Winter 2012

Issue

Winter 2012

Volume 10, Number 1

The winter 2012 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review features a varied collection of articles on the burgeoning field of impact investing. For a fascinating international perspective on the subject, be sure to read “Roundtable on Impact Investing,” featuring Jacqueline Novogratz from Acumen Fund, Alvaro Rodriguez Arregui from the Mexican microfinance bank Compartmentos Banco, Asad Mahmood from Deutsche Bank, and Iftekhar Enayetullah from the Bangladesh social business Waste Concern.

Features

Socially Responsible Business

Connecting Heart to Head

By Ram Nidumolu, Kevin Kramer, & Jochen Zeitz

Leaders of Alcoa and PUMA, two forward-looking multibillion-dollar global companies, describe a framework for sustainable growth.

Intermediaries

The Rise of Social Capital Market Intermediaries

By Bill Meehan & Kim Jonker

Donors and grantmakers are allocating money more efficiently, thanks to the emergence of information and funding intermediaries.

Nonprofit Management

Five Ways to Navigate the Fiscal Crisis

By Daniel Stid & Willa Seldon 2

How human services nonprofits can stay afloat and advance their missions during a time of government cutbacks.

Philanthropy

Giving 2.0: Getting Together to Give

By Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen 1

Giving circles are powerful ways to transform the world while also transforming participants’ giving.

What’s Next

Food

A Win-Win for Haiti

By Suzie Boss 1

Partners in Health and Abbott Laboratories are building a new plant in Corporant, Haiti to produce a therapeutic food called Nourimanba.

Nonprofit Management

Engineering Higher Efficiency

By Suzie Boss

Toyota brings its vaunted process improvement method to nonprofits.

Social Entrepreneurship

On-Ramp for Entrepreneurs

By Suzie Boss

Venture for America launches two-year apprenticeships for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Socially Responsible Business

Specialists’ Niche

By Suzie Boss

A Danish company finds jobs for people with autism.

Field Report

Health

A Healthier City

By Meredith May

San Francisco’s five-year-old universal health care program sees positive results.

Technology

Open Source for Humanitarian Action

By Brandon Keim

Ushahidi develops free software that allows volunteers to map humanitarian crises from their mobile phones.

Government

Governing Innovation

By Corey Binns 1

New York’s Center for Economic Opportunity tests new antipoverty programs from the mayor’s office.

Case Study

Nonprofit Management

Change Comes at a Cost

By Donald Haider & Franz Wohlgezogen 1

In 2008, a group of Chicago’s social service agencies formed the Back Office Cooperative, which has produced impressive financial savings. Yet greater efficiency has had a cultural cost.

Viewpoint

Impact Investing

Impact Investing: What Exactly Is New?

By Roger Frank 3

A veteran of the microfinance industry looks at impact investing through the lenses of history, language, and psychology.

Measuring Social Impact

Social Impact Markets

By Andrew Wolk 2

Why a market for social innovations is needed now more than ever.

Social Entrepreneurship

Journey into Brazil’s Social Sector

By Leonardo Letelier 8

The founder of the first social fund in Brazil tells his story.

Global Issues

Redefining Education in the Developing World

By Mark J. Epstein & Kristi Yuthas 52

A new approach that builds relevant marketplace, entrepreneurship, and health care skills is needed.

Research

Human Rights

Diversity Opportunities

By Jessica Ruvinsky

New research finds that some companies are increasingly pro-diversity and others lag well behind.

Socially Responsible Business

Making Businesses More Responsible

By Jessica Ruvinsky

Corporate sustainability reporting is increasingly mandated by government and the public.

Civil Society

The Evolution of Membership

By Jessica Ruvinsky

Membership in organizations is growing, but not what it used to be.

Intermediaries

Giving Blind

By Jessica Ruvinsky

Watch dog organizations don’t reach most donors.

Health

Global Diseases, Local Needs

By Jessica Ruvinsky 3

The diseases that get funded tend to be the ones for which funders can take credit.

Civil Society

Public Services 2.0

By Jessica Ruvinsky

Technology can empower citizens to co-create some government services.

Book Reviews

Review

Philanthropy

Public Good Politics

Review By Lucy Bernholz

Philanthropy in America: A History by Olivier Zunz

CLASS WARFARE:
Inside the Fight to
Fix America’s Schools
Steven Brill

Review

Education

Hall of Mirrors

Review By Jonathan Schorr 1

Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools by Steven Brill

Review

Impact Investing

Shifting the Market

Review By David Chen 1

Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference by Antony Bugg-Levine & Jed Emerson

GIVING 2.0:
Transform Your
Giving and Your World
Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen

Review

Philanthropy

Go-Getters and Givers

Review By Sally Osberg

Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World by Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen

Q&A

Impact Investing

Roundtable on Impact Investing

By Johanna Mair & Katherine Milligan 8

A group of social innovation leaders from around the world discuss impact investing and how to make it more effective.

Last Look

Environment

The Race Against CO2

By Tamara Straus

The Chinese government’s new five-year plan calls for increasing the energy efficiency of new buildings.

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