Center for Social Innovation

Sugar and Spice and...Math Under-Achievement?

Studies have shown that the root of the math gender gap is not differences in innate skills, but settings that undermine girls' confidence. In her research, School of Education Professor Jo Boaler has found more equitable ways to teach math.

Resource: News Article

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Environmental And Food Activists Need To Consider Social Justice, Author Says

Journalist-filmmaker Eric Schlosser tells students interested in food issues that critics of today’s industrial food system shouldn’t forget lower-income people.

Resource: News Article

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Harnessing Mobile Tech And Students To Promote Development In Kenya

Stanford students and faculty partner with Kenyan organizations to test ways to reduce urban poverty through novel applications of mobile phone technology.

Resource: News Article

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Field Research As A Tool For Poverty Alleviation

Researchers share results and ideas for tackling extreme poverty through innovations in institutions, management, and technology

Resource: News Article

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Marketing for Good

GSB Marketing Professor Jennifer Aaker says social media can help for-profits, nonprofits, and government organizations address a deficit of trust in our current culture.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Sugar and Spice and...Math Under-Achievement?

Studies have shown that the root of the math gender gap is not differences in innate skills, but settings that undermine girls' confidence. In her research, School of Education Professor Jo Boaler has found more equitable ways to teach math.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Environmental And Food Activists Need To Consider Social Justice, Author Says

Journalist-filmmaker Eric Schlosser tells students interested in food issues that critics of today’s industrial food system shouldn’t forget lower-income people.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Harnessing Mobile Tech And Students To Promote Development In Kenya

Stanford students and faculty partner with Kenyan organizations to test ways to reduce urban poverty through novel applications of mobile phone technology.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Field Research As A Tool For Poverty Alleviation

Researchers share results and ideas for tackling extreme poverty through innovations in institutions, management, and technology

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

Who Are the Change Makers?

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

DRIVING SOCIAL CHANGE: How to Solve the World’s Toughest Problems by Paul C. Light

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

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Arts, Culture, and Religion

One Nation Under Gods

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

AMERICAN GRACE: How Religion Divides and Unites Us by Robert D. Putnam & David E. Campbell

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Education, Nonprofit Management

Passing the Mic

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

20UNDER40: Re-Inventing the Arts and Arts Education for the 21st Century Edited by Edward P. Clapp

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Government

What’s Next: City Hall 2.0

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

Boston is focusing on improving access to educational data, while Seattle wants to use neighborhood statistics to improve public safety. Are young computer programmers the answer?

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Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

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What’s Next: Curling Up with E-Readers

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Winter 2011

Could electronic reading devices catalyze a new culture of global literacy? That's the idea behind Worldreader.org, a start-up nonprofit with world-changing aspirations.

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

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10 Ways to Become a Better Nonprofit Leader in 2009

A top ten list of things to enhance your leadership in the nonprofit field.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Nonprofits Can Reap Big Returns From Volunteers

In a chilly fundraising environment, recruit more volunteers.

Resource: Blog Post

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Government, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Behind the Headlines

Those advocating cuts in social services because there are already too many government-funded nonprofits are misguided.

Resource: Blog Post

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Philanthropy, Responsible Investing, Social Entrepreneurship

Generations Converge at the Intersection of Money and Meaning

The movement to provide capital to social enterprises is gaining momentum.

Resource: Blog Post

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Why All Leaders Should Have Gone to Design School

Great leadership is all about the ability to design social systems.

Resource: Blog Post

Video/Audio : All | Audio | Video

Topic:

Environmental Sustainability in Transportation

Pollution coming from the transportation industry has been a major problem for the environmental sustainability movement. Yet the government has done little to push for reductions in oil use or carbon emissions from this sector, says UC Davis associate professor Christopher Knittel in this audio lecture, delivered at the 2010 Climate Policy Instruments in the Real World conference at Stanford. Knittel suggests how pollution can be reduced in this arena, and how emissions goals may be achieved.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Health Care, Social Entrepreneurship

Safe Water in Communities

Though the resources may be adequate in the Philippines, 13 million people do not have access to clean and safe water due to issues of infrastructure. In this audio interview, Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Sheela Sethuraman talks with A Single Drop for Safe Water (ASDSW) Executive Director Kevin Lee, the 2010 Tech Award winner in the Equality category. He shares their social entrepreneurship model prioritizing effective water and sanitation systems in communities.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Business

Corporate Citizenship Starts With Customers

Good corporate citizenship starts with your own customers. That's the message of Tony Hsieh, CEO of the online shoe and clothing retailer Zappos.com. In this audio lecture, delivered to Stanford MBA students, Hsieh reveals the secrets behind the Zappos outstanding customer experience, and discusses how the company is helping businesses deliver better customer service using the retailer's culture-building techniques.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

