Business

Making Supply Chains Socially Responsible - Fresh Approaches to Supply Chain Practices

How does an organization not only promote green and sustainable products but also conduct business in a socially responsible way? At the Stanford 2008 Responsible Supply Chains Conference, leaders of three pioneering enterprises talk in a panel discussion about how they integrate fair trade, sustainable design, green purchasing, and public/private partnerships into every aspect of their business. They offer advice for other organizations and share how they are working to promote social responsibility in their respective industries.

Advocacy

Fraser Nelson - Learn to Love Lobbying

Fraser Nelson, a consultant to nonprofits, gives an entertaining lesson on the why and how of nonprofit lobbying. Most nonprofits do not lobby government for a variety of reasons, but Nelson explains that it is legal, effective, and powerful. In this Stanford Social Innovation Review sponsored audio lecture, Nelson concludes with ways to get the most out of your lobbying efforts and five rules to follow.

Philanthropy & Funding

Panel Discussion - Skoll World Forum: Financing the Growth of Operations

Financing the growth of operations to achieve major scale is undoubtedly the biggest challenge facing social entrepreneurship. This panel discussion explores the current challenges and constraints in mobilizing capital flow to compelling social enterprises. Experts cover a range of strategies and channels available to social entrepreneurs for financing growth plans, including emerging alternatives to create new asset classes (hybrid, for-profit, and for-benefit models).

Nonprofits & NGOs

Deborah Rhode - Ethics in the Nonprofit Sector

Businesses are not the only organizations rocked by financial scandals. Nonprofits such as the Red Cross, United Way, and many others have been hit as well. In this Stanford Social Innovation Review sponsored audio lecture, Deborah Rhode discusses the need for an ethics upgrade in the nonprofit sector, which by its do-good nature is expected to take the moral high ground. She considers typical pitfalls that nonprofits are vulnerable to, and calls for clearer rules governing transparency and accountability.

Civic Engagement

James A. Joseph - Leadership in the Second Half of Life

Former U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, James Joseph believes we must support those over 50 launching new careers later in life so they may continue to make significant contributions to society. In this audio lecture recorded at the Encore Career Summit, sponsored by the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford, Joseph reflects on what it takes to be a great leader in the second half of life. Using Nelson Mandela as a prototype, he reflects on how skills such as the ability to work with one's enemies are critical elements of the mature leader.

Health

Marc Koska - Preserving the Right to Safe Injections

In India and Africa, syringes are frequently reused, despite the obvious dangers of cross infection and death. Marc Koska talks about his involvement with Star Syringe, which designed and licensed an auto-disable syringe that prevents syringe reuse. He discusses how single-use syringe adoption is progressing in India, and also talks about the activities and aims of his charity SafePoint Trust.

Global Issues

Dan Burden - Environmental Sustainability in Walking Cities

Dan Burden has studied and defined what makes for a pedestrian-friendly community. Even more important, he knows why such places are so valuable for everyone—walkers and drivers alike. In this audio lecture, Burden discusses why walkability is crucial to the sustainability of communities, and what they can do to encourage it.

Social Enterprise

Douglas Holt - Marketing for Social Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship efforts need marketing as much as any business enterprise. In this audio lecture, Oxford business professor Douglas Holt asserts that there is a systematic way to learn from the marketing success of companies such as Apple, Harley Davidson, and Coca-Cola.

Scaling

Robert Searle - Can Nonprofits Get More Bang for the Buck?

If you haven't bought a flat-screen TV yet, chances are you're waiting for the prices to drop. Technologies get cheaper by virtue of the "experience curve," a phenomenon where, as companies get better at what they do, costs become lower. In this Stanford Social Innovation Review sponsored audio lecture, Robert Searle argues that nonprofits also can have experience curves, achieving a greater volume of outcomes for the same cost. He discusses the types of outcome metrics on which nonprofits should focus.

Organizational Development

Brian Lehnen, Scott Morgan, Anne Marie Burgoyne - Year One in the Life of a Nonprofit Start-up

What fuels the creation of a nonprofit organization? In this panel discussion, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, panelists talk about their experiences founding an education-related nonprofit in the United States and a microenterprise in Africa. They explore how they came up with the ideas for their enterprises, how they focused and manifested those ideas, and what smart and not-so-smart choices they made along the way. A portfolio manager adds her insights on what elements make a startup appealing to potential funders.

Civic Engagement

The Encore Careers Summit - Journeying Through Multiple Careers

The notion of "golden years" of endless leisure is giving way to a new form of practical idealism: real jobs tackling real problems and making real impact. The Encore Careers campaign aims to engage millions of baby boomers in careers later in life, producing a windfall of human talent to solve society's greatest problems. In this 2008 Encore Careers Summit panel discussion sponsored by the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford, panelists share their "encore" journeys, and how they've had the energy to stay professionally vital and active.

Arts & Culture

Panel Discussion - Skoll World Forum: Conflict Resolution

From investment to football to soap operas to jobs, culture can be a force for good in the world. In this panel discussion sponsored by the Skoll World Forum, experts on social entrepreneurship share their experiences and insights about how to use culture and media as tools for conflict resolution.

Civic Engagement

The Encore Careers Summit - Lessons for a New Social Movement

How can the United States and the world benefit from the work of people who have been dedicated to social change over the last 30 years? What can those with the most diverse array of backgrounds and careers do to impact social, economic, and political policy, particularly in this unprecedented era of new political leadership? In this panel discussion from the 2008 Encore Careers Summit, activist leaders from the women's, civil rights, and environmental movements discuss how we can reinvent this country by drawing on lessons from the past.

Nonprofits & NGOs

Elizabeth Hausler - Making Homes Safe from Earthquakes

When an earthquake hits, what should you do? Should you get out of the house? The answer, says Elizabeth Hausler, founder of Build Change, depends upon where you live. In this audio interview with host Sheela Sethuraman, Hausler describes how the strategies of Build Change are helping villages in Indonesia and China to build earthquake-resistant housing.