post, Next Thought Monday.

A Milestone for Social Impact Markets

Andrew Wolk — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:40:03 +0000

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.

Why?

Andrew Wolk — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:26:53 +0000

Why is it that in a country with so many resources, and government and nonprofit programs devoted to education, economic prosperity, and health and well-being—social issues we know to be essential to our success—are we unable to spread what works faster? As of 2008, nearly one-quarter of the American population failed to finish high school, 21 percent of American children lived below the poverty line, and the U.S. health care system ranked 37th in the world—lower than any other developed nation. With 1.4 million tax exempt organizations in the country working towards these social issues, why are we not spreading what works faster?

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Ankita Gandhi — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:46:11 +0000

Today, like every January 11, is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

Human trafficking has been with us since the beginning of history; only its trends have changed over time. Trafficking, also referred to as modern day slavery, is more affordable, more wide-spread, and more ingrained in our society than during the Civil War.

Improving Education through Data

Anne Radday — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 01:42:45 +0000

It was recently announced that Massachusetts is one of nine states that will receive funding from the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge, meaning that the state will receive approximately $50 million to improve the quality of our preschool programs.

On Giving this Holiday Season

Anne Radday — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:59:07 +0000

The Charities Aid Foundation released their second annual World Giving Index Report on December 19^th. This report highlights how generous Americans are – in fact it shows that of 153 countries, the United States is the most generous in terms of giving money, time, and resources to charities.

This probably doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone reading this. Americans are generous and right now, during the holiday season Americans are especially generous.

As you pull out your check book this year to respond to an annual appeal, I challenge you to do things a little differently… .

Catalyzing Change through Collective Learning: the Youth Violence Prevention Funder Symposium

Stephanie Koh — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:24:44 +0000

Earlier this month, over 150 private and public funders, content experts, and community stakeholders came together for a Youth Violence Prevention Funder Symposium focused on addressing youth violence in greater Boston. An annual event hosted by the Youth Violence Prevention (YVP) Funder Learning Collaborative, the Symposium centered on "understanding the problem and investing in pathways to prevention" of youth violence.

Celebrating a Business Innovator: Gary Hirshberg, President and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm

Elizabeth Leberman — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:48:02 +0000

This evening, the Social Innovation Forum is holding its annual Winter Reception at Microsoft New England Research & Development Center to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2011 Social Innovators and to welcome the new class of 2012 Social Innovators .

Embracing change as social issues move forward

Susan Musinsky — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:58:39 +0000

As I mentioned in a recent blog post, I had the pleasure of attending the Council on Foundation’s Annual Community Leadership Conference in September. The conference had a record number of 1200 people in attendance. It had a great energy and I met some very dedicated, inspiring people. Since then, I have been reflecting on some ideas that two keynote speakers at the conference helped to inspire for me about how community giving can lead to real progress on difficult social issues.