The Wrong Risks
By paying so much attention to managing their own risks, philanthropists are no longer attending to the marginalized people who risk so much to make change happen.
By paying so much attention to managing their own risks, philanthropists are no longer attending to the marginalized people who risk so much to make change happen.
The Saudi Arabian Oil Company exemplifies how an organization may go from good to great through a focus on innovation. In this audio lecture, CEO Abdallah Jum'ah shares with an audience of Stanford MBA students how he has harnessed the brainpower of his people to come up with breakthrough solutions in areas such as technology, tools, processes, and organizational management. His talk demonstrates how living the values of innovation, insight, and principle can transform an organization and change the world.
Let there be light! That's Sam Goldman's motto, and he's taking it around the world. The founder of d.light design talks with Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Sheela Sethuraman about how he is bringing affordable, ecologically sustainable electricity and lighting to billions who are now operating in the dark. In this audio interview, he details aspects of the design, function, marketing, and distribution of the organization's products, as well as the kind of impact the social enterprise is having in some of the most remote, poor areas.
Like Russia, China has been a huge and inefficient user of energy for decades. Now, however, the country is cleaning up its act. In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Mark Levine, Lawrence Berkeley Lab energy group director, dispels common American myths about China's energy and environmental practices, demonstrating that the country is becoming surprisingly progressive. He touches on areas such as subsidies, pricing, and emissions policies.
President Obama has sent a powerful message to the American public since taking office: Social innovation can play an important role in rebuilding a stronger country. With the passage of stimulus packages in areas such as clean energy, national service, and climate change, it's clear that the White House is approaching national challenges in new ways. In this panel discussion, hosted by Full Circle Fund and sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, key staff in the Obama administration provide the broad outlines for these exciting changes.
The era of corporations integrating sustainable practices is being surpassed by a new age of corporations actively transforming the market to make it more sustainable. Open access to this article is made possible by The Regents of the University of Michigan on behalf of the Erb Institute.
Long hailed as a major piece of the climate solution, sustainable business practices have not only fallen short: They even enable the continued dominance of fossil fuel.
If humanity is to survive the climate crisis, we must manage a just and orderly transition away from fossil fuels. The correct models for this resolution are triage, euthanasia, and hospice.
Open-access to this article made possible by University of Michigan.
Executives from 10 major corporations discuss the innovative ways that they are putting societal issues at the core of their companies’ strategy and operations.
Unless clean tech follows well-established rules of innovation and commercialization, the industry’s promise to provide sustainable sources of energy will fail.