Inside Social Innovation

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Lessons Learned From Walking to the North and South Poles Oct 19, 2014

Show notes

Robert Swan, an inspirational speaker who founded 2041 and the first man to walk to both global poles, addresses his audience about the relationship between passion and reaching goals. With humor and words of experience, he relays his feelings about the importance of positivity and commitment in pursuing a target. Robert Swan discusses his journey, how it influenced him to dedicate himself to saving the environment, and how he plans to do this by engaging a young audience. Through this podcast, Robert encourages readers to get the word out about the awesome things they are doing, because nothing inspires individuals more than passion and a positive mindset. He also inspires readers to chase their goals now, and that the boldness required to do that will inspire genius, power, and magic.

Robert Swan is a polar explorer, environmentalist and the first man ever to walk unsupported to both the North and South Poles. He is an exceptionally gifted communicator and is regarded as one of the world's top motivational speakers. He compares his icy experiences to boardroom maneuvers and his inspirational addresses have received the acclaim of discerning audiences worldwide. His contribution to education and the environment have been recognized through his appointment as UN Goodwill Ambassador for Youth, a Visiting Professorship of the School of Environment at Leeds University and in 1994 he became Special Envoy to the Director General of UNESCO. He was awarded the OBE in 1995. In 2003 and 2004, Robert and his company, 2041, delivered the first ever corporate Antarctic Expeditions on teamwork and leadership. Through positive participation and real missions, the unique insights and lessons he has learned, have enabled Robert Swan to educate and stimulate his audiences.

https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/lessons_learned_from_walking_to_the_north_and_south_poles

Delivering Clean Water Using Solar-Powered Pipelines Oct 19, 2014

Show notes

TOHL was recently recognized as the winner of Tech Awards 2013 in the Young Innovators category for its overwhelming social good in combating emergency situations and basic need inaccessibility. In this interview with Co-Founder and CEO Benjamin Cohen, we learn more about TOHL's journey as a nonprofit venture. Through this podcast, Benjamin describes TOHL's rise to be a global industry leader in water logistics and infrastructure, and how it has been changing lives in the process. He discusses his logistical methods for measuring impact, his goals for the scaling and achievement of the organization, and challenges TOHL has faced in accomplishing its mission. Benjamin also speaks about his personal experience as an entrepreneur, including lessons he has learned and advice he has for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Under the leadership of Benjamin Cohen, TOHL has progressed from an idea to a company with scalable products and services contracted by large organizations worldwide. Ben has received various awards and fellowships for leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation, named Young Innovator at the Tech Awards in Silicon Valley. His skills include finance, accounting, and capital allocation. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia.

https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/delivering_clean_water_using_solar_powered_pipelines

What California Can Teach Washington Oct 06, 2014

Show notes

The overuse of fossil fuels is leading to increased CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere, trapping more and more heat and warming the Earth. As a result, we're seeing more dramatic weather patterns across the globe and the need for climate regulation is being discussed around the globe. Climate policy wonks fall in two camps: the proponents of a complicated cap-and-trade system that sets a firm limit on emissions and the supporters of a carbon tax that sets a fixed price on carbon. California, the ninth largest economy in the world, recently launched a new carbon cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Mary Nichols, Chairman of the California Air Resources Board, is responsible for leading this program, which could ultimately provide a model to support other regional or national efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. At the Stanford Center for Social Innovation's 2013 Conradin Von Gugelberg Memorial Lecture, Nichols discusses the new cap-and-trade system and the current thinking around regional and federal policies, and what these changes mean for our environment.

Mary Nichols has devoted her career in public and nonprofit service to advocating for the environment and public health. In addition to her work at the California Air Resources Board, she has served as Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) under President Clinton, Secretary for California's Natural Resources Agency from 1999 to 2003, and Director of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at the University of California, Los Angeles.

https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/what_california_can_teach_washington

Shared Measurement and Big Data For Good Jul 28, 2014

Show notes

Traditional tools for evaluation and measurement fail to take into account the complexity of an interconnected and digitized world. Emerging techniques, such as developmental evaluation, improve on traditional linear, cause-and-effect models, while shared measurement increases the capacity of cross-sector collaboration. In this panel discussion, experts offer a case study-rich overview of three emerging tools: developmental evaluation, shared measurement, and big data. Kathy Brennan describes how developmental evaluation adopts a systems-learning approach absent from formative and summative designs, making it more favorable to evaluating complex, non-linear, and dynamic social realities. Patricia Bowie discusses the importance of shared measurement as a catalyst for collective learning. Researcher Lucy Bernholz warns that data collection offers as much peril as potential, and implores the nonprofit sector to think critically about how digital data is driving actions and whose voices it excludes. Presented in partnership with FSG, this panel discussion was part of the Next Generation Evaluation conference.

https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/shared_measurement_and_big_data_for_good

Optimized Social Responsibility Through Evaluation Jul 18, 2014

Show notes

Three evolving approaches to evaluation in social enterprise could change its use in a significant way. In this audio lecture, Hallie Preskill, FSG managing director, opens the 2013 Next Generation Evaluation conference with examples of how leading social sector organizations are thinking about and implementing evaluation. Preskill discusses three new approaches to evaluation: developmental evaluation, shared measurement, and big data, providing context from multiple perspectives. She describes six characteristics that exemplify how social organizations are thinking about evaluation in relation to the new trends. In this podcast, Preskill explains how evaluation practice needs to evolve along with other developments in process and infrastructure to keep up with the needs of social enterprise.

