Education
Making School New
In and around Pittsburgh, a cross-sector network sponsors approaches to education that blend technology and peer-to-peer collaboration.
Suzie Boss
Suzie Boss is a journalist and consultant from Portland, Ore., who focuses on the power of teaching and learning to improve lives and transform communities. Co-author of Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age, she is a regular contributor to Edutopia and is on the national faculty of the Buck Institute for Education. Her next book, on innovation in K-12 education, is scheduled for publication in spring 2012.
Nonprofits & NGOs
Serving Up Data
The Human Needs Index offers complex, near-real-time information on how people across the United States use social services.
Energy
Sunshine Snapshot
An online tool called Project Sunroof provides homeowners with a clear picture of whether they should go solar.
Philanthropy & Funding
New MOOCs for Rising Leaders
Two recent initiatives deploy online learning technology to provide training for social sector professionals on a global scale.
Cities
A Slick Vehicle for Street Food
A specially designed food cart that combines high social impact with reduced environmental impact.
Leadership
Mentoring Meets Its Match
RippleWorks helps entrepreneurs in the developing world tap the expertise of executives and engineers from Silicon Valley.
Government
Muni Bonds for All
An online platform for “microbonds” promises to make it easier for people to invest public works projects.
Nonprofits
High Tech for Dry Times
A system that combines software and sensors promises to improve farmers’ ability to manage, conserve, and lease water.
Global Issues
Credit Where It’s Due
New tools and practices are helping low-income Americans use rent payments to build up their financial profile.
Technology & Design
Crisis Tech
Listening closely to users has enabled developers to create digital tools that support responses to the recent Ebola outbreak.
Civil Society
Getting Creative About Corruption
A group in Lebanon deploys a wide range of methods—from mobile apps to street theater—to thwart bribe-taking by officials.
Government
Text the Vote
In a classic leapfrogging initiative, Libya has enabled its citizens to complete voter registration via digital messaging technology.
Arts
Booked for Revival
A combination of fresh funding and e-book technology will enable publishers to give new life to out-of-print scholarly works.
Economic Development
Source of Opportunity
Sama Group, a social enterprise that connects disadvantaged people with digital work, is expanding its reach to the United States.
Economic Development
An Incubator for Labor
Through the Workers Lab, union leaders aim to nurture “audacious ideas” that might reinvent the US labor movement.
Health
The Barber Will See You Now
Researchers are exploring an unlikely venue for serving the critical health needs of African-American men.
Nonprofit Management
Leveling the Internship Field
In Boston, a new program will give low-income college students an alternative to toiling as unpaid interns.
Technology & Design
Data Game
To leverage data science for social good, one company is working to foster a bit of healthy competition.
Environment
Airport Buzz
Amid landing strips and airline terminals, threatened bee species are finding a much-needed new habitat.
Government
Scrappy Solutions
A new regulation in Massachusetts aims to direct food waste away from landfills and toward more productive uses.
Technology & Design
Circulating the Internet
At two big-city libraries, patrons can check out a new approach to accessing a wide range of digital technology.
Environment
Taking Flight for Conservation
Despite their somewhat ominous reputation, drones are proving to have a wide range of beneficial applications.
Technology & Design
When the “Doves” Fly
A Silicon Valley start-up that operates earth-orbiting imaging satellites is making them available to social innovators.
Economic Development
Cultivating a Neglected Field
Seven lending organizations are teaming up to meet the large-scale needs of smallholder farms in the developing world.
Design Thinking
Design for Cleaner Living
A team of social innovators is devising ways to put urban India on track to a tidier future.
Health
Built WELL
Taking a lead from LEED certification, a new standard aims to promote healthy construction of homes, offices, and other structures.
Education
Mentor for America
Thanks to the New Teacher Center, beginning educators gain support that will help them thrive in a challenging profession.
Urban Development
Pop-Up Housing
In London, the YMCA is combining prefab construction with stylish design to create a new kind of affordable home.
Technology
Putting Bullies in Their Place
A Web-based initiative uses analysis of social media chatter to locate hotspots of antisocial behavior.
Government
A Mandate for Responsibility
In the wake of a recently passed law, companies in India are figuring out how to meet their CSR requirement.
Urban Development
Safe at Home
Thanks to ROC USA, residents of mobile home parks can gain a real stake in the places where they live.
Health
Women at the Wheel
In Mozambique, an effort to train women as ambulance drivers enhances public safety and fosters opportunity.
Impact Investing
Funding the Sun
Village Power Finance gives members of nonprofit associations a novel way to pay for solar conversion projects.
Economic Development
Lots of Opportunity
An online platform helps city governments to discover, organize, and market publicly owned property.
Urban Development
Bike-Sharing Goes Small
Local bike-lending arrangements offer an alternative to bigger, more complex bike-sharing systems.
Civil Society
Citizen Chronicles
A program in Alberta, Canada, showcases the way that people with disabilities contribute actively to their communities. Includes magazine extras.
Technology & Design
Libraries as Laboratories
In Accra, Ghana, social entrepreneurs are working to reinvent the public library for the 21st century.
Human Rights
Blurred Images, Better Futures
Software from a group called Ultrasafe Ultrasound promises to make it harder to practice sex-selective abortion.
Urban Development
Helping Cities Remain Strong
A $100 million foundation initiative aims to foster urban resilience in the face of disaster.
Fundraising
The Science of Donor Connection
A state-of-the-art database gives nonprofit leaders a tool for building relationships with potential funders.
Civil Society
A Sporting Chance
In troubled spots around the world, Right to Play shows how fun and games can be a serious tool for development.
Socially Responsible Business
Donations on Tap
At a "philanthropub," a new kind of bar and restaurant, a portion of each patron's bill goes to a worthy cause.
Food
A Fresh Approach to Food Stamps
In some places, users of the US Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program can supplement their diet via community supported agriculture.
Government
Crowdsourcing the Past
A US National Archives program uses 21st-century technology to enlist ordinary citizens in the transcription of centuries-old documents.
Economic Development
An Arab Spring for Entrepreneurs?
In Tunisia, the Souk At-tanmia project provides funding and technical support to budding entrepreneurs.
Education
Keeping Kids in School
With hard data and soft skills, Communities in Schools fine-tunes its model to reduce dropout rates.
Education
A New Spin on Student Loans
Social Finance Inc. offers a network-based alternative to government-sponsored student loan programs.
Impact Investing
Factoring for Change
To support entrepreneurs in emerging markets, investors are drawing upon a financial tradition that dates back centuries.
Nonprofit Management
Overdue Credit for Nonprofits
The American Nonprofits Federal Credit Union will provide loans and other much-needed financial services to member organizations.
Health
Contagious Health
A community-based program in rural Kentucky uses face-to-face social networks to promote wellness.
Health
Delivering Affordable Innovation
D-Rev delivers affordable health care innovation to the places that need it most.
Philanthropy
Indexing Nonprofits
Donors want their money to be spent wisely, but knowing where to give can be difficult.
Technology & Design
Poverty-Fighting Salons
Can open conversations accelerate the spread of good ideas in global development?
Social Entrepreneurship
New Ecosystem for Middle East Entrepreneurs
The i2 Institute aims to catalyze hope across the Middle East.
Urban Development
Habitat Builds Out Its Vision
In the aftermath of the US housing crisis, Habitat for Humanity is working to build not just affordable homes, but affordable communities.
Government
New Option for Retirees
State-sponsored pensions for private sector employees aim to stem US retirement insecurity.
Philanthropy
Giving Smarter
The Center for Disaster Philanthropy aims to help donors make informed, smarter giving decisions.
Nonprofits
Room to Grow Nonprofit Innovation
At Center4, small organizations will be able to pool their problem-solving strategies and resources to incubate new solutions.
Microfinance
All-Mobile Microfinance
Kenya is about to become a world leader in mobile microfinance.
Technology & Design
Accessible Images
An open source web application draws on the wisdom of the crowds to give the blind access to images.
Technology & Design
New App for Conscious Consumers
Free2Work is a mobile app that allows shoppers to scan a product for information on human rights and other issues.
Health
HMO for the Poor
Naya Jeevan aims to bring catastrophic health coverage to millions of low-skilled workers in India and Pakistan.
Government
Holding the Line in Oregon
Oregon’s land-use policies have preserved farmland and led to smart urban growth.
Technology & Design
Coding for a Better World
SocialCoding4Good is developing an online platform to match skilled employees from the technology sector with causes that need technical help.
