Public Leadership Success Stories


Who We Are • How We Scale • Become a Social Innovator

Current Social Innovators • Past Social Innovators

The Showcase • Funders, Partners, Hosts • Get Involved


Drawing on years of experience with its Boston-based Social Innovation Forum, Root Cause has provided technical assistance and advice to two organizations that sought to replicate the Social Innovation Forum model to other high-need communities in the United States. The OneStar Foundation approached Root Cause to help develop the Texas Social Innovation Initiative, and the Louisiana Office of Social Entrepreneurship approached us to advise the creation of their Social Innovators Institute.

Texas Social Innovation Initiative - OneStar Foundation

The Texas Social Innovation Initiative (TSI Initiative), based on Root Cause's Social Innovation Forum, is an initiative of the OneStar Foundation, with support from Root Cause and Dallas Social Venture Partners. It is a unique opportunity for nonprofit organizations with proven, results-based programs to: (1) Receive statewide recognition for being an innovative model, (2) expand their network of resources, (3) build their capacities through technical assistance, and (4) prepare to scale and grow their impact. The TSI Initiative gives innovative and results-oriented organizations the power to accelerate their development of enduring solutions to social and economic problems. By utilizing the TSI Initiative's support and guidance, organizations take greater strides toward efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability while simultaneously preparing for and soliciting support to scale their impact.

Social Innovators Institute - Louisiana Office of Social Entrepreneurship

The Social Innovators Institute is a program of the Louisiana Office of Social Entrepreneurship modeled on Root Cause's Social Innovation Forum and launched in partnership with Community Wealth Ventures. It is an exciting, six-month business plan development process designed to help high-performing Louisiana nonprofit and government organizations create business plans for new or existing entrepreneurial and innovative programs. These programs will use original, measurable, and sustainable methods to reduce or eliminate one or more causes of an existing social problem in the communities served, therefore reducing the prevalence of the social problem. Institute participants will follow a structured approach to develop or grow pioneering programs while honing their business skills, thus becoming empowered to have a lasting impact on their organizations and communities.

Mike Roque, Director of the Denver Office of Strategic Partnerships
Improving the City of Denver by Encouraging Nonprofit Collaboratives
Denver, CO

Shortly after taking office in 2003, Mayor John Hickenlooper founded the Denver Office of Strategic Partnerships (DOSP), utilizing his nonprofit background to bring much-needed changes to the City. With a $70 million budget deficit, the city government knew it would have to enlist the help of its nonprofit sector, which ranks tenth in per capita size out of the nation’s 50 largest cities.  There are about 12,000 nonprofit organizations in the Denver Metro area.  The DOSP forges public-private partnerships, connecting nonprofit and city agencies to reach more people and make the city more competitive in accessing federal funds. Since the office’s inception, DOSP director Mike Roque has overseen these initiatives, constantly adapting and improving them based on new ideas and best practices from similar offices throughout the country.

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Mary Ellen Caron, Commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services
Improving Academic Achievement and Social Development through City-Wide Out-of-School-Time Programs
Chicago, IL

In 2003, the City of Chicago established a Department of Children and Youth Services – now the Department of Family and Support Services – charged with managing a growing range of support and advocacy services for Chicago’s children and youth. The department’s new commissioner, Mary Ellen Caron, focused on developing strategies that would help ensure the welfare of all Chicago children and teens for many years ahead. Recognizing the positive impact that out-of-school-time (OST) programs have on the academic achievement and social development, Caron made finding a way to better coordinate and expand the city’s many OST programs a key priority.

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Greg Landsman, Former Director of the Ohio Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Improving Ohio Communities through Public-Private Partnerships
Ohio

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.

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