For an organization to successfully achieve its social mission, it's essential to have skilled and dedicated staff members on board; talent creates social change. Commongood Careers is a consulting firm that helps nonprofits find the personnel they need. Their new Talent Initiative, supported ...
PROBLEM: In 2006, residents of Arlington, VA were close to losing an after-school program that taught kids how to fix bikes. Community Spokes, as the program was known then, recruited economically disadvantaged students to learn bicycle mechanics, at once offering an after-school activity ...
PROBLEM: People generally want to volunteer in some capacity; social change organizations generally need volunteers. Soup kitchens and Habitat for Humanity seldom have a shortage of volunteers, because most anyone can do it. But, for a professional who wants to use their specialized ...
PROBLEM: VolunteerMatch, an online service that matches volunteers and organizations, had operated for about a year when it faced a wrenching choice: either become a for-profit business, which would allow the organization to grow quickly by accepting investment from venture investors, or remain ...
SOCAP, the social capital markets conference, wound down in San Francisco earlier this week. What follows are some insights and reflections from the event. Venture (human) capital: Jacqueline Novogratz of Acumen Fund was one of the few speakers that talked about the need ...
Oso Martin, founder of the Portland, OR-based recycling collective Free Geek, combines three problems and comes up with a solution. “Some people have too many computers; others don’t have enough,” he told us. “And there is a glut of computers going to landfills. ...
Social innovators can learn from each others' successes and failures. That's the idea behind Dowser's Mini Case Studies, real-world stories showing how changemakers confront practical challenges. From time to time, we'll add to the mix great studies from around the web. Here's one ...
When we hear the word “incubator,” the image that comes to mind is big heat lamp glowing above a newborn or maybe a basket of eggs. To the entrepreneur, both business and social, the word conjures up a friendly place where nascent ideas ...
Last week Changemakers interviewed our director, Emily Spivack, about her experiences as the founder of Shop Well with You, a body-image resource for women with cancer. Emily started Shop Well with You as an undergraduate at Brown University and, nine years later, the ...
As a freelancer who works from her “home office” (read: dark, cave-like basement), I am all too aware of the connection between physical environment and intellectual creativity. Though I have numerous freelancing friends with whom I exchange ideas and test story pitches, no ...