Social Impact and Innovation

A few weeks ago, I and others visited learning technology companies on the west coast of the US. Every visit I make to the area reteaches me how very different the cultures of technology firms tend to be relative to those of universities.

There, failing fast is a desired attribute of each initiative. Experience with failure is a desirable personal attribute. Launching initiatives before all the questions are answered is de rigeur. Fixing along the way, adaptive systems that change based on initial outcomes, morphing solutions to fit experience — all of these are everyday strategies.

I wrote earlier about the desire among Georgetown students to have experiences of a start-up (See: Knowledge, for What?) while they’re here on campus. They want to learn skills that would make them effective in this culture.

Interestingly, this same way of thinking is being applied in domains other than internet-related development. Of special interest is the construction of solutions to common good problems (e.g., access to clean water, food distribution systems). A new generation is using similar approaches to those in Silicon Valley to the end of making the world better. The organizations built often directly involve those benefiting from the goods of the new organization. The goal is sustainability of the solutions; hence, many couple revenue streams with the common good outcomes. The goal often is to create solutions that lie between sectors – the private, government, non-profit, and academic sectors. It’s definitely a movement that rejects the assumption that the government sector is the only one that addresses common good issues.

We at Georgetown have a glorious history of women and men for others. We have created multiple units that are manifestations of this: Center for Social Justice, the Global Social Enterprise Initiative at the Business School, the Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative at the Business School, the Center for Public and Non-Profit Leadership in the GPPI (soon to be called the McCourt School of Public Policy), the Center for Social Impact Communication in the School of Continuing Studies, the Institute for Women, Peace, and Security in the School of Foreign Service, the SIPS Fund (Social Innovation and Public Service Fund) started by undergraduates, among others. There are few schools that can claim such a level of activity.

We will soon have a new resource that brings more of the spirit of start-ups to the social innovation arena.

At homecoming weekend last week, we had a session that gave us all a taste of applying this new way of thinking to social issues. It was called “Ignite: Creating a Culture of Innovation and Social Impact.” It used fast-paced active involvement of an audience of alumni to invent new ways of tackling real problems facing organizations attempting social change.

In a real way, it was a test-run of a new center that will be formally launched next term, a Center for Social Impact and Innovation. This Center will add to the substantial resources at Georgetown, by injecting even more energy to promote changes benefiting the common good. The Center will be led by Professor Sonal Shah, who joins us after experiences as a leader in Global Development Initiatives at Google, as the Director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, and as a founder of a non-governmental organization in India.

We at the Hilltop are looking forward to the launch of the Center. We’re hopeful that it, in collaboration with other units on campus, will create new opportunities to serve others, to the benefit of all. Together, we can’t be beaten.