Community Innovation News - Christine Sculati's blog » social entrepreneurism

Bold new experiments in social innovation launch this week

christine — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:38:56 +0000

As the aphorism goes: “Out of adversity comes opportunity.”

It was Benjamin Franklin who said these words. In addition to being well known as a “founding father” of this country and an inventor, Franklin was a successful newspaper editor, printer, and merchant in Philadelphia, where he published Poor Richard’s Almanack and The Pennsylvania Gazette.

Yet in the 21st century, the traditional newspaper business models of yesteryear that thrived on advertisement revenues no longer work. In the Bay Area, this is playing out with major layoffs of newsroom staff. Newspaperlayoffs.com maintains a running tally of layoffs and newspaper closures across the country.

It should come as no surprise that the San Francisco Chronicle’s shrinking operations have pushed the 145-year old newspaper to lease the first floor of its building at Mission and 5th Streets in the SoMA distirct, which has housed the Chronicle since 1924 (full history and timeline here).

Now, new groups of social entrepreneurs have moved into the space at 901 Mission Street, under lease with the Hearst Corporation, owners of The Chronicle.

Meanwhile, moving north across Market Street to 126 Post, another startup, The Bay Citizen, officially launches tomorrow to begin filling some of the gaps left by the Bay Area’s losses of high quality journalism, namely in depth coverage of civic and local news. They join a growing number of member-supported nonprofit ventures nationwide and other entrepreneurs and bloggers around the Bay. I list a few here and here.

The two organizations launching this week in San Francisco are completely unrelated, but both seek to innovate and experiment boldly.

The Bay Citizen celebrates tomorrow night, May 26, at the Great American Music Hall after their new website site goes live with its first news articles. The launch party is for founding members, and with a donation of $50 or more, they will list your name as a founder on their Web site permanently and give you two tickets to the launch event.

Then, on Thursday May 27, billed as a “radical collaboration” of innovators and social enterprises working to create social change, Hub SoMA celebrates in its new 8,600 square feet of work and event space for social entrepreneurs. The event is free for members and $10 for non-members.

Many might mistake The Hub for a nonprofit because its mission is built on social and environmental values. The global network with 22 locations from Stockholm to Oaxaca first opened doors in the United States in Berkeley’s David Brower Center in September 2009. The HUB SoMA constitutes the second in the Bay Area Hub network, which might expand to San Jose in the future. Members, referred to as “changemakers,” can work in any of the Hub’s worldwide locations.

The reinvention of news in the Bay Area

christine — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:01:43 +0000

How do you get your daily news?
Today with the explosion of digital news sites, blogs and social media tools, community storytelling and information are more accessible than ever before.

According to new research by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and Project for Excellence in Journalism, most Americans (92%) use multiple platforms (online, local and national television, print newspapers, radio, mobile devices) to get their daily news. Yet Pew Research also found that 70% of news consumers feel the amount of news and information available from different sources is “overwhelming.”

How can we discern what news and information are credible? Is there enough coverage of arts, culture, education, the environment and other civic issues in your community? Which distribution models and platforms will deliver rich content while remaining financially sustainable?

What does the future hold?

Amid the staggering losses of traditional news outlets and the layoffs of journalists reporting on local culture and public affairs issues, new nonprofit journalism organizations are emerging rapidly to fill the gaps. They are leveraging new digital technologies and community support to get there.

In an article published in the relatively new Bay Area section of the New York Times (published in print on Fridays and Sundays, online and on some mobile applications), Frances Dinkelspiel calls nonprofit journalism the “Bay Area’s new growth industry.” Yet, as she points out, nonprofit news organizations are not new in the Bay Area.

Well-established Bay Area nonprofit news outlets include KQED public media (founded in the 1950s), Mother Jones magazine (founded in the 1970s), the Center for Investigative Reporting (founded in 1977) and New America Media (founded by the nonprofit Pacific News Service in 1996). The nonprofit Bay Nature magazine, based in Berkeley, debuted in 2001. One of the founders of Bay Nature was Malcom Margolin, a recognized community leader and publisher of Heyday books (founded in 1974) and News from Native California.

While some of the established organizations have covered broader geographical areas, some of the newest nonprofit news organizations emerging in the Bay Area are focusing on community and civic news.

In the Bay Area, new ventures include the San Francisco Public Press and The Bay Citizen, which is set to launch on May 26, 2010 with a celebration at the Great American Music Hall for founding members. Built on a what is called a “crowd-financing model,” Spot.us is replicating its nonprofit model in other metropolitan areas including Seattle and Los Angeles. According to the project’s Web site, Spot.us “allows an individual or group to take control of news by sharing the cost (crowdfunding) to commission freelance journalists.”

