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From America Forward: Obama introduces the Community Solutions Agenda
June 30, 2009
As a coalition member of America Forward, we are pleased to re-post the following announcement about Obama’s Community Solutions Agenda, and what it means for the advancement of socially innovative nonprofits.
“Today was a transformational day for the social innovation community, and a huge milestone for the America Forward coalition. At a White House event earlier today, President Obama introduced his Community Solutions Agenda—highlighting promising innovations of social entrepreneurs around the country, and providing a vision for how government can come together with nonprofits, philanthropy, the private sector, and citizens to find innovative ideas, invest in what works, and scale proven solutions to our most urgent social challenges. President Obama brought together leaders from all sectors and announced several initiatives to execute this agenda, including a nationwide tour by Melody Barnes, the Director of the Domestic Policy Council, and an Innovation Fund to invest in and scale proven solutions.
This community, and many others, have been working with policymakers at the federal level to make a federal investment in social innovation. The president’s speech is a critical milestone in our effort to change the way social problems are solved and truly move the needle on the issues facing our communities. As the President said today, ‘If we work together—if we all go all-in here—think about the difference we can make.’ We couldn’t agree more.”
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Social Innovation
June 22, 2009 Commongood Careers client Year Up is closing the opportunity gap for urban young adults. Today, this high-impact organization was the focus of the President’s attention! As part of an afternoon devoted to promoting fatherhood and mentoring, President Obama visited Year Up’s site in Arlington, VA and sat down with Year Up students for a roundtable discussion.
Engaging with innovative nonprofits like Year Up is central to the Obama administration’s efforts to tackle persistent social problems and highlight what works in our communities.
Read more about Obama’s visit to Year Up in The New York Times.
Comments (1) In the News, Social Innovation
June 01, 2009 Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) announced the creation of the Summer of Service initiative. This initiative will work to increase civic engagement across the country by connecting people with service opportunities and empowering people and organizations to create new approaches for solving problems through service. The Summer of Service effort will focus on four issue areas: energy and the environment, education, health care, and community renewal. CNCS is looking to develop creative partnerships with organizations across sectors to engage citizens in ways to address these issues and effect change in our communities.
If your organization is interested in getting involved with the Summer of Service initiative, please email for more information.
Comments (1) In the News, Social Innovation
April 01, 2009 It is with great excitement that we share the news that the House of Representatives passed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act yesterday! With a bipartisan vote of 275-149, the House approved the bill that the Senate passed last week and thus completed the legislative process. The bill will now go to President Obama, who we expect will sign it into law when he returns from Europe.
Earlier today, Obama made the following statement on the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act:
“I congratulate the House on passing the bipartisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. This is legislation that will usher in a new era of service in America, and I look forward to signing it into law when I return to Washington.”
“Because of this legislation, millions of Americans at all stages of their lives will have new opportunities to serve their country. From improving service learning in schools to creating an army of 250,000 Corps members a year dedicated to addressing our nation’s toughest problems. From connecting working Americans to a variety of part-time service opportunities to better utilizing the skills and experience of our retirees and baby boomers. This legislation will help tap the genius of our faith based and community organizations, and it will find the most innovative ideas for addressing our common challenges and helping those ideas grow. But while our government can provide every opportunity imaginable for us to serve our communities, now it is up to each of us to seize those opportunities. I call on all Americans to stand up and do what they can to serve their communities, shape our history and enrich both their own lives and the lives of others across this country.”
The passing of this legislation is largely due to the mobilization of a huge citizen movement, organized largely by the leaders and members America Forward and Service Nation. We are proud to be a part of both of these coalitions.
It truly is an historic time for social innovation and service in this country!
Comments (1) In the News, Social Innovation
March 25, 2009 Today, for the second day in a row, the United States Senate continued consideration of the Serve America Act. Several Senators spoke in support of the Act on the floor of the Senate including Democratic Senators Akaka, Cardin, Carper, Kaufman, Mikulski, Nelson and Udall and Republican Senators Hatch, Isaacson and Johanns.Thanks in large part to the ongoing cultivation by the Points of Light Institute and others, Republican Senator Johnny Isaacson of Georgia signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill.
