Signs of a Movement

Things are definitely happening.  While our country is struggling to address the largest financial crisis since the Great Depression, to elect a new President, and so on, new ideas in the social sector are building momentum.  Here are just a few examples from the past week of a growing movement:

• The SoCap 2008 (Social Capital Markets) Conference held in San Francisco this week and sponsored by Good Capital saw its registrations double after the financial collapse.  Sessions yesterday were beyond standing room only.  The conference brings together people interested in changing the world through sustainable business (businesses with a social mission). Perhaps some of the talent and resources from the failure of investment banks will be channeled into social return on investment.  It seems people are hungry for a new way.
• New Orleans continues to be a mecca for social innovation.  The Idea Village, a nonprofit working to envigorate the city’s entrepreneurial engine, just announced a $100,000 business idea competition.  The idea has to help retain and engage 25-34 year olds in New Orleans.
• The Council on Foundations wrote an open letter to their 2,000 member foundations asking them to step up during these difficult economic times and help the nonprofits in their communities.  Rather than hide behind the turmoil and their shrinking endowments, foundations should “continue to serve the common good in these uncommon times.”  It remains to be seen what will come out of this call and their members response to it, but the fact that the largest association of foundations in the country realizes the enormity of the situation and wants to react in a new way is encouraging.

Tags: Foundations, New Orleans, Social Enterprise, social innovation

The Opportunity in the Chaos

These past months have been frightening, with new banks crumbling every week and the government weighing the merits of a $700 billion bailout.  The economy is reeling with tremendous uncertainty.  I can see the nonprofit sector, which is often hit hardest and longest by any economic downturn, holding its collective breath, unsure what all of this will mean to the critical services they provide.  And, if the government does end up providing a tremendous influx of cash to the overall economy, it must mean that less will be left over for nonprofit programs.

All of this seems incredibly bleak.  Indeed, the times we live in are rather bleak.  But they are also incredibly historic.  And what if, instead of battening down the hatches, we viewed these times as an opportunity? Perhaps times like these are exactly when system-changing ideas can take hold.  Take New Orleans for instance.  Despite the incredible destruction of Katrina which threatened to wipe that city off the map, New Orleans is starting to come back.  And social entrepreneurship is driving that come back.  New Orleans’ school system was in disarray before Katrina.  It was one of the worst in the country.  However, Katrina has given them a clean slate.  And social entrepreneurs, with great new ideas for education, have taken the city by storm, using it as a test case for some pretty exciting and powerful models for changing the end game:  improving future outcomes for at-risk kids.  It’s a pretty inspirational story.

So, maybe, amid all of the bleak news of recent days there is a ray of hope.  When nothing is sure, anything is possible.

Tags: Economy, government, New Orleans, nonprofit, Social Entrepreneurship