SIF and Ariel Group team up to train past social innovators.

Susan

Recently, the Social Innovation Forum and Signature In-Kind Partner The Ariel Group did business that was a win on both sides. What does this really mean in our work?

The Ariel Group was training a few new facilitators from Germany, who were then going back overseas to work in the corporate arena. They needed to test out the trainers and help them feel confident about the model and their own training styles. Wondering where to go for a few "sample" groups, they came to the Social Innovation Forum. We were able to reach out to our 39 past innovators and see if there were any organizations looking for such training - pro bono.

Based on the reputation that Ariel has built both in the Social Innovation Forum community and the larger training world, a number of our groups expressed interest in the process. It was a chance to build their teams, get some excellent training, and focus on presence and presentation in a way that rarely happens with only inside support. It's that capacity building push of having partners and supporters who can help you build and change the work to get you to the next level, both individually and organizationally.

As luck would have it, the Ariel Group decided to work with not just two, but five groups that will get training over the course of the coming months (ACCESS, Generations Inc., Root Cause, Girls' LEAP, and Strong Women Strong Girls). The Ariel Group's collective vision of building a bigger community and sharing resources with others who need them is a true testament to what real collaborative working partnerships can become.

Susan Musinsky is Director of Root Cause's Social Innovation Forum.