Tag Archives | Social Innovation

Attempting Sustainability

By on February 22, 2013 in Community Building, Impact Assessment, Social Entrepreneurship, Stories of Impact

You’ve heard the term “sustainability,” but have you thought about it outside of the environmental context? There are many ways in which social change programs can be unsustainable. Programs can be designed without a community’s real capacity, interest, or needs in mind. They can provide expensive and unfamiliar tools that community members don’t know how [...]

Read full story · Comments are closed

Communication Design + Social Innovation

By on February 20, 2013 in Community Building, Design, Education, Sector, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Intrapreneurship

Communication is the most important determinant of whether or not you will succeed in achieving your vision (see my previous post on the use of language in Intrapreneurship). Great leaders have it, and there’s a way to get it. I speak at many conferences, including the recent Social Enterprise Boot Camp, and receive many requests [...]

Read full story · Comments are closed
The Paradigm Project in Kenya

Defining “Social Entrepreneurship”

By on December 7, 2012 in Featured, Social Entrepreneurship

“Business must be run at a profit, else it will die. But when anyone tries to run a business solely for profit … then the business must die as well, for it no longer has a reason for existence.”  — Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company (1863 – 1947) One of my co-contributors, Matthew [...]

Read full story · Comments are closed

Launching a Successful Non-Profit: Four Crucial Lessons

By on November 2, 2012 in Education, Non-Profits, Social Entrepreneurship

In the 8 months it took to launch our tech non-profit, StudentDonate.com, my team and I learned a ton of critical lessons along the way.  Below are the top 4 lessons we’ve learned that will help any burgeoning or even established social entrepreneur. Your Website Needs to Rock – Face it, in the 21st century [...]

Read full story · Comments are closed

SocialChange.is About the Journey

By on October 30, 2012 in Featured, Social Entrepreneurship, Starting the Journey

It’s 3:55 in the morning on Wednesday, August 8, 2012 – launch day for SocialChange.is. As I type this post in bed, I know I won’t be getting any more sleep tonight. I woke up about an hour ago and have been thinking about everything that needs to happen today. All the emails I need [...]

Read full story · Comments are closed

Dynamic Innovation

By on September 13, 2012 in Social Entrepreneurship

When working with a designer to produce your marketing material, the most dangerous thing you can say is  “I’ll know it when I see it.” True innovation comes from taking risks – it is impossible to “know it when you see it.” In fact, most ideas that are truly new often times lack a lot [...]

Read full story · Comments are closed

Don’t Complain. Fix.

By on September 4, 2012 in Social Entrepreneurship

I used to complain. A lot. I would complain about the little annoyances in life that come up on a daily basis. But then something happened. I noticed two new inventions that fixed the problems I complained about for years. I love coffee. And not just for the caffeine buzz.  I love the taste of [...]

Read full story · Comments are closed

Why I Left Washington Politics for Social Enterprise

By on August 29, 2012 in Featured, Social Entrepreneurship, Starting the Journey

Three years ago, I never would have imagined that today I would be working with a social enterprise in India. From a young age, I was instilled with a strong sense of social justice, a passion for international affairs, and a desire to serve my community and country. I was highly influenced by my pro-bono [...]

Read full story · Comments are closed

Design, Capacity and Change

By on August 7, 2012 in Featured, Social Entrepreneurship, Starting the Journey

In the early winter of 2007 my partner, Kate Hanisian, and I would recap our work days over a glass of wine in the window of our apartment in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati. She was working as the Development Director at a local non-profit that focused on criminal justice reform and I was working [...]

Read full story · Comments are closed

The Story of verynice

By on August 7, 2012 in Featured, Social Entrepreneurship, Stories of Impact

If there is one thing I’ve learned from the past 5 or so years of working with hundreds of social entrepreneurs and non-profit founders, it is this: Social enterprises have wonderful stories to tell. I’m talking truly inspiring, honest, stories. Stories that make you want to get out of the cubicle and make something. But [...]

Read full story · Comments are closed