L'entreprenariat social au chevet des plus démunis

L'entreprenariat social est une démarche récente dans l'hexagone mais pratiquée de longue date dans les pays anglo-saxons. Il s'agit pour les entreprises de concilier l'approche économique et innovante avec des objectifs sociaux et culturels. Dans cet enregistrement audio, Eric Lesueur de Veolia Eau donne son point de vue sur cette économie sociale et solidaire. Il nous livre la vision de Véolia Eau, son expérience au Bangladesh et répond aux questions de l'économiste, Jean-Pierre Ponssard.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Economic Development, Education, Social Entrepreneurship

Developing Through Mobile Phones

"People can learn from mobile phones," says Sara Chamberlain, Head of Interactive for BBC World Trust and developer. She launched BBC Janala to "raise the language skills of 25 million people in Bangladesh by 2017". She speaks with host Sheela Sethuraman about how 3 million people already started learning English with in some cases the most basic handsets. According to Chamberlain, making English accessible affordably could be "a ticket out of poverty" for the people of Bangladesh.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Social Entrepreneurship

Stanford's Guatemala Service Learning Trip, 2008-9

There Must Be a Better Way: "We saw their coffee operation. ... Individuals picked through their coffee beans to get the high premium quality beans. ... It made you think: There MUST be a better way," says Tom Mercer, Class of '09, of his experience in Guatemala.

Resource: Video

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Stanford's South Africa Service Learning Trip, 2008-4

Always Staying Informed: For Logan Deans, MBA '09, seeing the generation that went through apartheid gave him a sense of its dedication to learning and to always staying informed.

Resource: Video

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Stanford's South Africa Service Learning Trip, 2008-3

Strong Reaction to Apartheid: During the trip to South Africa, the most striking thing for Tsai, a native of Taiwan, was the legacy of apartheid.

Resource: Video

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Stanford's South Africa Service Learning Trip, 2008-2

Students Helped Each Other Out: It wasn't all smooth sailing on the trip. When Tsai lost her luggage her classmates stepped in to help out.

Resource: Video

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Stanford's South Africa Service Learning Trip, 2008-1

South Africa Brought Students Closer: Pamela Tsai, Class of '09, and other Stanford students met with entrepreneurs in South Africa. The trip brought a closer bond between the MBAs, an experience that "felt like a big family traveling together."

Resource: Video

Topic:

Education, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Grassroots Philanthropy in Schools

Want to make sure American schoolchildren have enough pencils for a poetry writing unit, violins for a school recital, or microscope slides for a biology class? Go to DonorsChoose.org, an online charity that makes it easy to support any classroom project request nationwide. In this audio interview with host Ashkon Jafari, CEO Charles Best talks about the organization's humble beginnings, its use of cross-sector collaboration, its current initiatives, and the impact it is having in America's classrooms.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Economic Development, Government

Creating an Innovation Revolution

Given the United States' fundamental fiscal imbalances, how can we ensure a more positive future? In this university podcast, hosted by the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, McKinsey partner Lenny Mendonca calls for nothing less than "an innovation and productivity revolution." He looks at what activity will be needed at the national level to stimulate our economy in the direction of growth.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Economic Development, Government

Macroeconomic Perspective on the Budget Deficit

Where is the United States economy and budget going? How can the U.S. stop accumulating debt at the same accelerated rate that's been happening over the past few decades? In this audio lecture, Joe Minarik summarizes how the U.S. deficit has gotten to the state it's in, and outlines steps needed to solve the problem and help the economy grow. The event was hosted by the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Healthcare

Capital for Early Stage Innovation

Investors provide insight on early-stage startup fundraising and advice to those interested in starting their own ventures in healthcare.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Saisir les clés du financement social

[photo - Pierre Carpentier, Jean-Michel Lecuyer, Céline Claverie]

Afin de donner vie à son idée, l'entrepreneur social doit se poser la question du financement. Quels sont les acteurs avec lesquels il convient de collaborer ? Guidés par trois de ceux que l'on appelle les "financeurs sociaux et solidaires" nous entrons dans les coulisses de leurs organisations pour comprendre leurs besoins et leurs attentes. Ils livrent les clefs directement utiles pour relever le défi du financement et promouvoir un projet d'entrepreneuriat social.

Resource: Audio

Case Studies : All | Academic Cases

Topics:

Breaking New Ground: Using the Internet to Scale

Commissioned by KaBOOM! and authored by Katherine Fulton and alumna Heather McLeod Grant of the Monitor Institute, this case study looks at the challenges KaBOOM! faced and lessons the organization learned while pioneering an online strategy to scale its impact. This strategy involves giving away the nonprofit model online for free to empower others to act on KaBoom's behalf.