Nonprofit sustainability
All of these nonprofit news organizations, old and new, rely on foundation funding, individual donors and diverse revenue streams, the goal of most nonprofit organizations. A few are membership-based organizations, a familiar concept to viewers and listeners of public broadcasting.

You may have already noticed that collaborations for content generation and distribution are becoming ubiquitous among nonprofit and commercial media. Just the other day, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article on gray whale migration by Jane Kay, a former Chronicle staff writer. The article was produced for DailyClimate.org, a nonprofit news service that covers climate change. I also recently read a San Francisco Public Press article published in the New York Times. And California Watch lists over 50 distribution partners on its website.

Community blogs are also rising rapidly. One good resource for finding locally-focused blogs here in the Bay Area is the BayNewsNetwork run by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and its Knight Digital Media Center. The site serves as a directory and aggregator of over 244 blogs and sites focusing on specific communities in the Bay Area region (called “hyperlocal”).

If you want to find out more about new initiatives and local projects working to reinvent journalism and public-interest news, this weekend you can attend the “Journalism Innovations” conference, produced by Independent Arts and Media, The University of San Francisco, G.W. Williams Center for Independent Journalism and the Society for Professional Journalists. On Twitter, follow the conversations with the #JI3 hashtag.

Finding the silver lining in 2010: 10 social innovations shaping our communities

christine — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 21:27:53 +0000

“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.” ~ Louisa May Alcott

People like to be optimistic, even in times of crisis. We need to see opportunity and set goals – from end-of-the-year stories to New Year’s resolutions and to predictions for the year and decade to come. Many of us are ready for a decade that builds on the most promising movements, ideas and innovations of recent years. In celebration of progress, I predict the following ten social innovations will continue to positively shape our communities.

SUSTAINABILITY

Green business. Over the last few years of the decade, going “green” became very popular for U.S. consumers and for the business sector, where the concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the triple bottom line (people, planet, profit) took off.
Graduate business programs focused on sustainability and the “Green MBA”emerged.
Climate change activism. More people and businesses recognized that anthropogenic climate change is real and will have environmental and economic consequences – and set out to do something about it. Was the tipping point Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth of 2006?

GREEN LIVING

Plastic bag bans. Plastic bags are a significant cause of pollution in the San Francisco Bay. The cities of Fairfax, Palo Alto and San Francisco, have banned plastic bags at larger retailers, as have Berkeley’s Farmers Markets run by the Ecology Center. In Washington D.C. stores selling food or alcohol now charge 5 cents for bags with revenue going to a river protection fund.
Bay-friendly landscaping has become a popular way of reducing water use and planting for the benefit of local wildlife.
Daylighting urban creeks and rain gardens. In the East Bay, creek advocates continue to revitalize creek habitat as opportunities arise. This interesting story also describes innovative ways one city is capturing rain water and reducing pollution of waterways.
Living Roofs. Also called green roofs, this innovation in building construction known to help absorb rainfall, insulate, create wildlife habitat and lower urban air temperatures became a popular attraction at the California Academy of Sciences this past year. Literacy for Environmental Justice is constructing one on top of an EcoCenter in southeast San Francisco.

FOOD

Food systems and economies. Yes! Magazine features an enlightening series on topics from urban farming to protecting local farms.
Take it slow. The Slow Money Alliance is an emerging network of investors, donors, farmers, and activists committed to building local food economies. The Slow Food movement also continues to grow.
Food justice. Some underserved communities now have grocery stores selling healthy foods for the first time such as this one in West Oakland.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

Microenterprise. The development of microenterprise and microfinancing is not new, but with the popularity of nonprofit social enterprise organizations like the Acumen Fund and Kiva, this movement is growing stronger, internationally and locally. In March 2009, Acumen Fund founder Jacqueline Novogratz published the inspirational book, The Blue Sweater. Locally, several Bay Area foundations have prioritized microenterprise development in their giving portfolios with an emphasis on empowering low income women of color and immigrants.
Social entrepreneurism. This past year, The HUB, a global network of co-working centers for social innovators, came to the Bay Area thanks to support from Good Capital, Social Capital Markets Media and a small circle of angel investors. The first location is in Berkeley’s David Brower Center, and a second one is on the horizon for downtown San Francisco.
Green jobs movement. For a good part of the last decade Van Jones successfully made the case for simultaneously solving socioeconomic inequality and environmental problems. In January 2009, The New Yorker published a feature about Jones. The successes of the Green for All campaign demonstrate how nonprofits can influence public policy. Another project, the Women’s Economic Security Campaign, published a report specific to creating opportunities for low income women in the green economy.

