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How is the Economy Affecting Your Job Prospects?
November 19, 2008
Earlier this week, the Chronicle of Philanthropy hosted an online discussion about how the current financial downturn is affecting the job prospects of nonprofit professionals.
The discussion explored if the financial crisis is causing shifts in the nonprofit job market, and how particular people are being affected. On one end of the spectrum, people seem to be postponing retirement and staying at their jobs longer. Younger employees are concerned about their long-term prospects in the social sector.
The overall financial situation may also result in sector-switchers from the corporate world wanting to enter the nonprofit sector, which creates more competition for fewer jobs overall.
How is the economy affecting you in your job search and/or current position?
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Hiring Advice, In the News
November 10, 2008 During his campaign, Barack Obama spoke at length about his commitment to accelerating social entrepreneurship in this country, including making sure the neccessary funds were available for new social ventures. A recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle explores this further, including:
Obama has pledged to create a Social Entrepreneurship Agency within the Corporation for National and Community Service, to generate more venture capital for socially conscious startups. The new agency would make it easier for small nonprofits to get federal grants, plus come up with a results-driven accountability system so government officials could make better decisions about which charities to fund.
Obama also wants to create a Social Investment Fund Network, which would steer private and government money to cities that identify innovative solutions to their most pressing social issues.
He estimates his ideas will cost $3.5 billion a year. He plans to pay for them through savings found by ending the war in Iraq and eliminating some corporate tax deductions.
Comments (0) In the News, Social Entrepreneurism
October 26, 2008 Some recent news items suggest that social entrepreneurs may be somewhat insulated from the current financial crisis.
In the news story, Investors Focusing on Social Enterprises, San Francisco Bay Area television station KGO reports that venture capitalists are investing their dollars in socially responsible businesses. “Social capital markets” are gaining more attention in investment communities, and both new and existing organizations are reaping the benefits.
Similarly, Venture Beat speculates if “social capital” is the next big market to emerge. With a lens on microfinance, fair trade, environmental, and social change organizations, this article looks at how investors are putting their faith—and dollars—into triple-bottom line ventures.
Comments (0) In the News, Social Entrepreneurism
October 08, 2008 Last month, a series of events unfolded in our sector that have brought about an enormous infusion of public policy leadership, media attention, funding, energy, and hope.
So what made September so special? In truly historic terms, ServiceNation launched a national and groundbreaking campaign, elevating the conversation about citizen service to a new level. For those who are unfamiliar, ServiceNation is a coalition of organizations dedicated to strengthening our democracy and solving problems through civic engagement and service, of which Commongood Careers is a proud member.
Kicking off the campaign on September 11th in New York City, Senators Obama and McCain set aside partisanship to speak together at a Presidential Forum about the importance of service and their views on how to expand its impact. The following day, the ServiceNation Summit brought together hundreds of leaders – nonprofit and for-profit CEO’s, elected and appointed government officials, army generals and celebrities – to discuss and embrace the future of citizen service. But the rubber really hit the road on September 27th’s “Day of Action,” during which more than 2,700 service events were organized across all 50 states to showcase the power and potential of service.
The month also brought some of the most powerful legislation in decades to expand and improve service opportunities when, on September 12th, Senators Kennedy and Hatch introduced “The Serve America Act” with co-sponsorship from Senators Clinton, Obama and McCain. When many policy efforts grind to a halt during an election cycle, waiting to see what the election will bring, it is tremendously encouraging to know that the next President of the United States has already endorsed this sweeping and important reform.
These developments are likely to have a profound impact on the workforce of the nonprofit sector, as more and more people are introduced to service and earn marketable experiences working to those ends. Particularly in response to conversations about the sector’s impending leadership crisis, there may be few more effective strategies for increasing the talent supply than to expand national service programs like City Year, Public Allies, Civic Ventures and Teach For America.
Finally, it is also worth noting that this work represents some of the absolute best tenants of social entrepreneurship – innovating new approaches to addressing social problems, pursuing audacious goals, measuring impacts, and building powerful cross-sector coalitions. As is often the case with successful examples of social entrepreneurship, and as was certainly the case during ServiceNation events, I found myself thinking daily about Margaret Mead’s often quoted observation: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
As a citizen of the world and on behalf of all of us…. thank you ServiceNation!
Comments (0) In the News, Social Entrepreneurism, Talent Issues
October 01, 2008 KIPP co-founder Dave Levin took KIPP’s message to the Colbert Nation Wednesday night as a guest on Comedy Central’s irreverent, faux-pundit show The Colbert Report. (See the interview here)
Levin emphasized the importance of bringing education to America’s students now, noting that KIPP does everything it can to make learning and teaching both fun and productive. “One of the things we want to do is make sure that every kid has a chance to work toward their own future,” he said.
