The power of social innovation : how civic entrepreneurs ignite community networks for good

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The power of social innovation : how civic entrepreneurs ignite community networks for good

Stephen Goldsmith with Gigi Georges and Tim Glynn Burke ; foreword by Michael R. Bloomberg

Jossey-Bass, c2010

  • : cloth

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The power of social innovation

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-263) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

THE POWER of SOCIAL INNOVATION Civic leaders across the U.S. and throughout the world are discovering creative ways to overcome the obstacles that seal the doors of opportunity for too many. These inspiring individuals believe that within our communities lie the entrepreneurial spirit, compassion, and resources to make progress in such critical areas as education, housing, and economic self-reliance. Real progress requires that we take bold action and leverage our strengths for the greater good. The Power of Social Innovation offers public officials, social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and individual citizens the insights and skills to create healthier communities and promote innovative solutions to public and social problems. This seminal work is based on Stephen Goldsmith's decades of experience, extensive ongoing research, and interviews with 100+ top leaders from a wide variety of sectors. Goldsmith shows that everyday citizens can themselves produce extraordinary social change. The book explores the levers and guiding principles used by champions of civic progress who drive new organizations, new interventions, or new policies to enhance social conditions. The Power of Social Innovation features illustrative case studies of change-oriented philanthropists, public officials, and civic leaders. While all collaborate across sectors, they run both start-ups and established organizations such as the New York City public schools, United Way of America, the United Negro College Fund, and Teach For America. The book shows the catalyzing role each plays in transforming a community's social service delivery systems. To complement the book's myriad tools and case studies,The Power of Social Innovation web site (www.powerofsocialinnovation.com) provides links to relevant Harvard research as well as additional helpful resources.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix The Author xi Foreword xiii Preface xvii Part I: Catalyzing Social Change 1 Chapter 1 Igniting Civic Progress 3 Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Change 4 So Many Ideas, So Little Progress 6 Civic Entrepreneurship as the Solution 12 Igniting Civic Progress 17 The Mandate and Caution of Engaging Government 20 Conclusions 24 Chapter 2 Innovation as Catalytic Ingredient 27 Discovering the Missing Ingredient 30 Choosing the Right Catalyst 36 Bringing It All Together: The Nehemiah Foundation 58 Conclusions 61 Part II: Market Maker as Civic Entrepreneur 65 Chapter 3 Open Sourcing Social Innovation 67 Breaking Down Protectionist Barriers 69 Opening Space for Innovation 73 Leveling the Playing Field 79 Inviting the Exceptional 82 Forcing Cultural Change 85 Bringing It All Together: The Enlightened Monopolist 90 Conclusions 97 Chapter 4 Trading Good Deeds for Measurable Results 101 Current Funding Limitations 103 What Public Value are We Purchasing? 106 Are the Funded Activities Still the Most Relevant? 111 What Change Does the Community Want and What Assets Can It Mobilize? 114 Are We Funding a Project or Sustainable System Change? 116 What Will We Measure? 120 Bringing It All Together: Linda Gibbs 125 Conclusions 126 Part III: Service Provider as Civic Entrepreneur 131 Chapter 5 Animating and Trusting the Citizen 133 Balancing the Professional with the Public 135 Building a Public 139 Leveraging Social Media for Change 149 "Client" Choice 153 Curing the Expectation Gap 157 Bringing It All Together: Family Independence Initiative 160 Conclusions 165 Chapter 6 Turning Risk into Reward 169 Seeing Opportunity Where Others See Liability 171 Taking First Risk 172 Fully Calculating Cascading Return on Investment 182 Political Risk and Reward 184 Bringing It All Together: Wraparound Milwaukee 192 Conclusions 195 Chapter 7 The Fertile Community 197 The Fertile City (and the Entrepreneurial Mayor) 199 Civic Entrepreneurs and School Reform 202 Entrepreneurial Community Solutions 214 Staying Entrepreneurial: Saving Yourself from Success 221 The Future 222 Notes 225 References 255 Index 265

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