https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/optimized_social_responsibility_through_evaluation

Implications for the Social Sector Jul 18, 2014

Show notes

Both funders and nonprofits are placing a premium on the promise of measurement and evaluation to accelerate social change. But tools like shared measurement, big data, and developmental evaluation are only powerful if they're applied correctly. In this panel discussion, experts address how the social sector must ask the right questions when developing metrics. Alicia Grunow discusses the Carnegie Foundation's use of improvement science to make strides in education. Hewlett Foundation representative Fay Twersky implores nonprofits to systematically solicit feedback from intended beneficiaries. Policy researcher Liesbeth Schorr underscores how the search for "certainty" stifles innovation. Presented in partnership with FSG, this panel discussion was part of the Next Generation Evaluation conference. FSG is a nonprofit consulting firm specializing in strategy, evaluation, and research.

https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/implications_for_the_social_sector

Embracing Complexity in Social Enterprise Evaluation Jul 18, 2014

Show notes

Embracing complexity is essential in social enterprise evaluation. In this audio lecture, Brenda Zimmerman, Associate Professor of Policy at York University's Schulich School of Business, suggests approaches for addressing complexity in evaluation systems. In the closing keynote at the 2013 Next Generation Evaluation Conference, Zimmerman explores ways to embrace complexity in social sector evaluation practice. She describes how social innovation can be fostered by applying cognitive diversity to solve structural and causative complexity problems. To remain relevant, evaluation systems must reflect the complex systems they evaluate. Zimmerman discusses sophisticated nuanced comparisons, and the role of coherence versus consistency in social enterprise evaluation. She illustrates how being strategic in complex systems is significant to social enterprise.

https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/embracing_complexity_in_social_enterprise_evaluation

The Paradoxical Break In Philanthropy Jun 24, 2014

Show notes

By a simple twist of fate, Jacob Leif found himself in post-apartheid South Africa, staring at a big paradoxical break in philanthropy - success was measured in numbers instead of long-term impact. While working at a local school, he found time, money, and aid were plentiful, along with supplies of books, computers, and daily lunches for the school children. However, once the nonprofit organization supporting the school left after the funding cycle finished, the school returned right back to where it started. Lief decided to found Ubuntu Education Fund, an organization that supports children in Port Elizabeth, South Africa through an integrated system of medical, health, educational and social services. In this episode of The Social Disruptors, Ned Breslin and Jacob Lief discuss the struggles of funding for long-term sustainable impact within the current philanthropic system of 12-month grant cycles and the power of saying "no" when funding requirements do not meet the outcomes.

https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/the_paradoxical_break_in_philanthropy

Responsible and Successful Collaboration May 30, 2014

Show notes

"The number one rule: Don't collaborate unless you have to." Willa Seldon, a consultant at Bridgespan, got some laughs at the 2013 Nonprofit Management Institute, but gives some pointers on successful collaboration and how to productively evaluate common goals. To support her viewpoints, she engages Stephanie Couch and Carolyn Nelson, two experienced collaborators who provide insights on their own collaborative work with communities. Nelson and Couch explain how the personal connections that community members offer lead to great outcomes. The panel highlights how creating a shared culture can bypass disagreements and cultural differences to generate results.

Willa Seldon has extensive experience in both the nonprofit and for-profit worlds. After seven years of being a director at AirTouch Communications, a multi-billion dollar wireless communications company, Seldon co-founded Milepost, a venture capital firm investing in women entrepreneurs. Seldon has since held top positions in the nonprofit sector as Executive Director of Tides Center and CEO of the Glide Foundation. She currently shares her multi-sector expertise as a consultant at The Bridgespan Group.

https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/responsible_and_successful_collaboration

Empowering Others to Tell Your Organization's Story May 30, 2014

Show notes

Social media can allow an organization's supporters to use their personal influence to promote a cause. In this audio lecture from the 2013 Nonprofit Management Institute, Julie Dixon discusses different types of cause supporters—from passive online ones to offline activists—and how organizations can engage them. She argues that many potential supporters, believing that organizations want only monetary donations, may be discouraged from supporting a cause, even though they can support it in another way: through influence. Dixon cites the popularity of websites like Yelp to show that people are more likely to trust their peers' testimony than an organization's and that organizations should encourage their supporters to engage meaningfully on social media to spread their causes. By empowering supporters through the knowledge that they can have a real impact, organizations can tap into the often-ignored power of influence.

Julie Dixon is the Deputy Director of Georgetown University's Center for Social Impact Communication (CSIC). She manages the day-to-day operations of the center, including applied research, training, curriculum, partnership development, and outreach. Prior to joining the university in 2011, Julie was the Assistant Director of the Center for Social Value Creation at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. Dixon completed a master's degree in public relations, with a focus on corporate social responsibility and sustainability, at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/empowering_others_to_tell_your_organizations_story

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