Center for Social Innovation

Taking Healthcare Technology for a Test-Drive

[photo - Medical technology needs to solve a need and be cost-effective.]

A physician-turned-administrator at Kaiser Permanente discusses cost-effective innovations that improve care.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Economic Development, Social Entrepreneurship

Jessica Jackley Discusses Stories of Poverty and Entrepreneurship

[photo - Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva]

The cofounder of a microlending outfit says entrepreneurs need to "wake up each day and say, 'Now what?'"

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Economic Development, Human Rights, Leadership

Why Do Women Not Always Realize Their Workforce Potential?

A researcher says at least part of the answer is that people are more than their potential.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Students Practicing Entrepreneurship During IDEAcorps Help Ed Tech Winner Earn $50K at The Big Idea

[photo - Students Help Win $50K at The Big Idea]

Education Everytime, a venture that uses music to direct students through class transitions, got a huge boost last month when 6 students helped the company win $50,000 in funding at The Idea Village’s New Orleans Entrepreneur Week.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

A Pyramid Scheme for Technology

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2007

How to identify your IT needs and get money for them. —By Zach Goldstein & Theresa M. Ellis

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Fishing for Donations

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2007

Why nonprofits should let donors give back their fundraising incentives.

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Profiting From Failure

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2007

What nonprofits and donors can learn from the closing of a venture philanthropy firm. —By Paul Shoemaker

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Review: The Business of Changing the World

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2007

Twenty great leaders on strategic corporate philanthropy. Review by Regina Starr Ridley

Corporate Social Responsibility, Government

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Review: Capitalism 3.0

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Winter 2007

With a new approach to capitalism, writes Peter Barnes, we could simultaneously protect natural resources, reduce poverty, and make everyone substantially richer. Review by David Vogel

Resourcefulness Can Boost Nonprofit Advocacy

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Many nonprofits may be reluctant to play an advocacy role because they believe they lack the resources or know-how, or because they fear they might put their foundation, corporate or public funding at risk. But advocacy work can make a big difference in shaping the public policies that affect nonprofits and their clients. Recent research shows investment in nonprofit advocacy and community organizing yields a big return in benefits for underrepresented constituencies.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Why Innovation Matters

Mario Morino, chairman of Venture Philanthropy Partners, opines that nothing is more important for the long-term strength of our nation than driving greater levels of innovation across and between all sectors of our economy—for-profit, nonprofit, and public. Expounding on an colleague's anecdote that innovation is like a coral reef, Morino connects the metaphor to the dot.com boom in Silicon Valley as an example of a healthy innovation ecosystem. The solution for long-term social and economic success in America lies in a national strategy of combined efforts across all regions, disciplines and walks of life—similar to the combined efforts needed to create a coral reef.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Fundraisers Should Get More Respect

Fundraising professionals play instrumental roles at nonprofit organizations but get less pay and support than they need and deserve. The way a charity’s fundraising staff treats donors is more important than any other factor in determining whether givers give to a particular charity, according to Adrian Sargeant, Robert F. Hartsook Professor of Fundraising at the Center on Philanthropy. So if they expect to be more successful in their fundraising, nonprofits will need to increase their investment in fundraising, particularly in paying and supporting the work of their fundraisers and closing the pay gap between men and women.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

The Power of Vision: Review of “The Pollyanna Principles”

“For social benefit organizations to truly “work” we all need to be part of the design, the process, the success.” -Hildy Gottlieb

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

New Publication: Merge Minnesota, a Great Resource to Any Nonprofit Investigating Mergers

“Merge Minnesota: Nonprofit Merger as an Opportunity for Survival and Growth” published by MAP for Nonprofits proves a useful source of information about the merging process of nonprofits.

