THE POWER of SOCIAL INNOVATION

Civic leaders across the U.S. and through-out the world are discovering creative ways to overcome the obstacles that seal the doors of opportunity for too many.

These inspiring individuals believe that within our communities lie the entrepre-neurial spirit, compassion, and resources to make progress in such critical areas as education, housing, and economic self-reliance. Real progress requires that we take bold action and leverage our strengths for the greater good.

The Power of Social Innovation offers public offi cials, social entrepreneurs, philanthro-pists, and individual citizens the insights and skills to create healthier communities and promote innovative solutions to public and social problems. This seminal work is based on Stephen Goldsmith’s decades of experience, extensive ongoing research, and interviews with 100+ top leaders from a wide variety of sectors.

Goldsmith shows that everyday citizens can themselves produce extraordinary social change. The book explores the levers and guiding principles used by champions of civic progress who drive new organizations, new interventions, or new policies to enhance social conditions.

The Power of Social Innovation features illus-trative case studies of change-oriented philanthropists, public offi cials, and civic leaders. While all collaborate across sec-tors, they run both start-ups and established organizations such as the New York City public schools, United Way of America, the United Negro College Fund, and Teach For America. The book shows the catalyzing role

STEPHEN GOLDSMITH is the Daniel Paul Professor of Government and the Director of the Innovations in American Government Program at Harvard Kennedy School. Goldsmith, himself an entrepre-neur, occupies the unique position of having approached these issues as a national leader across sectors. He served two terms as Mayor of Indianapolis, where his transformative efforts to revitalize urban neighborhoods and to transfer real authority to community groups received national acclaim. Gold-smith then led reform as special advisor to President Bush on faith-based and non-profi t initiatives, and has served under both Presidents Bush and Obama as chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Goldsmith has written many arti-cles and several books, including Governing

by Network, winner of the National Academy of Public Administration’s Louis Brownlow Book Award.

Phot

o by

Ant

hony

Mar

ill P

hoto

grap

hy

each plays in transforming a community’s social service delivery systems.

To complement the book’s myriad tools and case studies, The Power of Social Innovation

web site (www.powerofsocialinnovation.com) provides links to relevant Harvard research as well as additional helpful resources.

Praise for The Power of Social Innovation

“Goldsmith guided us in Florida on our successful faith-based initiatives. His bold approaches continue to inspire public offi cials and community groups alike with keys to activating citizens and expanding opportunity for all.”

—JEB BUSH, former Governor, Florida

“It has been a great pleasure to work with Steve Goldsmith. His work with us at America’s Promise and all of his other diligent efforts are so well refl ected in this book. The Power of Social Innovation reminds each of us in government, philanthropy, the nonprofi t community, and as private citizens that we can and must work together to ensure the full fulfi llment of the American Dream and to ensure the success of our most precious resource, our children.”

—ALMA J. POWELL, chair, America’s Promise Alliance

“The Power of Social Innovation is a must read for social innovators who want to make a powerful impact. Stephen Goldsmith surveys the fi eld and provides indispensible tools to help civic entrepreneurs scale up their ideas and produce the best possible results.”

—GEOFFREY CANADA, president and CEO, Harlem Children’s Zone

“Goldsmith provides a useful toolkit for entrepreneurial public executives and inno-vative nonprofi ts and foundations. His research encourages transformative social change by advocating a shift in focus from direct services to citizens to building new, higher performance networks of public, private, and nonprofi t organizations.”

—MARK R. WARNER, United States Senator, Virginia

“When it comes to doing good, Stephen Goldsmith is as disruptive an innovator as we’ve seen. Read and study The Power of Social Innovation if you don’t just want to do good, but want to make the greatest impact possible.”

—CLAYTON M. CHRISTENSEN, professor, Harvard Business School and author, Disrupting Class

TH

E P

OW

ER

of SO

CIA

L IN

NO

VA

TIO

N

ST E P H E N G O L D S M I T H

GO

LD

SM

ITH

w i th GIGI GEORGES and TIM GLYNN BURKE

T H E P OW E Rof

SOCIAL INNOVATION

H O W C I V I C E N T R E P R E N E U R S I G N I T E

C O M M U N I T Y N E T W O R K S F O R G O O Dwww.josseybass.comJoin Us at

Josseybass.com

Register at www.josseybass.com/emailfor more information on our publications,authors, and to receive special offers.

NONPROFIT/PUBLIC/LEADERSHIP

(Continued on back flap)

(Continued from front flap)

FOREWORD BY MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG

ftoc.indd viiiftoc.indd viii 12/29/09 9:46:52 AM12/29/09 9:46:52 AM

Vanessa Kirsch, President and Founder, New Profi t Inc.

“Social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and policymakers alike will fi nd Goldsmith’s exploration of the systems that constrain innovation illuminating, and his prescriptions for transform-ing the way we solve problems as a nation informative and inspiring.”

