Social Innovations

 IMPACT INVESTING Does how we invest our money really matter? Is it enough to know that our investments are making us money or is there more to consider? Enter-Impact Investing. The world's population of investors seems to be more aware of the needs of others and more interested that they use their money for good, especially if they are able to still make a profit on their investments. Impact investing does both. It allows financial resources to be used in ways that bring a social benefit while still having a return on the investment. This area of investing is a growing market as more and more individuals and companies recognize the importance of using their resources to positively impact the lives of their fellow man. This Ted Talk stood out to me. This is more than a trend and is impacting areas from environment to adequate childcare. What we do with our money matters, and we can become involved in social impact fairly easily by changing the way we invest to included Impact Inves...

  Hybrids and Social Businesses There seems to be a growing social consciousness in what consumers want from corporations. We want environmentally friendly practices. We are concerned about poverty and social issues. We want community support and decent wages with benefit packages. We want products that are responsible. Is this a lot to expect from businesses, or is it the wave of the future business model? For hybrid businesses, this is all part of their make-up. More than philanthropy, these social businesses integrate social impact into their models. They employ marginalized individuals,  invest in the communities they work in, create sustainable products and operating processes, and integrate social goals with their business practices. Every part of a hybrid's business model has social welfare combined with revenue generation. Hot Bread Kitchen impressed me this week. They make more than bread, they make breadwinners. Their business model partners workforce development, sm...

  Non-Profits and NGO's How are they organized? Why do we expect different things from them than businesses? How can they stay viable financially? These are important questions for socially conscious organizations to consider. Without a strong organization, the nonprofits tend to burnout and not have the impact they had hoped for. I have been involved with many non-profit organizations and have sat on the board of a couple. Without a strong organization, volunteer hours and well-wishes for a societal good will not deliver the results that you hope for. Photo credit: https://www.timberland.com/responsibility.html I am so impressed by Timberland's business model and the impact that Jeffrey Schwartz has had on this company. Business growth has been tied to values and has focused on community service, environmental responsibility and excellent products. This focus has allowed Timberland to grow to a global company with product sales in the hundreds of millions of dollars annu...

  Corporate Social Responsibility Does this matter to you? Do you base decisions to do business with companies based on the way they are socially responsible? This is an area that seems to be growing in the business world. Consumers, employees and shareholders are increasingly demanding greater social responsibility. Businesses have greater responsibility to the triple bottom line. This is not just profit, although that is obviously important to businesses. The triple bottom line includes economic, social and environmental considerations, Taking care of the planet by having environmentally responsible practices, take care of people by meeting social needs that relate to the business and find sustainable ways to have a profit while maintaining the other two areas is the goal of many modern businesses. One way that you can know if the companies you do business with are socially responsible is to check for a B Corp certification. This organizations certifies businesses who ascribe to ...

 Business and Social Issues How do we address social issues? Is business important in addressing social issues? What business models are best in addressing social issues? These questions lead to more questions, but the reality is that a business model is developed to build a customer base and improve profit. Impact can be delivered in similar ways and business models like the lean start-up is extremely applicable to social issues. Lean start-ups get customer feedback from the start of their process and develops products based off customer input rather than starting with a business plan and product and then finding customers for the product. With social innovations, the customers are known, but the way to meet their needs are not always clear. Using the lean start-up model customer input can be used to help develop products that have true impact. This video shows how Bio Lite is innovating and how they have used lean start-up business modeling to impact lives across the world. https...

  Capital, Money, Cash, Donations, Grants, Revenue How do non-profits and social innovators stay 'in business' and have the ability to pursue their mission? Money. Without the 'business' of getting money, it is very difficult to carry out missions to make social improvements. There are grants, loans and donations that may provide an influx of capital and help with reaching goals or providing services, but those are not always consistent or reliable. A business component that generates revenue will help social innovators fund their programs and continue their impact. image from skoll.org Vera Cordeiro is someone worth knowing about. In reading about her this week, I am struck by her tenacity, vision and the power of embroidered sheets. She saw a problem. As a pediatrician she treated patients who went home to unsanitary living situations and returned to the hospital for further care. She recognized that all the medical care she could provide would not heal children who d...

  image from: https://www.beachcombingmagazine.com/blogs/news/the-starfish-is-not-a-fish Starfish hurling I have always liked the parable of the starfish about the child who is actively throwing starfish back into the ocean and when questioned about the difference he could possibly make considering the vast amount of starfish on the shore he replies that he made a difference to that one. I live near the Pacific Ocean and am well versed in tide changes, exposed starfish and the ecosystems that interact with starfish. I have never considered that hurling starfish into the sea to "save" them might actually be a negative thing. Are the ways that we help others productive or enabling? Do they disrupt natural consequences or cause problems that we did not foresee? Is the way I engage in community service the best use of my energy, time and talents or is it flinging things into the wide world thinking that I made a difference for whatever I removed from a situation and hurled into a...