July 2010

How do you define social responsibility? I've asked that question before; this time I have 30 answers, 30 people from all walks of life who took what they had – a little or a lot – and used it to help others.

Nothing illustrates the difference between the 20th and 21st century business model more than the two stories about Walmart, side by side, in the New York Times June 4. 

An interesting twist on public-private partnerships – and a social enterprise home run – is Bizdom U, a bootcamp for aspiring entrepreneurs in Detroit. It is funded by Dan Gilbert, a self-made man who has focused his philanthropy on one city and on building a network of small businesses to raise that city's economy. For four months, the would-be entrepreneurs receive a stipend while they work on business plans and refine their products and services. Some receive a $100,000 grant to implement the plan.

Most Americans – 71 percent – trust small businesses more than they trust their government, their preacher, their teacher, or the nightly news, according to a very dense report issued in April by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press. 

Yves Salama, CEO of Charity Matrix

It's hard to imagine an inaugural conference spurring more thought, discussion and contacts than spurred by the Social Impact Exchange Conference on bringing nonprofit innovation to scale. That all participants are eager for the follow-up next year is undeniable. The question is where will the conversation pick up? Will it take off from where it ended on June 18, or leapfrog to encompass ideas generated during the next 12 months?

By Yves Salama, CEO of Charity Matrix

At the Social Impact Exchange Conference: Taking Innovation to Scale, the panel discussion on Impact Investing (investing for both a financial and a social return) brought to light two interesting problems: