The popular image of an innovator often involves tinkerers like Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak holed up in their garage or Mark Zuckerberg coding in his dorm room. While remarkable advances have been made by brilliant people exploring powerful ideas in relative isolation, a world-changing idea can come from anyone anywhere. True hotbeds of innovation develop those ideas through cooperation among talented individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences. It is far more impactful for innovation to spring from collaboration and a supportive ecosystem.  Read more»

Business innovation met social transformation at the Social Innovation Summit this week. Held at JP Morgan Chase and the United Nations, respectively, the two day event brought corporate executives and social entrepreneurs together to network over ice cream, hob nob over cocktails and of course, hear from speakers ranging from Glenn Close to Stephen Ritz, a teacher in the South Bronx and the Founder of the Green Bronx Machine. Read more»

It’s about the platform, baby. Engaging Millennials in world peace means getting them to Facebook, Instagram and other points of digital society to pony up. But making them shed some lettuce means having them see what they’re shelling out for. Read more»

Early this year, an Economist briefing heralded the end of innovation. The rate of innovation, it claimed, is either woefully slow compared to the early and mid-20th century, or it’s so scorchingly fast and disruptive, the subsequent social destruction will, in the short-term, outweigh the innovation’s benefits. Whether you think the anonymous author of this piece is right or not, it stands to reason that innovation, good or bad, is definitely worth debating, and it’s that principle which stands at the core of the Social Innovation Summit.  Read more»

Rooney Mara poses for a photo with her mom Kathleen while attending the second day of the 2013 Social Innovation Summit on Thursday (May 30) in New York City.  The 28-year-old actress appeared to talk about her non-profit organization Uweza Foundation, which fights the cycle of poverty that persists in Kenya’s Kibera slum.  Read more»

Olivia “Bing Bing” Mann was a tiny infant with a complex, but treatable heart disease. From her home in a Chinese orphanage, it appeared virtually impossible for Bing Bing to receive the medical attention that she so urgently needed. But the London-based Swinfen Charitable Trust intervened and – utilizing the latest in telemedicine technology – was able to link baby Bing Bing with Dr. Karen Rheuben, one of the world’s foremost experts in pediatric cardiology. Read more»

It was something of a serious affair. But Rooney Mara enjoyed a brief moment of self indulgence when she posed with mother Kathleen at the 2013 Social Innovation Summit on Thursday in New York City.  The 28-year-old actress is following in the footsteps of her parent, who herself is a dedicated philanthropist.
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Do a Google search for “YouTube for Good” and you won’t get too many relevant hits. There certainly isn’t a landing page on YouTube. But YouTube can be a platform of change, even in the midst of thousands of cat videos and people doing bedroom renditions of Beyonce songs. So says Hunter Walk, the director of product management at YouTube and head of YouTube’s Social Good Initiative Team. Read more»

The Social Innovation Summit gathered leaders from top Fortune 500 companies, civic organizations, government leaders and social entrepreneurs to discuss the strategies and business innovations impacting social transformations across all sectors. The two-day event left us energized and recharged, and ready to dive into 2013. Read more»

In partnership with the Social Innovation Summit, we’re running a series called 5x5x5 — 5 Leaders, 5 Sectors, 5 Questions. Five guests from a variety of sectors will answer questions on how technology and innovation can be used for social good. Read more»