Here a few amazing highlights resulting from the national mobilization around this legislation:
Comments (0) In the News, Social Innovation
March 24, 2009 Here’s an important update about the Serve America Act, provided by Alan Khazei of Be The Change. Be a part of history and help to get this important legislation passed! Read on for details…
Last Friday, members of Service Nation were asked to mobilize our networks in preparation for this week’s Senate vote on the Serve America Act. In just a few days, our coalition, working with Voices for National Service and America Forward, rallied and we are off to an extremely positive start.
Floor debate in the Senate began today at around 4:00PM with excellent speeches by Senators Mikulski, Hatch, McCain, Kerry and others. Senator Kennedy was also present on the Senate floor. It was followed by a cloture vote to allow the bill to proceed. The final vote on the cloture was 74-14 in favor of proceeding. This was an extremely strong bi-partisan vote, with 22 Republicans joining 50 Democrats and 2 Independents voting in favor. The full vote tally is pasted below.
As we move forward throughout the week, it must be our goal to first thank all of the Senators who voted in favor of cloture and continue to flood their offices with phone calls in support of Serve America so that we hold onto their vote throughout the week. This will be critical.
Debate continues on the Senate floor tomorrow.
In the meantime, thank you to all of you who have mobilized your networks and stepped up your efforts in support of the bill. Some achievements of the day include: Over 110 people have stepped forward to serve on the various committees. ThinkMTV has featured our call to action on their homepage; Mark Lazarra and Josh Randle helped secure an editorial in the Buffalo News and the Boston Globe published one as well (read them at http://www.bethechangeinc.org/servicenation/media/latest_news); Teach for America and City Year sent out an email to their entire alumni list; members of our coalition stepped up to be point people for 25 out of the 28 states we are focusing on (we are still looking for point people in Indiana, Wyoming and South Dakota); the National Council on Aging sent out a call to action to their listserve; Ashton Kutsher sent out a twitter message asking his thousands of followers to call their Senators; AARP has begun circulating editorials in their key states and is preparing an ad to run in the Roll Call and Hill Newspapers and Craig Newmark of Craigslist has been blogging about Serve America throughout the day. We have had reports of hundreds of phone calls being made. This is only a sampling of what we accomplished through our collective networks and what we must continue to do.
Over the next day, we must continue to focus on 1) Calling Senators and asking them to support Serve America, focusing especially on those Senators who voted in favor cloture and 2) securing favorable editorials in newspapers around the country and reaching out to other media sources.
This can be a historic week- but we have a few more days of extremely hard work ahead of us.
All Best,
Alan, Bridge, AnnMaura, Michael and Michelle
Comments (2) In the News, Social Innovation
November 21, 2008 Last week, Commongood Careers was fortunate to attend the Social Entrepreneurship: Lessons and Strategies Forum, sponsored by BCCJ – Lead Boston and Ashoka and held at Brandeis University. The day included presentations from a number of speakers, including Lisa Nitz, Vice President, Global Engagement Team at Ashoka who gave a compelling talk outlining the role social entrepreneurs play in the social sector, the importance of investing in social entrepreneurs and providing a wealth of knowledge to those thinking about starting their own social enterprise. Lisa left the audience feeling more informed, engaged, and confident with its abilities to accelerate social change with innovative and sustainable ideas!
Eric Dawson, President and Co-Founder of Peace Games followed with an inspiring story about what led to the creation of Peace games, his challenges and achievements. One interesting concept that often social entrepreneurs struggle with is measurement and how you know whether or not your program is effective. Brilliantly, Dawson raised the point that impact is more than about traditional forms of evaluation and measurement, distinguishing W and w - BIG work and LITTLE work. BIG work is about never losing sight of the overall mission, the bigger picture and not getting discouraged when trying to see impact because social change is hard to measure and often isn’t apparent right away. LITTLE work is the quantitative measurement, which most organizations need for funding. He also said that social entrepreneurship is more than just building programs – building programs isn’t enough; it’s about building movements, cultivating relationships and connecting people. Dawson was very thoughtful and sincere in his reflections about Peace Games and Social Entrepreneurship – we were all very grateful for his openness.
