Stanford Social Innovation Review

LivingGoods sends its version of Avon ladies—white-uniformed “health promoters”—knocking on doors in hundreds of Ugandan communities.

LaserMonks, a multimillion-dollar enterprise, sells ink-jet cartridges and other office supplies online to support its Cistercian abbey in Wisconsin and to help others, also.

To share its expertise without jeopardizing its mission, FareStart spun out a new organization.
left: FareStart’s Chef Ben works with a trainee in a Seattle kitchen.

In this interview with James A. Phills Jr., the Stanford Social Innovation Review‘s academic editor, former presidential advisor David Gergen discusses his views on social innovation, why social entrepreneurs should be more engaged in politics, and how the federal government can work with and even fund social entrepreneurs.

The world’s neediest people are using mobile phones in ways that were never intended, and with great success. With wireless technologies, Indian farmers are finding out the latest crop prices, Nigerian youth are learning how to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, and Peruvian citizens are reporting criminal activity in their neighborhoods. Yet dialing into these powerful tools is not always straightforward. The author explains how to make the wireless revolution ring in economic growth and prosperity for people living at the bottom of the pyramid.

By tailoring its methods to local values and needs, Rare has slowly seeded conservation programs in 40 countries. Yet as more and more species teeter on the brink of extinction, the organization must expand quickly. Here’s how the boutique nonprofit is delivering customized Rare Pride social marketing campaigns to millions of people in the planet’s most fragile ecosystems.

MBA students turn their attention to social enterprise.

THE SOUL OF A NEW MACHINE by Tracy Kidder

Social entrepreneurship and social enterprise have become popular rallying points for those trying to improve the world. These two notions are positive ones, but neither is adequate when it comes to understanding and creating social change in all of its manifestations. The authors make the case that social innovation is a better vehicle for doing this. They also explain why most of today’s innovative social solutions cut across the traditional boundaries separating nonprofits, government, and for-profit businesses.

Part academic institution, part activist group, part think tank, ATREE crosses sectors to breed a new species of conservation agency in India.