21ST CENTURY REINVENTIONS

Reinventing regional journalism. At a time when newspapers nationwide and locally are facing a crippling economic crisis and the traditional business models for journalism no longer work, foundations and donors are funding new nonprofit journalism ventures. In 2010, a new journalism organization focused on engaging communities in civic and community news will launch in the Bay Area.
Museums are creating more interactive and visitor-centered exhibits using new media tools and more input from the public. Allowing visitors to experience a sense of place and community will also be important. While some visitors might complain that museum admission has become too expensive in the Bay Area, most museums offer a monthly free day, and memberships are a bargain if you visit regularly.
Libraries in the digital age. In the economic downturn, libraries have seen a rise in patrons. In this San Francisco Chronicle article writer Tim Holt describes libraries as community gathering places “where anyone can read the newspaper, check e-mails, do homework or just sit and enjoy a safe and quiet space.” Like other traditional institutions, the role of libraries is changing in the digital age. The librarian has a new role in teaching lessons about “the reliability — or lack thereof — of information on the Internet.”

GETTING OUTDOORS

Health benefits.The Washington Post reported that doctors are sending patients outdoors for physical and mental benefits.
Parks and community health. The Trust for Public Land President Will Rogers published an article on the Huffington Post, linking urban parks to community health.
Nature deficit disorder. A new report aims to reverse an alarming trend: 30% of teens do not participate in outdoor nature activities.
The importance of play. This past year the Oakland-based Playworks (formerly Sports4kids) launched its first conference, PlayOn dedicated to the importance of play.

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

Environmental stewardship. Removing invasive plants from Spartina to French broom, restoring habitats, and Saving the San Francisco Bay have inspired community service and garnered resources. This year the first environmental education center in southeast San Francisco and the city’s first 100 percent off-grid building will launch.
Open space boom. Advocates for open space, including land trusts and conservation groups are seeing a silver lining in the housing market bust in the Bay Area, in the Sierra foothills and across the country.

LIVABLE COMMUNITIES

More choose bikes for transportation. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition announced on their Web site that “2009 was a year of unprecedented success with a whopping 53% increase in bicycle ridership.”
Pavement to parks and livable streets: San Francisco is leading initiatives to make paved areas into parks and periodically close streets to traffic to encourage recreation.

DIVERSITY

Parks and diversity. From the release of Ken Burns widely viewed documentary series “America’s Best Idea” to new initiatives in the national park system, promoting diversity and connecting diverse youth (future stewards) to outdoor experiences have become priorities.
Immigrant integration. New Routes to Community Health publishes illuminating multimedia stories and resources about the lives of immigrants in the United States. Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees provides resources for funders and others working to address the challenges facing newcomers and local communities, as well as resources for Census 2010.

SOCIAL CHANGE

Education reform. Schools and nonprofit educational programs are calling for closing the achievement gap. Federal “Race to the Top” grant applications are due January 19 and awards will go to States that are “leading the way with ambitious yet achievable plans for implementing coherent, compelling, and comprehensive education reform.” What is California doing?
Healthcare reform. In late December when the Senate passed its version of health care reform, social media devoted more attention to the subject than it had at any time this year according to the Pew Research Center.
Advancing equal rights. When San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered City Hall to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples soon after taking office in 2004, gay marriage and rights received national attention. While there have been many setbacks along the way, considerable progress has been made. 2010 will also mark the first time the U.S. Census will count same-sex couples.

Of course, the list goes on. Feel free to send in additional innovation highlights via comments.

My next blog post will be about Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson, author of the best selling Three Cups of Tea.

Collective wisdom: lessons for life and business from the mountains

christine — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:59:10 +0000

As an enthusiast for mountain environments and the physical and mental preparation required to reach the most sublime places in the world, I eagerly attended an event titled,“Women on Top: Lessons for Life and Business from the Mountains,” last Thursday evening in downtown San Francisco. The inspirational talk and slide presentation featured mountaineer and businesswoman Emilie Cortes.

The San Francisco Chapter of Young Women Social Entrepreneurs (YWSE) hosted the occasion with co-sponsors Net Impact (Silicon Valley and San Francisco chapters), Future Women Leaders, and Charles Schwab & The Women’s Interactive Network. Emilie’s presentation was the first in YWSE’s new series called, “Life Lessons I Learned While Having Fun.”

Whether it be mountain climbing or any other rewarding activity, Emilie made a good case for pushing your limits to unleash your potential and do what you love to do. She also answered the important question of: What can you do to be ready for the unexpected tests of your will and composure, whether in a business environment or stranded for the night at 13,000 feet?