Geoff Mulgan, Director, The Young Foundation

“Shot through with the experience and wisdom, this is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the messy but invigo-rating ways in which creative individuals work both with and against big systems to change the world.”

William Schambra, Director, Hudson Institute’s Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal

“The Power of Social Innovation is a terrifi c book. Steve Goldsmith is a public fi gure who actually practices what he preaches in the volume, and so has a fi rm understanding of the promise and pitfalls of making social innovation happen through the devices of government.”

ffirs.indd iffirs.indd i 12/28/09 8:23:37 AM12/28/09 8:23:37 AM

Join Us atJosseybass.comJo

Register at www.josseybass.com/email for more information on our publications,authors, and to receive special offers.

ffirs.indd iiffirs.indd ii 12/28/09 8:23:37 AM12/28/09 8:23:37 AM

The Power of

Social Innovation

How Civic Entrepreneurs Ignite Community Networks for Good

Stephen Goldsmith with Gigi Georges and Tim Glynn Burke

Foreword by Michael R. Bloomberg

ffirs.indd iiiffirs.indd iii 12/28/09 8:23:38 AM12/28/09 8:23:38 AM

Copyright © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by Jossey-BassA Wiley Imprint989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741—www.josseybass.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifi cally disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fi tness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profi t or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986, or fax 317-572-4002.

Jossey-Bass also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Goldsmith, Stephen. The power of social innovation: how civic entrepreneurs ignite community networks for good/Stephen Goldsmith with Gigi Georges and Tim Glynn Burke. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-470-57684-7 (cloth) 1. Technological innovations—Social aspects. 2. Social change. 3. Sustainable development. 4. Entrepreneurship. I. Georges, Gigi. II. Burke, Tim Glynn. III. Title. HM846.G65 2010 303.48'4—dc22 2009049563Printed in the United States of Americafirst editionHB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1PB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ffirs.indd ivffirs.indd iv 12/28/09 8:23:38 AM12/28/09 8:23:38 AM