Business
A Lifeline for Mothers
Merck for Mothers—a 10-year, $500 million initiative—aims to improve the odds for vulnerable women around the globe.
Technology & Design
Virtual Models for Real Issues
Agent-based modeling—a form of computer visualization—is being used to analyze a range of public health issues.
Social Entrepreneurship
Delivering the Goods
Entrepreneurs are setting up shop in the nation's urban food deserts.
Environment
Shrinking Your Plastic Footprint
Getting companies to reduce their use of plastic is the focus of the Plastic Disclosure Project.
Technology
Data for Change
Data Without Borders matches tech-savy volunteers with organizations instead of data analysis.
Business
Litmus Test for Entrepreneurs
The Entrepreneurial Finance Lab helps identify investment-worthy business people in developing countries.
Economic Development
Himalayan Hazelnuts
MHV, a for-profit social enterprise, aims to make Bhutan a large-scale producer of hazelnuts.
Food
A Win-Win for Haiti
Partners in Health and Abbott Laboratories are building a new plant in Corporant, Haiti to produce a therapeutic food called Nourimanba.
Social Entrepreneurship
On-Ramp for Entrepreneurs
Venture for America launches two-year apprenticeships for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Nonprofit Management
Engineering Higher Efficiency
Toyota brings its vaunted process improvement method to nonprofits.
Socially Responsible Business
Specialists’ Niche
A Danish company finds jobs for people with autism.
Environment
Trawling for Trash
An EU Fisheries Commission Project pays fisherman to remove plastic debris from the Mediterranean Sea.
Education
Rapid Response for Education
The National Math and Science Initiative aims to avert the crisis in secondary school education by replicating proven programs.
Education
Student Retention App
A new Facebook app helps incoming freshmen connect—but within the closed community of their college.
Foundations
When the Big Bet Fails
The Northwest Area Foundation learns—and shares—hard lessons from a 10-year initiative.
Economic Development
It Takes a General Contractor
Nuru International identifies proven poverty-reduction programs and aims to take them to scale.
Intermediaries
Sharing Evaluations
Organizations that report on charities are increasingly collaborative.
Economic Development
Antipoverty Apps
mPowering has created an app that awards goods and services to individuals facing extreme poverty when they make beneficial choices.
Measuring Social Impact
Amplifying Local Voices
GlobalGiving’s storytelling project turns anecdotes into useful data.
Intermediaries
Matchmaking for Philanthropists
Foundation Source Access, the new eHarmony for family foundations, gives smaller donors access to a wide variety of innovative funding opportunities.
Nonprofit Management
Thriving on Failure
Engineers Without Borders’ new website, Admitting Failure, gives new life to “good failures.” It aims to help organizations learn from others’ mistakes.
Health
Mothers of Invention
Maternova is getting hundreds of life saving innovations to the front lines in developing countries using a new online platform.
Socially Responsible Business
Retailing with Heart
At Panera Cares cafés, there’s a donation box where customers pay on the honor system.
Economic Development
In India, Banking of Self-Service
New micro-deposit ATMs are being deployed to reach India's unbanked.
Technology & Design
City Hall 2.0
Code for America enlists young tech talents in a year of service at city halls across the country.
Impact Investing
A Toniic for Start-Ups
Impact Investors at Toniic aim to create an ecosystem for investing in social entrepreneurs that mirrors the Silicon Valley way of doing deals.
Education
Curling Up with E-Readers
Worldreader.org is using electronic reading devices to catalyze a new culture of global literacy.
Education
Mentoring India’s Youth
The Indian higher education system centers on one test. Avanti Fellows seeks to make the system more accessible to talented but underprivileged students.
Human Rights
Stopping Child Porn
Computer imaging technology gets put to work to fight child porn fast—five-millisecond-fast.
Urban Development
Here Comes the Neighborhood
A low-income Cleveland neighborhood works together to revitalize the community in an environmentally responsible way.
Human Rights
Drowning Out Hate
The website Not In Our Town is combating prejudice by broadcasting anti-hate stories and campaigns.
Energy
This Old Green House
Clean Energy Works Portland gets consumers—and the workforce—energized about weatherization.
Corporate Philanthropy
Do No Evil
Google DotOrg launched in 2004 with bold ambitions and almost $1 billion in seed funding. But the results have been less than stellar.