Are You the Next Echoing Green Fellow?

Echoing Green has launched their annual search for social entrepreneurs. Each year, Echoing Green identifies promising social entrepreneurs with bold ideas to solve society’s most pressing problems and provides them with up to $90,000 in seed funding, strategic support, leadership development, and a powerful community of nearly 500 other Fellows and alumni. To date, Echoing Green has invested nearly $30 million in seed funding to almost 500 social entrepreneurs and their organizations.

Echoing Green is a great organization and a real pioneer in the social entrepreneurship space. To find out more, you can read my interview with Lara Galinsky, SVP at Echoing Green, and read about English at Work an Echoing Green fellow and Social Velocity client transforming the lives of ESL service workers.

Echoing Green’s online Fellowship application will be open from December 5, 2011 to January 9, 2012. You can find out more about the Fellowship application process here and you can sign up to receive the latest news on the process here.

Good Luck!

Tags: Echoing Green, echoing green fellows, nonprofit, social entrepreneur competitions, social entrepreneur start up funding, social entrepreneurs

Building the Social Entrepreneurship Movement: An Interview with Lara Galinsky

In this month’s Social Velocity blog interview, we’re talking with Lara Galinksy. Lara is an author, career expert and senior vice president of Echoing Green. Over the last two decades, Echoing Green has invested $30 million in 500 social entrepreneurs around the world. Galinsky is the co-author of Work on Purpose, which provides a framework for aligning passions with talents to achieve personal fulfillment and societal impact. She is also the co-author of Be Bold: Create a Career with Impact (2007).

You can read past interviews in our Social Innovation Interview Series here.

Nell: Echoing Green was in many ways one of the first instigators of the social entrepreneurship movement, founded in 1987 and having launched some of the darlings of the movement like Wendy Kopp of Teach For America, and Michael Brown and Alan Khazei of City Year. How do you think the social entrepreneurship movement has evolved over time? How is the field of social entrepreneurship different now than it was 20+ years ago?

Lara: The most wonderful way in which the field of social entrepreneurship has developed over the past 20+ years is the fact that, today, questions about the “field” can even be asked. Twenty years ago social entrepreneurship was not a field. It was not a movement. It was barely even a term.

Just five years ago a young woman approached me and told me that she wanted to be a social entrepreneur. I took a step back. I had never heard anyone say that they had wanted to be a social entrepreneur before. Now, I hear it all the time.

Universities now offer specializations and masters degrees in social enterprise. A number of new organizations are emerging to fund, support and incubate social entrepreneurial organizations. And more and more people identify themselves as potential social entrepreneurs. This year alone, we received nearly 3,000 applications for our Fellowship.

Nell: How has Echoing Green’s model evolved over time? What are you doing differently and how do you continually reinvent your organization and your contribution to the social entrepreneurship space?

Lara: Echoing Green has always been a very nimble organization, largely because we have been responsive to the evolution of the field of social entrepreneurship. As the field develops, new trends continuously emerge, changing the way we work.

Right now, we are seeing an increase in for-profit and hybrid organizations in the social entrepreneurship space. This year, 31% of the organizations that applied for our Fellowship used one of these two models. A few Echoing Green Fellows that use either a for-profit or hybrid model are Pharmasecure, Sparked.com, and FarmBuilders.

We are also seeing more product development within the space. Some Echoing Green Fellows who epitomize this trend are Global Cycle Solutions, EGG Energy and Mobius Motors.

There has been an increase in mobile technology. Some of our Fellows working within this field include Mideast Youth, Frogtek. You can read more about this particular trend in our recent blog series on mobile technology.

Finally, over 55% of our semifinalists have identified themselves as younger than 35 for the past four years. Inspired by the altruism of the Millennial generation, we have been giving more attention to the career needs of Millennials at large through our new program, Work on Purpose.

Nell: Some have cautioned that the social entrepreneurship movement focuses too much on individual, charismatic social entrepreneurs instead of institutions or broader/deeper efforts for social change. But Echoing Green is very much interested in individual social entrepreneurs, so how do you counter that argument?

Lara: We know that the individual is absolutely key to the success of a social entrepreneurship project. The power of someone who has found their unique contribution to the world—which we call the individual’s “hustle,” the perfect balance of their heat and their head—is undeniable. However, we believe that it is not enough to put strong young social entrepreneurs in the world. We must also create a world that will support these social entrepreneurs and their ground-breaking ideas.