Resource: Blog Post

Video/Audio : All | Audio | Video

Topic:

Nonprofits, Nonprofit Management

Thinking about Talent: The Key to Successful Nonprofit Management

Attracting, engaging, and retaining the right talent is key to successful nonprofit management. In this audio lecture from the Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Nonprofit Management Institute, Omidyar Network partner Sal Giambanco discusses how a nonprofit can build a strong team to reach its organization’s core objectives. He shares specific approaches to building a talent pipeline and maximizing productivity to enrich a nonprofit’s management strategy.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Leadership, Nonprofit Management

The Art of Collaborative Leadership: Building Networks of Interconnected Leaders

In an increasingly polarized and complex world, leaders can no longer afford to work in isolation. In this audio lecture from the Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Nonprofit Management Institute, Rockwood Leadership Institute president Akaya Windwood discusses how we can get our movements and sectors to work together to advance the common good. Windwood discusses specific tools that we can utilize to build communities of interconnected leaders in order to make social movements more effective.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

A Crash Course on Creativity

Creativity often feels like a mystery. Struggling to unleash our creative potential can sometimes hinder us on the path to social innovation. In this audio lecture from Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Nonprofit Management Institute, Stanford Professor Tina Seelig discusses the tools and conditions each of us has that allow us to increase our creativity—our own, our team’s and our organization’s. She shares specific approaches to rethinking questions and reframing problems to unlock the path to innovation.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

The Critical Role of the Strategic Brand

Branding plays a unique and powerful role in the nonprofit sector. In this audio lecture from Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Nonprofit Management Institute, Harvard researcher Nathalie Kylander discusses how a strategic brand can enable an organization to build capacity and impact. Based on research conducted at Harvard University’s Hauser Center for Nonprofits, Kylander shares the framework that she and her colleagues developed to help nonprofit leaders develop a more strategic approach to managing their nonprofit brand—one that creates greater social impact and tighter organizational cohesion.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

New Skills for the New Social Economy

What is a “social economy” and how is it affecting leaders in nonprofit management? In this audio lecture from Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Nonprofit Management Institute, Lucy Bernholz and Rob Reich, thought leaders in philanthropy and technology, describe what the social economy is and how it came about, the changes it has sparked, and the implications for how nonprofits are run.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Environment, Government, Leadership

Al Gore: Leaders Must Supply Vision, Values & Goals

The Stanford Graduate School of Business View from the Top Series hosted former Vice President Al Gore where he spoke to over 600 students on leadership, solutions for the climate crisis, and sustainable capitalism.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Perspectives from California

California, the ninth largest economy in the world, recently launched a new carbon cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, leads this program that could provide a model to support other regional or national efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Resource: Video

Topic:

US-wide Carbon Policy: Two MBAs' Perspectives

As part of the annual Conradin Von Gugelberg Memorial Lecture on the Environment, Mike Volpe, MBA '13, and Jake Saper, MBA '14, lay out an argument for a US-wide carbon policy.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Education

Education for Everyone

Co-founder Andrew Ng, also the Director of the Artificial Intelligence Lab and an associate professor in computer science at Stanford, presented at the Leading Education By Advancing Digital (LEAD) Symposium held at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in September 2012.

Resource: Video

Topic:

James Sweeney: A Sustainable Energy System

James Sweeney, director of Stanford's Precourt Energy Efficiency Center, discusses green cities at a Stanford GSB conference.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Diversity in Fundraising

Shifting demographics among donors, fundraisers, and the communities they serve call on nonprofit organizations to think about diversity on many levels. How can you connect with donors who are different from you? How does inclusiveness strengthen your organization? In this audio lecture, gerald Richards and Dee Dee Nguyen explore these questions at the 2007 Nonprofit Boot Camp, reflecting on how to reach across the divides of ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation and other differences to strengthen bonds and create new opportunities.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Social Entrepreneurship

Financial Management 101

The most useful financial statements are those that clearly convey information to their stakeholders in the simplest format possible. In this audio lecture, financial consultant Sojeila Maria Silva shares her wisdom from 18 years of management experience. Speaking at the 2007 Nonprofit Boot Camp, she covers different approaches to financial management, what finance and budgets entail in real terms, and how to analyze most commonly used financial statements.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Cradle-to-Cradle Design