“We can think of education like steroids for our kids’ futures,” he said. And while the analogy garnered some laughs, KIPP’s record shows that it really is improving kids’ futures astronomically. It isn’t steroids, but commitment, dedication and hard work on the part of students, teachers, and families that give KIPP’s kids the boost they need.
Only one question remains: When will the “Colbert Bump” kick in for KIPP?
Comments (0) In the News, Social Entrepreneurism
October 01, 2008 Attention American Express cardholders! Cast your vote in Members Project ‘08, and help a nonprofit project dedicated to creating positive change receive up to $1.5 million in funding. Winning projects will share $2.5 million in funding from American Express and will be announced Oct. 14.
This year, over 1,000 projects were submitted, which has since been narrowed down to five projects. We are thrilled to see that two Commongood Careers clients—DonorsChoose.org and Kiva—are amongst the top five nominees!
If you are an AMEX cardholder, you can cast your vote at: http://www.membersproject.com/
If you are not a cardholder, AMEX invites you to show your support by sounding off about your favorite nominated projects at: http://community.membersproject.com/category/Discussion-Board/3
Comments (0) In the News, Sites We Like, Social Entrepreneurism
September 30, 2008 Recently City Year announced that it has teamed up with Arnold Worldwide and Comcast to create and broadcast several public service announcements spreading the word about City Year’s work. (See one of the PSAs here)
The PSAs feature City Year corps members in meaningful moments that convey the impact they have as young people engaged in citizen service: tutoring in schools, mentoring students, cleaning up neighborhoods, and ultimately working together for a common purpose.
“The more you learn about City Year, the more you are inspired by the energy, passion and optimism that shine through everything they do,” said Brian Hayes, creative director, Arnold. “We hope that these new ads convey this feeling and motivate more young people to get involved in the program.”
The PSAs will be shown almost 2,500 times as part of Comcast’s three-year commitment of $27 million to City Year.
Comments (0) In the News, Social Entrepreneurism
September 03, 2008 In the 8/31/08 edition of the Los Angeles Times, national education entrepreneurs, including our partner Ted Mitchell of NewSchools Venture Fund, laid out the imperative for the next president to support the work of education entrepreneurs in transforming the lives of low-income children. The piece argues for a major expansion of innovation funding and an entrepreneurial mindset in federal education policy. Such expanded efforts—in charter schools, human capital, and tools that improve education—will speed the pace of positive change for systems, for schools, and for children.
Among the calls to action for our next administration are:
1. Expand innovation incentives and free them from the earmarks and conditions that have blunted past initiatives. Adequate incentives, coupled with rigorous accountability, would remedy this.
2. Use influence over state and local policy to sweep away regulations that hamper innovative thinking, such as caps on the number of public charter schools allowed and excessive restrictions on how teachers are trained and credentialed.
3. Continue the strong push of two efforts already underway. One is the move toward a common set of standards for what students should be expected to know and be able to do. Then, to make shared standards work, a national data infrastructure must be built to assess educational progress.
This op-ed also featured the outstanding work of other Commongood Careers partners such as KIPP, Teach for America, and New Leaders for New Schools.
Comments (0) In the News, Innovations in Education, Social Entrepreneurism
August 22, 2008 Tennis anyone?
Tenacity will be honored by the USTA during Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day at the US Open this year as the featured National Junior Tennis League organization. Attracting over 30,000 adult and youth spectators, Arthur Ashe Kids Day honors tennis legend Arthur Ashe and continues his mission of using tennis as a means to instill in kids the values of humanitarianism, leadership and academic excellence. To see the coverage, tune in to CBS Sports TV on Sunday, August 24th, from 12 - 1:30 PM (EST) for the Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day national broadcast featuring a short video on Tenacity.
We congratulation our partner Tenacity for being recognized on this special day that celebrates the importance of shaping and encouraging youth in the classroom, on the court, and in the community.
Comments (0) Events & Career Fairs, In the News, Social Entrepreneurism
August 20, 2008 Yesterday, the New York Times Magazine published a cover story on education reform in New Orleans. The article focuses broadly on the reform efforts here in the city and features one of New Schools for New Orleans’ incubated schools, Miller McCoy Academy.
The article also highlights the work of Teach For America, teachNOLA, and New Leaders for New Schools and shows incredible images of students of Langston Hughes Charter School.
