I love seeing social innovation in action: hackathons, conferences, demo days, you name it. What excites me most about being involved in this space is the opportunity to interact with others exploring new ways to create positive change in society. With that said, I wanted to share a recent experience which took place in Silicon Valley as I participated in the Social Innovation Summit. This invitation only event explores “What’s next?” in the world of social innovation, and let me tell you, it far exceeded ALL of my expectations.
The first thing to note is that I have never been to the Valley. I was aware of the entrepreneurial culture but did not grasp how vibrant it was until I trekked through Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Mountain View awed by the campuses of VMware, Facebook, and Google. After a few wrong turns and days exploring, I pulled up to the Computer History Museum to begin a remarkable day at the Social Innovation Summit.
Rob Shelton, Lead for Innovation from PwC, kicked off the event with an encouraging speech on the fundamental need for technology to drive improvements in our society. He introduced the morning speaker panel on “Taking Social Innovation to scale” featuring MoneyThink and UBelong, two rockstar organizations from my cohort in the Civic Accelerator, a Points of Light & Village Capital joint venture.
Less than an hour into the day and one thing was clear: today was not about spewing elevator pitches or sales presentations like most conferences I’ve attended. Today was about cultivating an ecosystem reinforced by knowledge sharing, network building, and uplifting anecdotes. Following the opening session, I entered a series of workshops aptly described in my schedule as “choose your own adventure.”
I delved into a session on emerging educational technologies headed by program officers from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation followed by a round table discussion on using social media engagement to "mobilize a community for cause." Sitting with remarkable social entrepreneurs, heads of foundations, corporate executives, and thought leaders we began analyzing innovative approaches to engagement. Perhaps you've heard of Khan Academy or Charity : Water, or maybe even seen Caine’s Arcade. Ideas ranging from education to potable water to harnessing the power of imagination are providing outlets for change. Companies are also taking part in this movement. Microsoft’s Imagination Cup is helping young entrepreneurs turn their ideas for social good into business realities.
On display were several ideas born from the Innovation Cup. Hewlett Packard, known for its IT services and hardware, is helping rural clinics in Kenya decrease HIV testing time from months to a matter of days! Their focus on social good initiatives even led to a new technologic innovation: the first 3G enabled printer to support printing from a cell phone. Also intriguing was the Humanitarian Cloud, a "community cloud" built on VMware that provides a central portal for nonprofits and "techmanitarians" to access online applications, computing resources, and collaborate.
Interested in becoming a social entrepreneur but you work for a big company? An afternoon panel with Walmart & The Coca-Cola Company expressed how we can all be social intrapreneurs. Rather than let job titles get in the way, if you see an opportunity for change, seize it! Start a pilot program and prove out the idea! For example, I met James Snook, VP Emerging Platforms & Innovation for Starbucks Coffee Company who had just celebrated his 20 year anniversary with Starbucks. Instead of celebration or recognition, he proposed his colleagues, friends, and family help him focus all energies on a Charity: Water project that would bring clean water to a school of 1,400 students and a village in Shyorongi, Rwanda!
Call it osmosis, but I learned a great deal just by surrounding myself with civic-minded thought leaders like Mary Anne Petrillo, Senior Marketing Manager Corporate Responsibility at Cisco, who taught me about using story-telling to amplify social impact. We all know stories travel well but they can also convey very powerful messages that shape new thoughts and behaviors. Similarly, Morgan O’Murray, Lifestyle Marketing & Strategic Partnerships from Target, and Jenni Hogan, Emmy Award Winning Journalist & Producer shared excellent advice from their social media experience. When you tweet at your followers, give them on-line “hugs” and write about them to form a powerful community!
As the sun set on my last day in Palo Alto, I felt invigorated and ready for all that 2013 would bring. My final stop was the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar to scale innovative organizations that catalyze social change. A quote from Margaret Mead painted on their office wall summarized my sentiments from the week, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
The SIS happens twice a year. You can follow more of the action on twitter via #SIS13 and I hope to see you this spring at the next Social Innovation Summit in New York City.
Mathew, Mike and Antoinne are the founders of Altruhelp.com, an online community & enterprise software solution to increase volunteerism & millennial civic engagement. What’s your Social Impact?
