Description
Book SynopsisTHE POWER of SOCIAL INNOVATION
Civic leaders across the U.S. and throughout the world are discovering creative ways to overcome the obstacles that seal the doors of opportunity for too many.
These inspiring individuals believe that within our communities lie the entrepreneurial spirit, compassion, and resources to make progress in such critical areas as education, housing, and economic self-reliance. Real progress requires that we take bold action and leverage our strengths for the greater good.
The Power of Social Innovation offers public officials, social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and individual citizens the insights and skills to create healthier communities and promote innovative solutions to public and social problems. This seminal work is based on Stephen Goldsmith''s decades of experience, extensive ongoing research, and interviews with 100+ top leaders from a wide variety of sectors.
Goldsmith shows that everyday citizen
Trade Review
"This book is a sort of bible of social innovation, full of examples of social entrepreneurs' successes. It sets out both the potential of the partnership approach and the huge difficulties it will have to overcome." (The Economist, August 2010)
"Lots of people talk about 'reinventing government.' Steve Goldsmith has actually done it" (Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2010)
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
The Author xi
Foreword xiii
Preface xvii
Part I: Catalyzing Social Change 1
Chapter 1 Igniting Civic Progress 3
Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Change 4
So Many Ideas, So Little Progress 6
Civic Entrepreneurship as the Solution 12
Igniting Civic Progress 17
The Mandate and Caution of Engaging Government 20
Conclusions 24
Chapter 2 Innovation as Catalytic Ingredient 27
Discovering the Missing Ingredient 30
Choosing the Right Catalyst 36
Bringing It All Together: The Nehemiah Foundation 58
Conclusions 61
Part II: Market Maker as Civic Entrepreneur 65
Chapter 3 Open Sourcing Social Innovation 67
Breaking Down Protectionist Barriers 69
Opening Space for Innovation 73
Leveling the Playing Field 79
Inviting the Exceptional 82
Forcing Cultural Change 85
Bringing It All Together: The Enlightened Monopolist 90
Conclusions 97
Chapter 4 Trading Good Deeds for Measurable Results 101
Current Funding Limitations 103
What Public Value are We Purchasing? 106
Are the Funded Activities Still the Most Relevant? 111
What Change Does the Community Want and What Assets Can It Mobilize? 114
Are We Funding a Project or Sustainable System Change? 116
What Will We Measure? 120
Bringing It All Together: Linda Gibbs 125
Conclusions 126
Part III: Service Provider as Civic Entrepreneur 131
Chapter 5 Animating and Trusting the Citizen 133
Balancing the Professional with the Public 135
Building a Public 139
Leveraging Social Media for Change 149
“Client” Choice 153
Curing the Expectation Gap 157
Bringing It All Together: Family Independence Initiative 160
Conclusions 165
Chapter 6 Turning Risk into Reward 169
Seeing Opportunity Where Others See Liability 171
Taking First Risk 172
Fully Calculating Cascading Return on Investment 182
Political Risk and Reward 184
Bringing It All Together: Wraparound Milwaukee 192
Conclusions 195
Chapter 7 The Fertile Community 197
The Fertile City (and the Entrepreneurial Mayor) 199
Civic Entrepreneurs and School Reform 202
Entrepreneurial Community Solutions 214
Staying Entrepreneurial: Saving Yourself from Success 221
The Future 222
Notes 225
References 255
Index 265
