Greg Landsman, Former Director of the Ohio Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

The Opportunity: Convening Stakeholders to Meet Poverty Reduction Goals

In May of 2008, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland signed an executive order creating the Ohio Anti-Poverty Task Force (OAPTF). Chaired by Greg Landsman and made up of 30 members from various sectors and regions, the OAPTF was asked to develop short-term and long-term recommendations that would further the Governor’s efforts to reduce poverty in Ohio. The task force also enlisted the participation of over 2,000 Ohioans, including low-income individuals, in work groups and regional conversations to ensure that the OAPTF’s recommendations properly addressed the needs of its target populations. Several of the OAPTF recommendations focused on helping specific populations of Ohioans, such as disabled or formerly incarcerated individuals, who face multiple barriers to employment. Among the proposed strategies was the expansion of social entrepreneurship as a way to employ and train people within this demographic, providing them with living wages and a road to sustainable financial security. Shortly after the OAPTF recommendations were delivered to Governor Strickland, the Ohio Social Entrepreneurship Initiative (SEI) was launched. Under the direction of the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (GOFBCI), in partnership with the Ohio Department of Development’s Entrepreneurship and Small Business Division, the SEI provides access to financing and funding information, training resources, and several current examples for organizations working to establish social enterprises.

Public Innovation in Action: Supporting and Encouraging Job Creation and Training through Social Enterprise

Landsman and the GOFBCI’s first step in developing the SEI was to enlist the help of the Ohio Department of Development’s Entrepreneurship and Small Business Division, which already operated over 30 business-training centers throughout the state and had the expertise and capacity to expand this training to include social entrepreneurship. As it already planned to launch a grant program, separate from the SEI, that would chose six regional partners to provide capacity-building trainings to nonprofits throughout the state, the GOFBCI decided to require that at least one training focus on business planning for and the launch of a social enterprise. Training partners were encouraged to consult existing literature and national best practices in their curriculum development.

The SEI launched a website, which includes a resource section targeted at organizations interested both in starting new and improving existing social enterprises. The site features links to funding and training information and assistance, and also brief descriptions of and links to several existing and thriving social enterprises in Ohio. Additionally, the SEI has launched an annual Social Entrepreneur Award program to highlight outstanding examples across the state. Both strategies are aimed at highlighting successful models in order to help them attract more financial support and to inspire others to follow their example in launching new entrepreneurial endeavors. 

The Results

Still in its infancy, the SEI has made great progress in its first nine months. In February 2010, the initiative hosted its first annual Social Entrepreneur Awards, an event that featured Ohio First Lady Frances Strickland as its keynote speaker. This year’s award went to the Pearl Interactive Network, an Ohio-based virtual call center that assists organizations with Equal Employment Opportunity compliance by recruiting potential employees from diverse backgrounds including transitioning veterans, people with disabilities, mature workers, and military spouses and caregivers. The ceremony also recognized seven other social enterprises throughout the state. In the future, the SEI hopes to launch a social entrepreneurship fund that would offer grants or loans for organizations at various stages of development. Also, the SEI intends to track the results of its social entrepreneurship training sessions with its regional partners. For now, the initiative will continue to promote social entrepreneurship by providing training resources and models of successful organizations. Landsman hopes that this emphasis on social entrepreneurship will build the approach’s momentum as a viable solution for Ohioans with barriers to employment.

Keys to Success

• Define your key terms. Landsman explains that it was vital to SEI’s success to define social entrepreneurship. This definition helps to control the conversation, and it can evolve over time.
• Back up initiatives with funding. Funding allows programs to hire dedicated, long-term staff and support existing efforts. In the SEI’s case, funds from the GOFBCI’s existing capacity building trainings were partially realigned to allow for the inclusion of a training session on social entrepreneurship. This shift of funds gave the SEI the opportunity to start to get its message out into the communities, despite current budget difficulties in the state government. 

Conclusion

It is an opportune time for local and state governments to support and encourage new and different approaches to solving tough social problems. Ohio’s Social Entrepreneurship Initiative is demonstrating that government can save money in the long run by encouraging and supporting innovative strategies that help the socially and economically disadvantaged attain and retain jobs. Through its annual awards program and its website, the SEI highlights social enterprises that are driving progress on important social issues and helps them raise their visibility in order to achieve greater impact. By becoming a partner and a catalyst for change, public innovators like Greg Landsman offer a new model for government support of the nonprofit sector.