Summer 2013

Issue

Summer 2013

Volume 11, Number 3

A great deal has been written about innovation in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, but little attention has been paid to innovation in the public sector. Innovation does occur in government, however, and the pace of innovation is accelerating. To help better understand innovation in the public sector and how to create the conditions that foster it, the summer 2013 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review features the cover story “Unleashing Breakthrough Innovation in Government.”

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Features

Government

Unleashing Breakthrough Innovation in Government

By Nikhil R. Sahni, Maxwell Wessel, & Clayton M. Christensen 5

Public sector innovators are improving government by replicating the market conditions that have fostered breakthroughs in the private sector.

Philanthropy

The Growth of European Venture Philanthropy

By Leonora Buckland, Lisa Hehenberger, & Michael Hay

Growing numbers of foundations, government agencies, and corporations in Europe are adopting venture philanthropy practices.

Urban Development

Why Nonprofits Should Operate Commuter Trains

By Rohit T. Aggarwala 1

The nonprofit sector has taken on the management of a wide range of heretofore government services. Some portions of mass transit should be next.

Environment

Bottom-Up Solutions to Mitigating Climate Change

By Jessica Seddon & Veerabhadran Ramanathan

NGOs, social entrepreneurs, impact investors, and philanthropists need to help slow climate warming.

Case Study

Human Rights

Labor of Love

By Sharon Lerner 1

Ai-jen Poo, cofounder and director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and 2014 McArthur genius grant recipient, is building a movement to improve the lives of 2.5 million US home care workers.

What’s Next

Education

A New Spin on Student Loans

By Suzie Boss

Social Finance Inc. offers a network-based alternative to government-sponsored student loan programs.

Impact Investing

Factoring for Change

By Suzie Boss

To support entrepreneurs in emerging markets, investors are drawing upon a financial tradition that dates back centuries.

Health

Contagious Health

By Suzie Boss

A community-based program in rural Kentucky uses face-to-face social networks to promote wellness.

Nonprofit Management

Overdue Credit for Nonprofits

By Suzie Boss 5

The American Nonprofits Federal Credit Union will provide loans and other much-needed financial services to member organizations.

Field Report

Foundations

Mobilizing the Masses

By Phuong Ly

The Liberty Hill Foundation concentrates on helping community activists create lasting change in Los Angeles.

Education

Keeping Kids in School

By Suzie Boss 5

With hard data and soft skills, Communities in Schools fine-tunes its model to reduce dropout rates.

Technology & Design

Texting for Change

By Donna Bryson

A South African foundation is leading the way in creating mobile-phone-based solutions for social change.

Urban Development

Housing the Homeless

By Greg Beato

Common Ground helps reduce the number of people sleeping on New York City streets by opening residential buildings for the homeless and impaired.

Viewpoint

Human Rights

The Fight Against Human Trafficking

By Roy Ahn, Anita McGahan, Wendy Macias Konstantopoulos, Hannah Harp, Elaine Alpert, & Thomas F. Burke 2

Health care communites can help.

Foundations

Stop Funding Duplicative Projects

By Christine E. Sherry 5

Field scans are crucial for providing data about what has been funded and where funding gaps lie.

Socially Responsible Business

Untangling the Confusion Over Organizational Ethics

By Susan Liautaud 2

A wave of ethics transgressions underlines the importance of comprehensive ethics oversight for organizational success.

Health

Judging Success in Translational Medical Research

By Robert Pozen

Getting promising drug discoveries out of university labs and into the drug pipeline is more difficult than it should be.

Research

Individual Giving

Diversity and Generosity

By Corinna Wu 2

Where levels of workplace diversity are higher than average, the level of charitable giving also tends to be higher.

Civil Society

What Makes People Mobilize?

By Corinna Wu

Protest movements don't emerge merely because people have something to protest. Many other factors come into play.

Education

The Return of Segregation

By Corinna Wu

Racial integration in US schools has declined in the wake of recent court decisions to release districts from earlier desegregation orders.

Government

Curbing Corruption

By Corinna Wu

Political reform alone doesn't ensure good government. Equally important, if not more so, are institutions that let citizens act collectively.

Book Reviews

Review

Technology & Design

The “Just Right” Future

Review By Lucy Bernholz

In the world that's now emerging, pre-modern practices that emphasize personal relationships are returning to prominence.

Review

Philanthropy

Philanthropy and Inequality

Review By Robin Rogers 1

The disruptive force of the "new philanthropy" holds the promise of helping to reduce inequality. But will it actually do so?

Review

Environment

Conservation as an Investment

Review By Robert Jaquay

Environmental conservation and business investment are not mutually exclusive, argues the CEO of the Nature Conservancy.

Last Look

Arts & Culture

Creating a Sunny World

By Eric Nee

Solnechny Mir (Our Sunny World) is a Russian rehabilitation center that hosts more than 250 children and their families each week.

Innovation for a Complex World

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Magazine Sections
- Features
  
  New and in-depth explorations of solutions to social, environmental, or organizational problems
- Case Study
  
  An inside look at one organization
- What’s Next
  
  New approaches to social change
- Field Report
  
  Profiles of innovative work
- Viewpoint
  
  Insights from the front lines
- Research
  
  Highlights from scholarly journals
- Book Reviews
  
  Reviews of new and notable titles
- Editor’s Note
  
  Perspectives on the print magazine issues from SSIR's editor-in-chief
- SSIR Online
  
  Takeaways from SSIR's digital channels
- Last Look
  
  Images that inspire
- Sponsored Supplements
  
  Collections of articles on a single topic, funded by a sponsor
SSIR is published by the
Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil
Society, at Stanford University.

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Summer 2013