We applaud the tremendous effort of New Schools for New Orleans and its supporters to further the transformation public schools in New Orleans.
Comments (1) In the News, Innovations in Education, Social Entrepreneurism
August 14, 2008 Newsweek’s reporter Donna Foote recently spent a year following four Teach For America Corps Members from their training stage to the end of their first school year. In addition to writing a book about it, she also wrote a article for Newsweek about what she learned.
Plus, Foote cites some impressive stats, for example that about 10 percent of Yale, Georgetown and Harvard seniors apply to be a part of Teach For America’s corps of world-changing teachers. She also writes about the realities of the challenges facing America’s education system and how Teach For America is offering solutions.
Encouragingly, the article notes that many of Teach For America’s alumni are inspired by their experience to do more. Foote points out that KIPP, whose impressive education successes we recently blogged about, was started by Teach For America alums.
Comments (0) In the News, Innovations in Education, Social Entrepreneurism
August 14, 2008 Achievement First’s mission is to close the achievement gap and deliver equal educational opportunity for all children in America. Thanks to support from public, private, and individual donors, Achievement First’s new school in Hartford, Conn. is able to open in time for the new school year.
Due to lack of state funding, the school’s future was uncertain just a few weeks before it was to open. Fortunately for Hartford and its students, local figures like Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell, Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving came forward to champion Achievement First’s cause and energize donors to help get the schools ready for the fall.
With Achievement First’s success in education, it’s no wonder so many in Hartford were ready to step forward to support the organization. A recent report shows that students at a similar school in New Haven, Conn. performed an average of 56 percent higher on all sections of the state test than their peers in non-Achievement First schools in that city. Now that’s putting achievement first!
Comments (0) In the News, Innovations in Education, Social Entrepreneurism
August 13, 2008 Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal published an article about how today’s donors are looking for more control over the money they give. It perceptively notes that while we’re not all millionaires looking for total control over every dollar we give, it’s nice to know our donations go to supporting the cause we donate to in the best way possible.
That’s where the article recognizes organizations like Kiva and DonorsChoose.org. The article advises: “if you want to exercise the kind of control that deep-pocketed philanthropists enjoy, consider donating to one of a new breed of charities that allow donors to browse descriptions of specific projects online and fund them, in whole or in part. “
Both Kiva and DonorsChoose.org use the Internet to connect individual donors directly with recipients of the donation, whether through Kiva’s microloans or DonorsChoose’s donations to classrooms. They champion diverse causes, but they’re both doing what’s great: helping people exercise their philanthropic spirit, no matter the size of their bank account.
Comments (0) In the News, Sites We Like, Social Entrepreneurism
August 04, 2008 KIPP works to prepare students in underserved communities for success in college and in life through a national network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools. Their results have been inspiring, setting students up for all kinds of success, including a 90 percent high school graduation rate and an 80 percent continuation of KIPP grads on to college.
Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews recently wrote an article about KIPP’s focus on finding the cause for any drop-outs from its schools and its continuing research on learning how its graduates are doing once they reach college. He highlights the importance of KIPP’s dedication to looking at the data to achieve results.
And achieve they do. The article also notes that in addition to being much more likely to graduate high school and go to college than their non-KIPP school peers, middle school students who completed four years at KIPP increased their average math achievement level from the 40th to the 82nd percentile and their reading level from the 32nd to the 60th percentile. Dare we say “KIPP up the good work”?
Comments (0) In the News, Innovations in Education, Social Entrepreneurism
August 02, 2008 We love success stories, so we’re so happy to share with you the latest achievements of Rare’s Latin American Pride program graduates.
Pride partners throughout Latin America use social marketing tools to change attitudes and behaviors critical to conservation. Rare provides the tools, along with in-depth training and technical support as its local partners launch two-year Pride campaigns that have resulted in truly impressive results.
One Pride program alum, Martin Castillo Paniagua of Mexico’s National Park Service, helped lead a campaign that grew knowledge of one area as protected in the target community from 35 to 98 percent. You can read all about his and other Rare Conservation success stories here.
Comments (0)How Will Obama Deliver on Social Entrepreneurism Promises?
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KIPP takes on Colbert!
Cast Your Vote in Members Project ‘08
City Year Gets Air Time
Social Entrepreneurs Offer a Lesson on Education Innovation to Presidential Candidates
Tenacity Honored at 2008 US Open
Transforming Public Education in New Orleans
A Year with Teach For America
School is in Session for Achievement First
Give Like a Millionaire
KIPP’s Commitment to Evaluation Gets Noticed
Rare Conservation Raises Awareness in Latin America
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