v

Contents

Acknowledgments ix

The Author xi

Foreword xiii

Preface xvii

Part I: Catalyzing Social Change 1

Chapter 1 Igniting Civic Progress 3

Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Change 4

So Many Ideas, So Little Progress 6

Civic Entrepreneurship as the Solution 12

Igniting Civic Progress 17

The Mandate and Caution of Engaging Government 20

Conclusions 24

Chapter 2 Innovation as Catalytic Ingredient 27

Discovering the Missing Ingredient 30

Choosing the Right Catalyst 36

Bringing It All Together: The Nehemiah Foundation 58

Conclusions 61

Part II: Market Maker as Civic Entrepreneur 65

Chapter 3 Open Sourcing Social Innovation 67

Breaking Down Protectionist Barriers 69

Opening Space for Innovation 73

ftoc.indd vftoc.indd v 12/29/09 9:46:51 AM12/29/09 9:46:51 AM

Leveling the Playing Field 79

Inviting the Exceptional 82

Forcing Cultural Change 85

Bringing It All Together: The Enlightened

Monopolist 90

Conclusions 97

Chapter 4 Trading Good Deeds for Measurable Results 101

Current Funding Limitations 103

What Public Value Are We Purchasing? 106

Are the Funded Activities Still the Most Relevant? 111

What Change Does the Community Want and

What Assets Can It Mobilize? 114

Are We Funding a Project or Sustainable

System Change? 116

What Will We Measure? 120

Bringing It All Together: Linda Gibbs 125

Conclusions 126

Part III: Service Provider as Civic Entrepreneur 131

Chapter 5 Animating and Trusting the Citizen 133

Balancing the Professional with the Public 135

Building a Public 139

Leveraging Social Media for Change 149

“Client” Choice 153

Curing the Expectation Gap 157

Bringing It All Together: Family Independence

Initiative 160

Conclusions 165

Chapter 6 Turning Risk into Reward 169

Seeing Opportunity Where Others See Liability 171

Taking First Risk 172

Fully Calculating Cascading Return on Investment 182

Political Risk and Reward 184

vi CONTENTS

ftoc.indd viftoc.indd vi 12/29/09 9:46:52 AM12/29/09 9:46:52 AM

Bringing It All Together: Wraparound Milwaukee 192

Conclusions 195

Chapter 7 The Fertile Community 197

The Fertile City (and the Entrepreneurial Mayor) 199

Civic Entrepreneurs and School Reform 202

Entrepreneurial Community Solutions 214

Staying Entrepreneurial: Saving Yourself from

Success 221

The Future 222

Notes 225

References 255

Index 265

CONTENTS vii

ftoc.indd viiftoc.indd vii 12/29/09 9:46:52 AM12/29/09 9:46:52 AM

ftoc.indd viiiftoc.indd viii 12/29/09 9:46:52 AM12/29/09 9:46:52 AM

ix

Acknowledgments

I would like to express gratitude to the many people who con-tributed to this book. Special thanks to Alberto Ibargüen and Paula Ellis at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation who supported both the research and our Harvard Kennedy School convenings of leading civic entrepreneurs. I am indebted to Vanessa Kirsch and Kim Syman and their colleagues at New Profi t Inc. for sharing their experiences and vision for promoting social entrepreneurship. Many thanks for the ongoing assistance of my own colleagues, especially Caitlin Steirman, Maureen Griffi n, Christina Marchand, Kara O’Sullivan, and Emily Kaplan, and to Kennedy School students who contributed time and talent to the book: Andrea McGrath, Cheryl Scott, Scott Knox, Stephen Chan, Samantha Rubenstein, Andrew Hillis, and Janice Flynn. In addition I would like to thank the terrifi c staff and board members of the Corporation for National and Community Service, who every day search for ways to support the best of America’s civic spirit.

The book is much better thanks to guidance from Allison Brunner and her colleagues at Jossey-Bass, and to those friends and colleagues who reviewed and commented on earlier ver-sions, including Jeffrey Bradach, John DiIulio, Greg Dees, and Bill Eggers.

I extend immeasurable appreciation to Mark Moore and Frank Hartmann for guiding the Executive Session on Transforming Cities through Civic Entrepreneurship, and all members of the Executive Session for their generous engagement

ix

fbetw.indd ixfbetw.indd ix 12/29/09 9:43:12 AM12/29/09 9:43:12 AM

x BOOK T ITLE

in many hours of discussion and debate. This book’s best ideas were crafted and honed through those exchanges. This book would also not have been possible without the inspiring ingenu-ity and determination of the more than one hundred civic entre-preneurs, individual citizens, and government, nonprofi t, and philanthropic offi cials alike, who shared their lessons and experi-ences with us, and many more whose stories remain untold.

My thanks to Tim Glynn Burke and Gigi Georges, who con-ducted many of the interviews and assisted with the writing of this book. Gigi Georges spent the past year as a Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation. She has served as a White House Special Assistant to President William J. Clinton. Gigi holds a B.A. from Wellesley College and an M.P.A. from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs.

Tim Glynn Burke, who coordinates research on social inno-vation at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Institute, is a 2006 graduate of the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston and received a B.S. in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1997.

Finally, I thank my family for their love and support. Unsurprisingly, my idea of a family vacation has been going somewhere to work on the book and, surprisingly, my wife Margaret still without hesitation supports this conduct.

x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

fbetw.indd xfbetw.indd x 12/29/09 9:43:13 AM12/29/09 9:43:13 AM

xi

The Author

Stephen Goldsmith is the Daniel Paul Professor of Government and the director of the Innovations in American Govern-ment Program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Goldsmith, himself an entrepreneur, occupies the unique position of having approached these issues as a national leader across sectors—including government, for-profi t corpora-tions providing public services, and major nonprofi t and philan-thropic organizations.

Goldsmith served two terms as mayor of Indianapolis, America’s twelfth-largest city, where he earned a reputation as one of the country’s most innovative public offi cials. His transformative efforts to revitalize urban neighborhoods and to transfer real authority to community groups received national acclaim. Goldsmith then led reform as a special advisor to President Bush on faith-based and nonprofi t initiatives and has served under both Presidents Bush and Obama as the chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service, where he has helped lead efforts to expand and strengthen the govern-ment’s service agenda.

Among Stephen Goldsmith’s other publications are The Twenty-First Century City: Resurrecting Urban America and the award winning Governing by Network: The New Shape of the Public Sector, both of which received wide recognition.

xi

fbetw.indd xifbetw.indd xi 12/29/09 9:43:13 AM12/29/09 9:43:13 AM

fbetw.indd xiifbetw.indd xii 12/29/09 9:43:13 AM12/29/09 9:43:13 AM

xiii

Foreword

The United States owes its greatness to the spirit of innova-tion, entrepreneurship, and civic responsibility that has always characterized the American people. Ours is a nation founded by forward-thinking pioneers dedicated to radical notions: that all men are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights, including the right to self-government. We have thrived because that defi ning spirit of freedom and experimentation has only grown stronger. America has never met a problem it couldn’t fi x or a challenge it couldn’t meet—in no small part because we have always welcomed the best and brightest from around the world. Immigrants (from some of the founding fathers on down) have brought new ideas to their new land and helped build it into the world’s strongest economy.

As Steve Goldsmith articulates so well in this book, America still has the resources, the ideas, and the collective will to put innovation to work solving the toughest problems facing our communities. But too often we are held back by the very systems that were designed to address these problems. The reality is that, in our country, meaningful change is frequently impeded by government’s adherence to old ideas, precedents, and practices. And time and again a lack of transparency and accountability keeps us from being able to identify and quantify failure. Both of these problems share the same cause: a political discourse too often driven by ideological partisanship rather than innovative pragmatism.

xii i

fbetw.indd xiiifbetw.indd xiii 12/29/09 9:43:13 AM12/29/09 9:43:13 AM