When we began to envision our newest program, Work on Purpose, a few years ago, a number of individuals had already identified Echoing Green as uniquely positioned to help them ignite a career in social change—including those who were not social entrepreneurs. We came to realize that with our 25-year history of sourcing and supporting social innovators who have successfully created personally meaningful, world-changing careers, we had access to career-creation methodologies that were desperately needed among those who want careers in social change, particularly Millennials.

With this in mind, we developed a new book, Work on Purpose, which shares the best practices of our Fellows with a wider population of individuals interested in careers with impact. We are now developing an online platform, workshops, keynote speeches, panel discussions, course workshop guides, small group discussion guides, and other tools for deep exploration to supplement the book. The cost of our failure to harness the potential of the Millennial generation’s altruistic energy by not providing them with the inspiration, the tools and the resources they need to create the social change careers they want is simply too great to ignore.

Nell: Echoing Green provides a very needed injection of capital to startup social entrepreneurs, as do the burgeoning contests and other startup capital activities out there, but there is still a lack of capital at the next stage (growth) for social entrepreneurs. How do you see that capital space evolving, and what will encourage it to grow?

Lara: Of significant importance in expanding the level of capital provided to this space is greater overall recognition and understanding of the activity that is already occurring and studies on the successes and failures that happen. We need to develop our knowledge of what investment instruments make sense for social businesses and how they lead to requisite returns for investors.

The government could encourage capital in the sector by protecting the social investor from loss (downside protection), through collateral provision and other measures. They could also structure investment support in such a way that it amplifies returns to the investors by making public capital available but allowing disproportionate returns to private investors. Both these concepts have been used to effect in the UK.

Finally, greater use of PRIs by foundations and public charities will significantly increase capital flow. There is insufficient understanding around the IRS consideration of valid PRI approaches, and we need more progressive investments to demonstrate the true charitable impact of this type of capital.

Nell: What’s next for the social entrepreneurship movement? What needs to happen to continue to build support for and interest in social entrepreneurship?

Lara: The most important goal is for social entrepreneurs to demonstrate, collectively and over time, that they can tackle the world’s biggest challenges with scalable impact. Social entrepreneurs are nothing if not ambitious, and the field has set expectations of social impact very high. With a meaningful amount of money, attention, and human capital now in the field, Echoing Green hopes to see a steady stream of rigorously evaluated outcomes.

Below that over-arching goal, Echoing Green is particularly hopeful about two areas for continued progress in the field. First, we would like to see a much greater diversity in the social, economic, and geographic background of social entrepreneurs. At a minimum, the social entrepreneur community should mirror the diversity of the communities where social entrepreneurs work.

Secondly, we hope that the broader ecosystem of support structures for the field continues to develop. This includes the vital human capital represented by projects such as Work on Purpose, as well as the political environment, financial system, etc.

Tags: City Year, Echoing Green, Lara Galinsky, scaling social enterprise, Social Enterprise, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Velocity blog interview, Teach for America, Work on Purpose

The Balance of Heart and Head

In the work of social change there is a constant and necessary tension between heart–the human emotions of love, empathy, anger that force us to work for social change, and head–the strategy, systems, and measurement that demonstrate whether that change is happening. Two recent books provide a nice demonstration of this ongoing balancing act between head and heart. Work on Purpose by Lara Galinsky from Echoing Green describes how the early experiences of five social entrepreneurs shaped the social change careers they eventually were drawn to. And Robert Penna’s The Nonprofit Outcomes Toolbox, provides a great step-by-step guide for a nonprofit wanting to explore the increasingly necessary world of outcomes measurement. The two books taken together, although very different in tone, content and presentation, actually provide a nice reminder of the importance of balancing heart and head in social change efforts.

Work on Purpose chronicles five Echoing Green Fellows and the paths their lives took to eventually become social entrepreneurs. The stories are fascinating, inspiring and eye-opening. Any social entrepreneur will recognize their own journey here, from some pivotal moment in childhood when they felt empathy that drove them toward social change, to the frustrating pressure to stay with a more traditional career path, to eventually breaking free and melding their passion and talents to work for social change.

In writing this book, Lara hopes to encourage others who are just starting out, and perhaps those who have not yet found their right career, to reflect on their larger contribution and the role they want to play: “What social footprint do you want to make? What is your problem to own? What gifts do you have to offer to the world? What path do you want to take?” Indeed, there is increasing interest and energy among the millennial generation to create a career around solving social problems. This book encourages that trend and helps people make it a reality, as Lance Armstrong and Doug Ulman write in the introduction to the book: “We all have an obligation to bring positive change to our communities and our world. Fulfilling that obligation requires the boldness not only to envision a better world, but also to recognize your ability to to make that world a reality.”

But social change is not all about passion and the individual social entrepreneurs who bring their vision to reality. It also must be about measuring outcomes in order to determine if all of that effort is really resulting in anything. And to help bring clarity to the often misunderstood and muddy world of outcomes measurement, Robert Penna has written a new book. The Nonprofit Outcomes Toolbox, guides nonprofit leaders (but really, any social entrepreneur) through the process of understanding what outcomes are, how to create the right ones, and then how to measure them.

His book is a much-needed tool for social change efforts because although there is increasing interest in demonstrating outcomes, outcome measurement can be so difficult and costly to pursue. Many organizations have simply abandoned the effort because they can’t wrap their heads around it, let alone afford it. But Robert provides a step-by-step, practical, common-sense approach that allows organizations to understand the power of outcomes and create the right ones for them. Finally there is a tool that makes outcome measurement a potential reality for all social change organizations.

In any effort to create significant, sustainable social change you must balance an empathetic vision with a systematic, measurable way to execute on that vision. These two new books provide the social entrepreneur the tools to do both.

Tags: balance of heart and head, Doug Ulman, Echoing Green, Lance Armstrong, Lara Galinsky, outcomes measurement, Robert Penna, social change, social change careers, social entrepreneur careers, social entrepreneurs, The Nonprofit Outcomes Toolbox, theory of change, Work on Purpose

Echoing Green’s Be Bold Summit Comes to Austin

Later this week I’m participating in the Echoing Green Be Bold Summit, which is being held in Austin. Echoing Green is a critical part of the social entrepreneurship ecosystem. Through two-year fellowships they invest in and support emerging social entrepreneurs to launch new organizations that deliver bold, high-impact solutions. To date, Echoing Green has invested nearly $30 million in seed funding to almost 500 social entrepreneurs and their organizations.

This year’s Be Bold Summit brings together current and alumni Echoing Green fellows to “reconnect and recharge…while providing an active, leadership driven space, with experts, support and some serious reflection.” This is an exciting proposition, to be in a room with 100+ of the world’s best and brightest social entrepreneurs. These are the people who are really changing the world. I can’t wait!

In addition to attending the summit and learning from these phenomenal social entrepreneurs, I am leading a couple of sessions around fundraising. The one I’m most excited about is called “Overcoming Fundraising Hurdles,” and the description is below. I am co-leading this session with Jessica Posner, former Echoing Green Fellow and co-founder of Shining Hope for Communities, an innovative, two-step community-driven model to combat gender inequality, where girls’ schools become portals through which attitudes toward women change as community members associate needed services with an institution dedicated to girls’ education.

If you are in Austin and planning to be at the Be Bold Summit, let me know.

Overcoming Fundraising Hurdles
This interactive session will give participants a brief overview of how fundraising in the nonprofit sector works and some real world experiences of a fellow who has raised over half a million dollars, almost $100,000 of which from individuals over 24 days. The bulk of the session will be open to fellows to bring their most challenging fundraising hurdles and get insight, advice and solutions from the experts and their peer fellows.

Tags: Be Bold Summit, Echoing Green, echoing green fellows, nonprofit fundraising, overcoming fundraising hurdles, seed funding for social entrepreneurs, Shining Hope to Communities, Social Entrepreneurship

Echoing Green Call for Social Entrepreneurs

Today Echoing Green launches their annual search for budding social entrepreneurs to invest in. For over 20 years Echoing Green has provided $30 million in seed funding and support to nearly 500 social entrepreneurs – including the founders of Teach For America, City Year, College Summit, and SKS Microfinance, some of the darlings of the social entrepreneurship world.

Echoing Green invests in and supports outstanding emerging social entrepreneurs to launch new organizations that deliver bold, high-impact solutions. Through a two-year fellowship program, they help visionaries develop new solutions to society’s most difficult problems. These social entrepreneurs and their organizations work to solve deeply-rooted social, environmental, economic, and political inequities to ensure equal access and to help all individuals reach their potential.

