Power of Social Innovation

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 entrepreneur, 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. Goldsmith then led reform as special advisor to President Bush on faith-based and nonprofit initiatives, and has served under both Presidents Bush and Obama as chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Goldsmith has written many articles and several books, including Governing by Network, winner of the National Academy of Public Administration's Louis Brownlow Book Award.

• Acknowledgments ixThe Author xiForeword xiiiPreface xviiPart I: Catalyzing Social Change 1Chapter 1 Igniting Civic Progress 3Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Change 4So Many Ideas, So Little Progress 6Civic Entrepreneurship as the Solution 12Igniting Civic Progress 17The Mandate and Caution of Engaging Government 20Conclusions 24Chapter 2 Innovation as Catalytic Ingredient 27Discovering the Missing Ingredient 30Choosing the Right Catalyst 36Bringing It All Together: The Nehemiah Foundation 58Conclusions 61Part II: Market Maker as Civic Entrepreneur 65Chapter 3 Open Sourcing Social Innovation 67Breaking Down Protectionist Barriers 69Opening Space for Innovation 73Leveling the Playing Field 79Inviting the Exceptional 82Forcing Cultural Change 85Bringing It All Together: The Enlightened Monopolist 90Conclusions 97Chapter 4 Trading Good Deeds for Measurable Results 101Current Funding Limitations 103What Public Value are We Purchasing? 106Are the Funded Activities Still the Most Relevant? 111What Change Does the Community Want and What Assets Can It Mobilize? 114Are We Funding a Project or Sustainable System Change? 116What Will We Measure? 120Bringing It All Together: Linda Gibbs 125Conclusions 126Part III: Service Provider as Civic Entrepreneur 131Chapter 5 Animating and Trusting the Citizen 133Balancing the Professional with the Public 135Building a Public 139Leveraging Social Media for Change 149“Client” Choice 153Curing the Expectation Gap 157Bringing It All Together: Family Independence Initiative 160Conclusions 165Chapter 6 Turning Risk into Reward 169Seeing Opportunity Where Others See Liability 171Taking First Risk 172Fully Calculating Cascading Return on Investment 182Political Risk and Reward 184Bringing It All Together: Wraparound Milwaukee 192Conclusions 195Chapter 7 The Fertile Community 197The Fertile City (and the Entrepreneurial Mayor) 199Civic Entrepreneurs and School Reform 202Entrepreneurial Community Solutions 214Staying Entrepreneurial: Saving Yourself from Success 221The Future 222Notes 225References 255Index 265

"This book is a sort of bible of social innovation, full of examples of social entrepreneurs' successes. It sets out both the potential of the partnership approach and the huge difficulties it will have to overcome." (The Economist, August 2010) "Lots of people talk about 'reinventing government.' Steve Goldsmith has actually done it" (Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2010)