posted February 2
by Elly Brown
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...
posted January 30
by Andrew Wolk
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...
posted January 23
by Andrew Wolk
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...
posted January 11
by Ankita Gandhi
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.
posted January 3
by Anne Radday
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.
posted December 21
by Anne Radday
The Charities Aid Foundation released their second annual World Giving Index Report on December 19th. 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,...
posted December 19
by Stephanie Koh
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...
posted December 8
by Elizabeth Leberman
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 .
posted November 16
by Susan Musinsky
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...
posted November 8
by Elly Brown
“[The way we invest our money] determines who we are as human beings with a soul that goes beyond the ego. The status quo is not motivated from this perspective.” At this month’s Columbia Social Enterprise Conference panel on Impact Investors Spreading Social Innovation, Charly and Lisa Kleissner of KL Felicitas Foundation shared their journey in merging personal values with wealth...