This year Social Velocity is a search partner for Echoing Green to help them find fellowship applicants. In the Spring of 2011 Echoing Green will award between 12 and 20 fellowships to early-stage social entrepreneurs.  Fellows receive up to $90,000 in seed funding over two years, operational and technical support, and access to a powerful global community of fellows and alumni. The online application opened today and will close on November 12th.

If you think you might qualify, check out their eligibility requirements and assessment criteria and their 2011 Application Handbook.  You can also take a look at some of their past fellows.  They are an impressive, engaging, inspiring group. In fact, one of Social Velocity’s clients, English at Work, is led by Echoing Green Fellow, Maile Broccoli-Hickey. You can read their story here.

The Echoing Green Fellowship is a fabulous opportunity for an aspiring social entrepreneur to not only receive a couple of years of funding and assistance, but also gain a lifetime membership to an elite network of leaders of the social innovation movement. And any past Fellow will tell you that that brings countless opportunities to make things happen.

Good Luck!

Tags: City Year, College Summit, Echoing Green, Echoing Green Fellowship, English at Work, Maile Broccoli-Hickey, SKS Microfinance, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Velocity, Teach for America

Bringing Small Nonprofits to Scale

English at Work could be a poster child for social innovation in the nonprofit sector. An Echoing Green fellow, founder Maile Broccoli-Hickey is a social entrepreneur, but like most of them, she doesn’t even know it. Her tireless work to build an organization that can effectively and efficiently transform the English language skills of hotel and restaurant workers is a model to other nonprofits who have a great solution, but lack the capacity and strategy to grow it.

Maile started English at Work in 2004 when she was a waitress in an Austin, Texas restaurant. She realized that her co-workers needed customized English language instruction to ensure their and their employers’ success. Why not bring customized English classes to the workplace in a focused and systematic way? These courses, paid for largely by restaurant and hotel owners who see the value in having a more fluent workforce, get dramatic results. English at Work creates greater proficiency and fluency gains in a shorter amount than their closest ESL instruction rivals. The program works so well because it is a win-win. Students become more fluent and successful at work, paving the way for promotions and a way out of poverty. Employers get more productive, loyal and customer-service oriented employees.

But like most nonprofit organizations hit hard by the recession, a year ago English at Work was struggling to make ends meet. Although employers paid for the classes, those fees didn’t cover all organization costs. The additional necessary revenue came from individual donations and foundation grants, both hit hard by the recession. At the same time Maile knew that the program had the potential to transform the lives of so many more people. Despite financial troubles, she had big visions for growth.

With funding from a couple of key donors who understood the value of investing in infrastructure, capacity and planning, Maile enlisted Social Velocity to determine what was holding the organization back and to create a comprehensive revenue plan to get the organization on firm financial footing. Over the first two months of the engagement we interviewed board and staff members and reviewed all organization policies, by-laws, finances, collateral, plans and documents. We then created a detailed analysis of each area of the organization (strategy, program, finances, marketing, staffing, board, etc.) with recommendations in each area for how the organization could be more effective. Once completed, we worked closely with Maile over the next 3 months to create a detailed plan for increasing how money flowed to the organization from individuals, foundations, corporations and earned revenue. Finally, we trained English at Work staff and board on raising money.

Now that English at Work is on much firmer financial ground, they are ready to plan for growth, and so we are in the midst of creating a strategic plan for significant growth of the program. The hope is to take this great solution and bring it to scale.

English at Work is a great example of the many little-known nonprofit organizations that toil away under the radar. They may have a fabulous model for creating real change, but lack the infrastructure, capacity and strategy to grow their impact to scale. Although the Social Innovation Fund and other venture philanthropy funds that exist to bring solutions to scale are great, no ecosystem exists for the smaller nonprofits that may have equally important solutions. But there is a way. By combining a few key donors who understand the bigger picture, a smart strategy for growth and sustainability, and a determination to execute effectively, even the smallest nonprofits with a great solution and a vision for growth can get there.

Photo Credit: English at Work

Tags: Echoing Green, English at Work, Maile Broccoli-Hickey, nonprofit capacity building, nonprofit growth strategy, Social Innovation Fund, venture philanthropy funds