It was an inspiring day to say the least, and it was great to be surrounded by such progressive individuals looking to take what they learned back to their communities. Thank you BCCJ, ASHOKA and Brandeis Heller School of Social Policy and Management for a powerful event.
Comments (2) Events & Career Fairs, Social Innovation
November 11, 2008 On Friday, November 7, 2008, Commongood Careers was proud to co-host a
Open to the public, the session was hosted at Northeastern University,
The panel opened with James Weinberg providing framing remarks about the
It was a powerful event and we would like to thank each of our
Comments (0) Events & Career Fairs, Social Innovation
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 (1) In the News, Social Innovation
November 03, 2008
Join us for an exciting discussion about SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Friday, November 7, 2008
Northeastern University
Moderator:
Panelists:
This panel is open to the public with an RSVP and is being organized as part of the 2008 Coro National Alumni Gathering.
Session Overview: Social entrepreneurship is increasingly recognized as one of the world’s most powerful forces for bringing about positive social change. Leaders in this hybrid field, which exists somewhere in-between the private, public and nonprofit sectors, are often at the helm of rapidly scaling ventures that offer “game-changing” solutions. But from where does all this power originate and where is it all headed? This panel will discuss the essential nature of social entrepreneurs and the factors that make them such a unique lever within our society. We will also explore what the future of the movement might be, especially in these uncertain economic times.
RSVP ASAP to Maureen Sarna, , 617-542-1404 x 29
Event Sponsors:
Commongood Careers is an innovative not-for-profit search firm that supports social entrepreneurs with their recruitment and hiring needs at every organizational level. Commongood Careers offers personalized, engaged services to jobseekers and nonprofits throughout the hiring process, as well as access to a wealth of knowledge about nonprofit careers. Ultimately, Commongood accelerates social change by placing the best talent in the right roles at the nation’s most effective mission-driven organizations.
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP PANEL DIRECTIONS
Northeastern University
Parking is available at the Renaissance Parking Garage, 835 Columbus Avenue, Boston. The Egan Research Center is located behind the parking garage, on the other side of the Ruggles T Station.
Traveling by Public Transportation:
GREEN LINE: From downtown Boston, take an “E” train outbound to the Northeastern stop, the first stop above ground. From the Northeastern stop, walk down Huntington and turn into the campus by walking down Forsyth Street. The Egan Research Center is toward the end of the street.
ORANGE LINE: Take the Orange Line going outbound to Forest Hills and get off at Ruggles Station. The Egan Research Center is toward the end of the street.
Comments (16) Events & Career Fairs, Social Innovation
October 28, 2008 We were excited to come across a recent article published in the Harvard Business School Alumni Bulletin entitled The Coming Transformation of Social Enterprise. The article highlights an interview with Kash Rangan, an HBS professor and founder of Social Enterprise Initiative, now 15 years old.
Positioning social enterprise as a business that creates social value, the article discusses the need for venture philanthropists to better define measures of social return, as well as offers a warning to nonprofits to avoid launching ventures that could potentially distract an organization from its mission-critical work.
Comments (0) What We're Reading, Best Practices, Social Innovation
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 Innovation
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 (12) In the News, Social Innovation, Talent Issues
October 02, 2008 The following is a guest blog submitted by our friends at the Stanford Social Innovation Review.
On October 8th, the Stanford Social Innovation Review will host a conference called Online Giving Marketplaces: Changing the Face of Philanthropy. I’m thrilled to see these platforms finally getting the attention they deserve. I’m also delighted to be moderating one of the panel discussions. Over the years I’ve paid a lot of attention to online giving sites—GlobalGiving, Kiva, NetworkForGood, GiveIndia, HelpArgentina, DonorsChoose, GiveMeaning, and GreaterGood South Africa, among many others (check out socialactions for a mashup of more than 30 platforms).
Why do these sites matter? Because they represent giving that’s faster, more global, and boasts multi-media interactivity? Or is there something else, something more transformative, going on here? Why are these sites proliferating, and what differentiates them from each other?