When it comes to environmental sustainability, William McDonough is nothing less than a hero for the planet. In this audio lecture, he discusses how he has designed eco-friendly buildings with unique properties, such as the ability to produce oxygen. He urges his audience of Stanford Graduate School of Business students to set goals not toward an efficient bottom line of doing the wrong thing less badly, but rather toward the effective top line of doing the right thing.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

Improve Your Nonprofit Organizations in Less Than Two Months

In this audio lecture, Heather Carpenter and Jennifer Chien offer a wealth of practical advice and concrete steps to establish basic organizational procedures and best practices for young nonprofits. Speaking at the 2007 Nonprofit Boot Camp, they map out the tasks in key areas such as insurance, human resources, finances, fundraising, and board relations to help executives in start-up nonprofits strengthen and simplify operations, freeing up valuable time to focus on the programs they care about.

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Resource: Audio

Topic:

What Does It Take to Get Off the Ground?

[photo - Adam Lowry, William Rosenzweig, Priya Haji]

Have you ever thought about launching your own social venture? Are you curious if you have what it takes to become a social entrepreneur? What funding sources are available to you? What are the challenges of running a social venture? This panel discussion brings together people from both sides of the "start-up" fence--those who started with large financial backing and those who had none.

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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:

Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

The Shea Value Chain Reinforcement Initiative in Ghana

In 2009, software giant SAP funded an initiative that aims to reinforce the shea nut and butter value chain in Ghana. The program, which also involves microfinance organizations PlaNet Finance, Grameen Ghana and Maata-N-Tudu, uses microfinance, education, and information technology to improve the conditions of shea women. Since enrolling in the program, women have seen significant improvements in income. This case study examines program progress to date and makes recommendations for program improvements using a value chain development framework.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Health Care, Economic Development

Can Oil Filters Improve Health Care?

For millions of people across Africa, motorcycles can be a key to effective health care. A well-maintained fleet of vehicles and motorcycles to connect patients, medical expertise, and medicine is sometimes the most vital link in the health delivery supply chain. A new case written for the Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum describes one successful program.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Kiva.org and the Power of Storytelling

This case details the founding story of Kiva, with particular focus on the way that Jessica Jackley and Matt Flannery have stayed true to the original mission by telling authentic stories about entrepreneurs in East Africa, and how those stories have influenced lenders and fellows.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Education

The "Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools

Green Dot is charter management organization that is bringing high-performance to Los Angeles, an area traditionally plagued by dismal graduating case. This case explores Green Dots the advantages and disadvantages of transformative strategy to reach a 'tipping point' in Los Angeles' educational community.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

The Siebel Foundation and the Meth Project

This case details the innovative work of business executive Tom Siebel, who launched the Meth Project in 2005 to 'unsell' meth to first time users in Montana. The program used an innovative research-based marketing campaign and has since scaled to other states.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Canary Fund and the San Jose Grand Prix (B): Results of the First Race

The Canary Fund supports the development of methods for early cancer detection. This second case presents the results of the sponsorship created to raise funding and awareness.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Healthcare, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions

The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations both support research on Parkinson’s disease. This second case explores how these two organizations collaborate toward a common mission.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Environment, Nonprofit Management

Wild Salmon Center

The Wild Salmon Center was created to provide anglers access to excellent fishing in return for funding research and conservation. The case discusses the Center’s efforts to protect the pristine watersheds of the Kamchatka Peninsula by developing ecotourism to raise funds for conservation.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Social Entrepreneurship

Gardenburger

The CEO of Gardenburger, a seller of veggie burger products and other food alternatives to meat, considers the company’s advertising strategy. He aims to take the company from the small health-food niche to the consumer mainstream.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Government

Transparent Markets: Promoting Public Values Through Private Enterprise

Luis Moreno Ocampo, an attorney who had fought human rights abuses in Argentina, views corruption in public procurement as the next major human rights issue. He established a company to collect and distribute information on public procurements to make the entire process more transparent.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

