Weekly Roundup: Who’s solving what and how
All around us, people are working on innovative solutions to pressing social problems. But those stories can be difficult to track down. Which is why we’re scouring the Web to…
Big Ideas: J. Gregory Dees makes the case for social entrepreneurship
Starting today, we’re going to check in regularly with big thinkers in the field of social innovation. We want to know what they’re working on, what questions they’re wrestling with,…
Eric D. Dawson on how to create world peace one school at a time
How would you go about creating a world where people live in peace? Rather than dismiss the question as hopelessly naive, think of it as a practical challenge. Where would…
Can Blue Engine Fellows bridge the gap between college-eligible and college-ready?
Think back to the toughest class you took in high school. Would you have performed better with an experienced coach by your side? And what if that coach had been…
Mini Case Study: Operation Warm’s Kim Fortunato on how to leverage a coat drive for maximum impact
PROBLEM: When Kim Fortunato joined Operation Warm as president in 2006, she was impressed by its vision and reach. The Pennsylvania-based organization provides new winter coats to kids who can’t…
Interview: Bob Lenz on how Envision Schools prepare low-income high schoolers for college
Bob Lenz, co-founder and CEO of Envision Schools, is not satisfied with teaching history and science: he wants students to practice being historians and scientists. That’s why at his schools…
Interview: Patricia Walker on art, spirituality and international development
After evaluating dozens of disappointing aid projects in places like Togo, Swaziland, and Senegal, Patricia Walker asked herself: Why don’t more of these projects succeed? In response, Walker, a Buddhist…
Interview: Justin Zoradi on soccer, South Africa and…not the World Cup!
Justin Zoradi never expected to write a business plan, much less start his own organization. (“I got a C-minus in microeconomics in college!”) But after a service trip to South…
Interview: Suzanne McKechnie Klahr on social entrepreneurship from high school to law school
After graduating from Stanford Law School, Suzanne McKechnie Klahr created a counseling program and consultancy for adult entrepreneurs in East Palo Alto, one of California’s poorest cities. One day in…
Interview: Eric Schwarz on how to transform education with ‘citizen teachers’
Eric Schwarz wants Americans to re-imagine how and when learning happens. In 1995, he founded Citizen Schools, a network of afterschool programs that enlists adult volunteers to provide hands-on apprenticeships…
Interview: Gerald Chertavian on how he made the jump from business to social entrepreneur
Shortly after Gerald Chertavian landed a banking job on Wall Street in the late 1980s, he became a Big Brother to David Heredia, a ten-year old who lived in a…
WATCH: David Bornstein talks about storytelling, problem solving and the idea behind Dowser
We thought our readers might enjoy a recent talk given by our founder, David Bornstein, at the Good Experience Live (Gel) conference in New York. It sheds light on our…
WATCH: Adam Green on kids who build boats and boats that build kids
Adam Green believes in teaching 21st century job and life skills through old fashioned wooden boat building. The idea first infected him as a Vassar College student in 1996, when…
Interview: Adam Bucko on how homeless youth can turn their creativity into careers
Adam Bucko helps homeless youth channel their passion into creative careers. His organization, the Reciprocity Foundation, connects youths living on the streets in New York City with college scholarships and…
How to practice solution journalism part 2: Ask what needs to happen next
One of the reasons we launched Dowser was to counter a pervasive bias in the news—a bias against the future. Too often journalists report on yesterday’s events without giving readers…
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