Resource: Practitioner Case

Topics:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

The San Francisco Symphony

By the end of 1993, the San Francisco Symphony faced a shift in its financial fortunes, with forecasts predicting annual budget shortfalls. The executive committee must develop a strategy for the symphony that balances its financial needs and its artistic commitments and aspirations.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Environment, Social Entrepreneurship

U.S. Plastic Lumber

Mark Alsentzer, an investor in Earth Care, took over leadership of the business when it got into trouble in 1996. He focused on a two-pronged strategy to invest in research to speed up the manufacturing process to turn plastic into lumber, and to increase product recognition.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

A Note on Innovations in Philanthropy

How does one think systematically about innovations in philanthropy? Innovations explored include endeavors such as the professional foundation and federated community campaigns, as well as modern innovations such as charitable giving funds, e-philanthropy, and venture philanthropy.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

Bay Area Video Coalition

Bay Area Video Coalition, a nonprofit media services organization, has behaved like a high-tech business. Now it faces unique challenges and opportunities that are common to both nonprofit and for-profit businesses.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment

International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program

International Paper has engaged in a plan to lease hunting and camping opportunities on its lands. It now must provide support for environmental management programs in the face of declining demand for hunting areas and increased demand for environmentally friendly forest products.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

Artists for Humanity

The executive director of a teen arts and entrepreneurship training program in Boston, Artists for Humanity, weighs issues of expansion, staff turnover, and fundraising. The organization’s challenges reflect those facing many small nonprofits, particularly those with an entrepreneurial arm.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Environment, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Community Forestry Bonds

US Forest Capital has proposed the use of tax-exempt revenue bonds to help nonprofits manage forestland more sustainably. Now the organization must convince Congress to amend tax codes accordingly.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Environment, Nonprofit Management

Marine Stewardship Council

The chairman of Marine Stewardship Council is charged with implementing an eco-labeling program for seafood products harvested in a sustainable manner. He wonders how the council could get customers to start shopping for labeled products, and how the MSC should approach industry to get seafood producers and retailers on board.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Economic Development, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

The Amy Biehl Foundation Trust

In February 1999, the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust was preparing to expand its operations outside Cape Town, South Africa. However, a strike at one of their revenue-generating enterprises, and financial irregularities at one of their newest programs, threatened to thwart the Foundation's plans.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Education, Nonprofit Management

Coalition of Essential Schools

The new executive director of the Coalition of Essential Schools urgently needed to develop a new and sustainable fundraising strategy. He also faced other challenges around organizational structure, value proposition, marketing, and operations.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Economic Development, Government

The Competitive Advantage of India

India’s services sector had demonstrated that the country possessed the capacity to improve its global standing significantly. The question was whether India would capitalize on its success by addressing obstacles to growth, or miss the opportunity to enter the modern world.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

The Double-Goal Coach (A): Beyond "Sportsmanship"

In 1988, Jim Thompson founded Positive Coaching Alliance, a nonprofit focused on helping overcome negative trends in youth involving bad sportsmanship. These cases detail PCA’s efforts to raise awareness of the issues among athletes and the general public with an eye toward changing behavior.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing, Social Entrepreneurship

2004 Venture Philanthropy Summit Overview

Practitioners and academics at a 2004 Stanford University conference discussed the field of venture philanthropy. The overview includes topics such as capacity building, relationships between grantors and grantees, and performance measurement.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Economic Development, Environment, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing, Social Entrepreneurship

Acumen Fund and Mytry De-Fluoridation Filter Technologies

The chief investment officer of Acumen Fund, an international venture philanthropy fund, is reviewing the performance of a portfolio organization. Against the backdrop of Acumen’s own evolution, he is trying to determine how much additional support to provide an organization that has faced similar challenges.

Resource: Academic Case

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Grove Scholars Program: Putting Rungs Back On The Ladder

The Grove Foundation's Grove Scholars Program promotes access to vocational education and training. Key foundation personnel consider how well they have been performing toward their mission.

Resource: Academic Case

Research Papers : All

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility

Ethics for the Real World: Creating a Personal Code to Guide Decision in Work and Life

In "Ethics for the Real World, " Ronald Howard and Clinton Korver explain how to master the art of ethical decision-making by identifying potential compromises in your own life; applying distinctions to clarify your ethical thinking; committing in advance to ethical principles; and generating creative alternatives to resolve dilemmas.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility

New Take on Affirmative Action

Results recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology shed new light on why individuals might oppose affirmative action—and offer new insights into how such policies may be more effectively framed.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Taking from Those That Have More and Giving to Those That Have Less: How Inequity Frames Affect Corrections for Inequity

This paper provides evidence that individuals infer what people should have from the way inequity is described. In the reported experiment, participants give more to a subordinate actor when inequity is described in terms of “less than” rather than “more than,” and take more from a dominant actor when inequity is described in terms of “more than” rather than “less than."

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Government

Civic Engagement and Nonprofit Lobbying in California

What determines a nonprofit's engagement and lobbying activity? The authors argue that cross-sector competition and social change mission play an important role.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Healthcare

Health Care Reform Proposals Should Promote More Provider Competition

The author argues for health care reform by opening the U.S. health insurance market to competition.

Resource: Research Paper

Courses : All

Topic :

Healthcare

Biodesign Innovation: OIT 581/3

The two-quarter Elective Course series provides lectures from a diverse group of faculty that expose students to the practical aspects of technology invention and development. The class features a presentation or discussion from one of the guest speakers or faculty. Students work in small project teams in the Biodesign prototyping lab or bench space, collaborating with the fellows of the program.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

Social Entrepreneurship

The Power of Social Technology: GSBGEN 358

The goal of this seminar is to investigate how social technology (e.g., blogs, websites, podcasts, widgets, community groups, social network feeds) can change attitudes and behaviors in ways that cultivate social change. We study the strategies and tactics used by companies and causes that have successfully catalyzed social persuasion.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

Strategic Thinking in Action - In Business and Beyond: STRAMGT 373

This seminar helps participants develop strategically informed action plans that are imaginative, inspiring, and workable in highly dynamic environments. Through informed debate and the writing and presentation of position papers, participants evaluate and hone their views on the seminar's critical themes.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

Social Entrepreneurship

Social Entrepreneurship: STRAMGT 369

This course focuses on the efforts of private citizens to create effective responses to social needs and innovative solutions to social problems. It equips students with frameworks and tools that will help them be more effective as a social entrepreneur.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

Strategic Management of Nonprofits: STRAMGT 368

This course surveys strategic, governance, and management issues facing a wide range of nonprofit organizations in an era of venture philanthropy and social entrepreneurship. It introduces students to core managerial issues in the nonprofit sector, such as development/fundraising, investment management, performance management and nonprofit finance.

Resource: MBA Course

Innovators : All

Topic :

Kate Surman, MBA '04

Kate Surman, MBA '04, Administrative Director of Strategic Operations, Stanford Hospital & Clinics, discusses how she has leveraged the Public Management and Social Innovation certificate to take her career into a new direction.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Economic Development, Social Entrepreneurship

Farm to Cup Merger Emphasizes Partnership & Economic Empowerment

[photo - Farm to Cup - Root Capital Lending]

A grassroots student effort led by Caroline Mullen, MBA ’12, Catha Mullen, MBA ’13, and Monica Lewis, MBA ’12, now has even more impact through a merger with Pachamama Coffee Cooperative.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Water World

Leading a Social Innovation Study Trip lands Robyn Beavers, MBA '10, in a new industry.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Economic Development, Healthcare

Jeremy Sokulsky, MBA '04

Jeremy Sokulsky, MBA '04, President, Environmental Incentives, discusses how he's drawing upon the tools and training he received from the GSB to help make a difference.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Cross-Sector Effort Helps People See Better

Vision care is something that is practically taken for granted in the United States, but that’s not the case throughout much of the world. Some 300 million around the globe suffer from correctable vision loss, leading, as Ashanthi Mathai, MBA '04, says, “to people accepting their vision impairment and adjusting their lives around it.” The result? A lower quality of life, restricted job options, and even further economic distress.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Economic Development, Healthcare

Birth Control Counseling May Reduce AIDS Transmission in Africa, Say Researchers

Family planning counseling could prove to be a cost-effective way to help minimize the number of children born HIV-positive in sub-Saharan Africa, suggests a new study by Medical School researchers, presented this week in Washington, D.C., at the International AIDS Conference.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Education, Healthcare

Stanford-Affiliated Nonprofit Sets Standard for AIDS Education

TeachAIDS, a nonprofit spun out of Stanford in 2009, targets its highly successful animated AIDS education software to specific cultures. Its most recent success: a national "TeachAIDS Day" in Botswana.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Stanford Scientists Use Microbes to Make 'Clean' Methane

Most methane comes from natural gas, a fossil fuel. Stanford and Penn State scientists are taking a greener approach using microbes that can convert renewable electricity into carbon-neutral methane.

Resource: News Article

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