The Shea Value Chain Reinforcement Initiative in Ghana

In 2009, software giant SAP funded an initiative that aims to reinforce the shea nut and butter value chain in Ghana. The program, which also involves microfinance organizations PlaNet Finance, Grameen Ghana and Maata-N-Tudu, uses microfinance, education, and information technology to improve the conditions of shea women. Since enrolling in the program, women have seen significant improvements in income. This case study examines program progress to date and makes recommendations for program improvements using a value chain development framework.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

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

Topic :

Health Care, Economic Development

Can Oil Filters Improve Health Care?

For millions of people across Africa, motorcycles can be a key to effective health care. A well-maintained fleet of vehicles and motorcycles to connect patients, medical expertise, and medicine is sometimes the most vital link in the health delivery supply chain. A new case written for the Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum describes one successful program.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Kiva.org and the Power of Storytelling

This case details the founding story of Kiva, with particular focus on the way that Jessica Jackley and Matt Flannery have stayed true to the original mission by telling authentic stories about entrepreneurs in East Africa, and how those stories have influenced lenders and fellows.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Education

The "Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools

Green Dot is charter management organization that is bringing high-performance to Los Angeles, an area traditionally plagued by dismal graduating case. This case explores Green Dots the advantages and disadvantages of transformative strategy to reach a 'tipping point' in Los Angeles' educational community.

Resource: Academic Case

Research Papers : All

Topics:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

Supporting Equality in Education

How can a certain kind of behavior actually contributes to inequalities? Specifically, do children’s social-class backgrounds affect when and how they seek help in the classroom, thereby teasing out children’s own role in educational stratification? We consider how teachers may use such information to correct these dynamics, and thus contribute to more equal access for all children at school.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Government

Electoral Incentives and Partisan Conflict in Congress: Evidence from Survey Experiments

Does partisan conflict damage citizens’ perceptions of Congress? If so, why has polarization increased in Congress since the 1970s?

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Government, Healthcare

The Effect of Tax Preferences on Health Spending

Workers who earn just below the Social Security tax threshold receive a larger tax preference for health insurance than workers who earn just above it.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Using implementation intentions prompts to enhance influenza vaccination rates

Seasonal influenza leads to >200,000 hospitalizations and >8,000 deaths in the United States each year. The influenza vaccine is widely available at low cost and reduces mortality, morbidity, and healthcare costs. Nevertheless, many of those for whom vaccination is indicated fail to comply with CDC recommendations for vaccination. If low compliance is the result of careful calculations by individuals weighing the costs and beneﬁts of vaccination, it may be difﬁcult and expensive for policymakers and organizational leaders to increase vaccination rates. However, if low compliance is the result of forgetfulness or procrastination, low-cost interventions that use psychological tools may be effective at increasing vaccination rates and improving public health.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Automatic detection of omissions in medication lists

[photo - Collaborative Filtering of Medication Lists]

Evidence suggests that the medication lists of patients are often incomplete and could negatively affect patient outcomes. By predicting drugs the patient could be taking, collaborative ﬁltering can be a valuable tool for reconciling medication lists.

Resource: Research Paper

Courses : All

Topic :

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 :

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 :

Economic Development

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: 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 :

What’s Next: Here Comes the Neighborhood

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Winter 2011

Social network and professional network combined: a low-income neighborhood works together to meet the needs of the community in an environmentally responsible way.

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Cause Marketing

Money Makes People Less Socially Focused

A subtle reminder of how money can change one's motivations to be less prosocial and less connected. Experimental research shows that subjects exposed to the concept of money work longer before asking for help, are less helpful to others, create greater physical distance from others, and prefer to play and work alone. In this audio lecture sponsored by Stanford's Center for Social Innovation, marketing professor Kathleen Vohs demonstrates how small reminders of money can have large-scale influence.

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Resource: Audio

Topic :