Although conference rooms in urban skyscrapers do not have a lot in common with glacier-covered mountains, Emilie, a sales executive for Axioma Inc., recognizes parallel themes while navigating both worlds, especially for women: communication, goal-setting, preparation and tackling fear.

It turns out that Emilie’s business skills helped her build a plan to become a successful high altitude mountain climber: talk to experts, follow instructions and get training. She said that she was never known to be athletic and was not in shape when she started five years ago. But since then she has reached the summits of several technical peaks, from California’s Sierra Nevada to volcanoes in Ecuador, and she participated in a fundraiser called “Climb to Fight Breast Cancer.”

Following Emilie’s inspirational presentation, a collective wisdom emerged:

Break the habit of limiting yourself. Limitations are oftentimes internal, not external.
Prepare and persevere. Take one step at a time. Be methodical in a way that works for you. Respect your choices.
Set ambitious but achievable goals. Some goals seem very far away, but if you break them down into milestones, the goal begins to feel much more attainable.
Balance fear and risk and know when to be cautious. Learn how to breathe. Calm your inner voice. Learn that you can handle more than you previously thought.
Recognize the importance of communication and leadership skills. Know yourself and communicate your real or perceived limitations. Don’t blame. Push through. You can have the same positive impact on others. Help them get to the next step.
Find new ways to respond when being judged in a “man’s world.” Use humor. Be honest about the weight you are carrying, and recognize the significance of your contributions to a team.

YWSE-SF posted a version of this article with personal commentary here: YWSE’s Take on… Adventure

Photos of July 23, 2009 YWSE-SF Event by Jaqueline del Castillo

More Inspiration:

Notable Women in Yosemite’s History – Yosemite National Park Web site. Includes a description of Enid Michael, an early Yosemite climber and naturalist.
Historic 1929 photograph of climbing pioneer Miriam O’Brien Underhill
Junko Tabei, a Japanese mountain-climber, who became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest on May 16, 1975
Web site for Arlene Blum, who led 13 women to make the first American ascent of Annapurna I (26,500 feet) in Nepal, the 10th highest peak in the world.
Lynn Hill, known for making the first free ascent of the Nose Route on Yosemite’s El Capitan.

Two books, now out of print, are also great resources: “Leading Out: Women Climbers Reaching for the Top,” edited by Rachel da Silva and “Women Climbing: 200 Years of Achievement,” by Bill Birkett and Bill Peascod. I am grateful to my friends Karen and Karla, who gifted these to me ten years ago.

Please comment with additional suggestions

Obama’s pledge for social innovation

christine — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:55:07 +0000

On June 30, President Obama announced his pledge to support social innovation from the “bottom up.” As a community organizer in Chicago, he learned that the some of the best solutions exist at the grassroots level.

The president added that we need to bring the most promising community-based solutions to scale by expanding successful programs and developing other high potential solutions with a strong emphasis on measuring results and impact. “People don’t need somebody out in Washington to tell them how to solve their problems, especially when the best solutions are often right there in their own neighborhoods, just waiting to be discovered,” said Obama.

As reported earlier this year by The Chronicle on Philanthropy, the White House is looking for “new ideas” and “new models” but innovation does not necessarily imply new nonprofits or programs. “It’s about impact and effectiveness,” said Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. In Tuesday’s announcement, Obama said that he will be asking Barnes to travel across the country to “discover and evaluate the very best programs in our communities.”

The $50-million fund for social innovation is part of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. The funds were authorized by the national service law in April 2009, but the funds still need approval by Congress in the fiscal year 2010 budget.

More coverage:

Update on Philanthropy This Week (audio)
Posted: Tue, 14 Jul 2009
Social Innovation Fund and Spending Down Your Endowment

Corporation for National & Community Service
Posted: July 2009
FAQ – Social Innovation Fund – Shows how and when to apply (PDF)

Obama’s call to service and pledges to the nonprofit sector

christine — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:52:14 +0000

With the historic inauguration of president-elect Barack Obama less than a day away, communities across the country are responding to Obama’s call to service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the legendary civil rights activist. In 1994, Congress transformed the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday into a national day of community service. This year, the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Presidential Inaugural Committee are using the Internet and social media to spread the word about how people can get involved. USAservice.org now lists over 12,000 projects, double the number from 2008.