These platforms are important beyond just their speed and glitz factors in several ways. They enable small gifts to be aggregated—by the donors—and they let donors manage portfolios of their giving. This is a baseline for ultimately getting to more strategic giving. Second, online giving platforms provide a potential source of data about giving trends and patterns, in something approximating real time. Third, they could provide a common backbone for donation transactions. Fourth, they are positioned to gather real feedback and input from people within funded institutions, as well as the people who benefit from them (see GreatNonprofits for more on this possibility). Fifth, they might serve as early warning signals about issues or giving patterns. Sixth, there are already emerging connections between “online giving platforms,” “social investors,” and “social stock exchanges”—so it only makes sense that new metrics systems, reporting tools, and portfolio assessment tools will come next. Seventh, these sites are specifically set up as marketplaces with buyers and sellers connected by interests; this framework is distinct from the way nonprofits and donors usually talk about themselves, and one that has both advantages and disadvantages. Finally, we have not yet seen real interconnectivity between online giving platforms and “offline” donor services. Is this next, and what might the results of such partnerships look like?
The speakers at the Online Giving Marketplaces conference, who include the founding executives and board members of several of the sites named above, will surely add their ideas to this list.
Updates: The conference has been moved to a larger venue; the original site sold out. (You can find information on logistics here.) If you can’t attend, but have key questions you’d like to ask, send them to me, at and I’ll do my best to get them asked. I’ll report answers via a blog post.
Comments (5) Events & Career Fairs, Social Innovation
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: Obama Visits Year Up in Washington, D.C.
CNCS Announces the Summer of Service
Serve America Act passes into law!
Service Nation Daily Update: Serve America Act
An Important Message from Service Nation: Serve America Act Update
Knowledge and Inspiration Shared at Social Entrepreneurship Forum
Social Entrepreneurism is Alive and Well in Boston
panel discussion on Social Entrepreneurship along with the Coro National
Alumni Association, which was having its annual gathering in Boston this
year for the first time. Bringing the gathering to Boston allowed us a
unique opportunity to showcase Boston as a nationally recognized hub of
social entrepreneurship and to convene leaders from some of the city’s
most prominent institutions.
drew an audience of over 60 people, and was moderated by the Founder and
CEO of Commongood Careers, James Weinberg. Other panelists included:
James Cleveland, President of Jumpstart for Young Children; Priscilla
Cohen, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Citizen Schools; Jennifer
Macauley, Director of Communications at New Profit Inc.; and Christine
Morin, Director of New Site Development at City Year Inc.
powerful nature of social entrepreneurship as a force for innovative
change throughout the world. Each panelist then took several minutes to
introduce themselves and answer the question: “Who is the most
inspirational social entrepreneur that you have ever known, and what do
you think made them a ‘social entrepreneur’ as you think about and
define the term.” The audience then engaged in an hour of lively
interactive discussion with the panel, followed by time for individual
discussions and networking.
panelists, Northeastern University for so generously hosting us, and the
Coro National Alumni Association for sponsoring the event and making
this important discussion open to the public.
How Will Obama Deliver on Social Entrepreneurism Promises?
Coro and CGC Present Social Entrepreneurship Panel: Friday, November 7th 1-3pm
1:00 - 3:00pm
Egan Research Center, Raytheon Amphitheatre
120 Forsyth Street, Boston, MA 02115
James Weinberg, Founder & CEO, Commongood Careers
Priscilla Cohen, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Citizen Schools
James Cleveland, President, Jumpstart for Young Children
Jennifer Macauley, Director of Communications, New Profit Inc.
Christine Morin, Director of New Site Development, City Year
Coro trains ethical, diverse civic leaders nationwide. Coro leaders develop skills and master tools needed to engage and empower communities. The Coro National Alumni Association (CNAA) is the official alumni association of the Coro Foundation and its regional centers and programs. CNAA strives to foster communication and a spirit of friendship, assistance, and cooperation within the Coro community. To learn more about Coro and apply for its leadership programs, please visit http://www.coro.org or email .
To learn more, please visit: http://www.cgcareers.org.
Egan Research Center, Raytheon Amphitheatre
120 Forsyth Street, Boston, MA 02115
HBS Examines the Future of Social Enterprise
In Today’s Financial Climate, Investors are Drawn to Social Entrepreneurism
Letter from the CEO: A Momentous Month for Social Change
From SSIR: What’s Online Got to Do With It?
KIPP takes on Colbert!
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