About CSI : Center for Social Innovation (CSI)

We Cultivate Leaders Who Can Solve the World's Toughest Social and Environmental Problems.

Join us and learn what you can do to build a more just, sustainable, and prosperous world.

Our mission

Our Approach

Break down boundaries and promote the mutual exchange of ideas and values across sectors and disciplines and between theory and practice.

Our Purpose

Build and strengthen the capacity of individuals and organizations to develop innovative solutions to social problems.

Our Vision

A networked community of leaders actively building a more just, sustainable, and prosperous world.

Our theory of change

Our mission is grounded in a strong theory of change. All our programs and initiatives are designed, coordinated, and integrated to achieve the following outcomes:

Raise Awareness

We raise awareness about the principles, methods, and potential impact of social innovations. By bringing new knowledge to bear on social issues, we contribute innovative ways of achieving impact.

Build Skills

Once aware, individuals need the correct skills to be effective change agents. Through our education programs we build the skills, both conceptual and practical, that enable individuals to successfully move social innovations forward.

Advance Action

Finally, we provide opportunities to implement social innovation practices into action to actually make change.

What we do

The center offers programs for MBA students, alumni, faculty, and field practitioners:

Research

[photo - Research] Academic research and ongoing evaluation are essential to understanding what works and what does not in this new era of social innovation.

Through the discovery of new ideas the center contributes new thinking on ways to achieve social impact:

Case studies
Academic research, such as the Stanford Project on the Evolution of Nonprofits

Education

[photo - education] The center’s education activities disseminate important ideas to a global community of scholars, field practitioners, and students, providing social innovators with a tool box to increase their effectiveness. Education vehicles include:

Social Innovation Conversations, a podcast channel bringing the voices of the people at the forefront of creating social change in the world
Events, speakers series and conferences
Executive Education, programs for nonprofit, philanthropy, and responsible business leaders

Programs specifically for MBA students include:

Action

[photo - action] The center provides a bridge between academia and practice. Our offerings have a direct social impact in the world and provide hands-on experience and inspiration that transform ordinary leaders into mission-driven leaders. MBA students learn, alumni engage, and nonprofits benefit through programs such as:

Service learning initiative, a travel and service experience exploring global issues and innovative models of impact
Board Fellows, a nonprofit board six-month apprenticeship
Summer internships, a 10-12 week work experience in public benefit organizations
The Alumni Consulting Team, management consulting services for nonprofits in the Bay Area

Who we serve

The center brings together the best people, organizations, and ideas from the worlds of nonprofits, business, and government. Our participants:

lead corporate efforts to improve ethical and sustainable practices
manage nonprofits through strategic growth
launch social enterprises that bring life-changing solutions such as loans to small businesses and safe lighting to the world’s poorest places

Center for Social Innovation

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About CSI