As nonprofits nationwide respond to a higher demand for services while weathering an economic downturn, many in the social sector are hoping the national day of service will inspire volunteerism throughout the year. To that effect, nonprofits are working to help Obama expand national service while also holding the new administration to pledges for support. For example, in Obama’s Blueprint for Change, he pledges to create a “Social Investment Fund Network” that will use federal seed money to leverage private sector funding and create an agency dedicated to building the capacity, innovation and effectiveness of the nonprofit sector.

Tomorrow the swearing-in ceremony for the 44th president will begin at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time and will be shown live at venues throughout the Bay Area. Televised coverage also begins at 8:30am.

The San Francisco Chronicle lists broadcast venues, large and small. The largest viewing will be at Oracle Arena in Oakland, with a live broadcast and booths operated by community groups. This event is the culmination of 10 days of community gatherings called “Unity for the Sake of Change,” co-hosted by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

RESOURCES:

Martin Luther King Jr. Day events in Bay Area by The San Francisco Chronicle.

USAservice.org – Search for volunteer opportunities in your community.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy – How Barack Obama Can Help Charities Become Key Forces in the Economic Recovery

Obama’s Blueprint for Change

San Francisco Bay Area Inauguration Events

Martin Luther King Jr. Biographies

Nobelprize.org

Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr.
National Memorial

–

Risk and reward in philanthropy

christine — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 22:01:16 +0000

It’s human nature to be adverse to risk-taking. But like successful business people, many social entrepreneurs believe you have to be willing to take risks to achieve progress.

A widely read example of risk and reward in philanthropy is the story of Greg Mortenson and his painstaking journey to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the New York Times bestselling Three Cups of Tea. With a typewriter Mortenson wrote 580 appeal letters to potential donors and 16 grant applications in an attempt to raise $12,000, the minimum he needed to fulfill a promise and build a school in a remote alpine village in Pakistan. While his appeals were largely a failure, the difference came with one individual who read a newsletter article about Mortensen’s personal mission, took a risk, and moved fast – agreeing to fully fund the school. Dr. Jean Hoerni made the decision to fund the project after one phone call and Mortenson’s word that he would “not to screw up.”

In the San Francisco Bay Area, another philanthropist embraces the idea of risk-taking in grantmaking. In a new book, Bill Somerville, president of the Bay Area Philanthropic Ventures Foundation (PVF), makes the case that grantmakers should take risks to reap the highest rewards for their investments. Somerville recounts several stories of how a little risk went along way in transforming individual lives and communities – from juvenile courts to classrooms. Published by Berkeley-based Heyday Books, his new book with Fred Setterberg is titled “Grassroots Philanthropy, Field Notes of a Maverick Grantmaker.”

In Grassroots Philanthropy Somerville advocates that grantmakers should find and fund outstanding people, eliminate bureaucracy in favor of moving quickly, focus on ideas and not problems and take risk and initiative. While Somerville’s approach to grantmaking may not be for every foundation, it makes sense for the grassroots as the book title implies. By definition, grassroots movements move quickly and are driven by effective leaders doing hands-on work at the community level. Many of these individuals cannot afford to get bogged down in time-consuming and costly application processes.

In the case of Mortenson’s plight to build schools, a donor’s risk-taking led to the formation of the Central Asia Institute, which has now established 64 schools in remote and underserved regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The remote schools have educated over 25,000 children and have provided unprecedented opportunities for girls.

For Somerville and the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation 17 years of nonconformist approaches to grassroots grantmaking have attracted several prominent California foundations as supporters including The California Endowment, David & Lucile Packard Foundation, Flora Family Foundation, Herbst Foundation, and the San Francisco Foundation, among others.

Gavin Newsom on social innovation

christine — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:47:33 +0000

The Stanford Center for Social Innovation recently released a podcast of a talk by San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom titled Gavin Newsom: Say what you think, then take action. To an audience at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Newsom talks about leadership and risk-taking, qualities he has been known for since he ordered City Hall to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples soon after becoming mayor in 2004. His talk at Stanford was two months before the California Supreme Court ruled on May 15, 2008 to overturn the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Before public service, Newsom started 19 small businesses. Coming from a business-minded background and speaking to a room full of social entrepreneurs, he emphasizes that a risk-orientation is critical for success. “I fail more than I succeed,” says Newsom. But the idea is to “fail forward.”

New green programming on the Sundance Channel

christine — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 17:09:10 +0000

The Sundance Channel, founded by Robert Redford, recently launched the first prime time programming block dedicated to social responsibility and environmental sustainability. Hosted by Simran Sethi, an environmental journalist and writer and host of Ethical Markets, and MacArthur fellow Majora Carter, founder and executive director of Sustainable South Bronx, “The Green” airs Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. West Coast time. The channel also features a discussion board and video segments online.