Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

I was delighted when Ron Schultz invited me to collaborate with him on his latest book Creating Good Work – The World’s Leading Social Entrepreneurs Show How to Build a Healthy Economy. What I liked most was the idea to create a body of knowledge that’s truly helpful to prospective and emerging social entrepreneurs.

Develop 144

Develop Social Library eBook 144

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 30, 2013

Next month, I will be heading to TOC a couple of days early in order to participate in a W3C Workshop on eBooks and the Open Web Platform, where I will be talking about Social DRM (Digital Rights Management). You can read much more about this in Jim Fruchterman’s blog post, “Upholding the Social Bargain: Bookshare and Copyright Compliance.”

Accessibility 171

Accessibility eBook New York City Social 171

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 30, 2012

Last October, I had the pleasure and honor to visit the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, to accept on behalf of Benetech the 2011 CASE Award for Enterprising Social Innovation (ESI). We are grateful for CASE’s recognition of Benetech's work.

Award 154

Award Lecture Social Student 154

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 27, 2014

Please join us in the Skoll Foundation’s second annual Skoll Social Entrepreneurs Challenge —a fundraising campaign committed to strengthening the capacity of organizations like ours to accelerate impact on some of the most critical issues of our time. This post also appeared on the Benetech blog.

Challenge 144

Challenge eBook Social Ohio 144

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 8, 2015

You are the leader we are looking for if you see the combination of social good and businesslike management as the answer to pressing problems throughout the world. Our goal is not to make gobs of money, it’s to make maximum social impact while breaking even. Check out our job postings and apply now !

Technology 100

Technology Literacy Social Uganda 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 14, 2011

We’re convinced that there are many innovative social applications of technology could make a 5X or a 10X or even a 15X improvement over status quo solutions. At Benetech, our team is committed to using technology to drive positive social change. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Technology 150

Technology Change Social Literacy 150

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MAY 27, 2012

The rise of for-profit social enterprises has been quite exciting. Evan Haigler is a social entrepreneur I've known for years. He's joined forces with other social entrepreneurs in the field to found UpEnergy , a new for-profit social enterprise that wants to scale the impact of their successful pilot projects.

El Salvador 133

El Salvador Profit Nicaragua Liberia 133

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 22, 2010

As I head off to the WEF Summit in Davos, I'm also excited about the Social Enterprise Alliance Summit coming up in San Francisco at the end of April. The membership of the Alliance are "my people," folks who speak both social and business fluently. The response to the early bird registration was incredible.

San Francisco 124

San Francisco Social Australia Environment 124

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Benetech's largest social enterprise is the Bookshare online library for people who are blind or otherwise disabled when it comes to reading print. At Benetech, our commitment is to uphold that social deal. How do we uphold the social bargain? Employ "Social Digital Rights Management" technology. copyright law.

Copyright 158

Copyright Social Law Student 158

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 15, 2010

I'm just wrapping up a week of conversation on Social Edge, entitled Travel Tips for Social Entrepreneurs. I'm fascinated not only with the big questions in the social entrepreneurship field, but also the practical practices of doing the job of social entrepreneur better. So, how do you stretch your travel dollars?

Tips 124

Tips Social New York City New York 124

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 6, 2011

Yes and how many times must I change my strategy Before I get on a steady road The answers, for now, are floating in this cloud The answers are floating in this cloud (Repeat) And when will I know my work has been done That the impact will forever be How will I measure my mark on the world That it not be just part of marketing Yes and can I admit that (..)

Social 142

Social Metrics Channel Measure 142

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JULY 15, 2011

One of my very first meetings in Nairobi, Kenya, was with John Kipchumbah (Kipp) and Philip Thigo of the Innovation Program of the Social Development Network. Kipp explained that they wanted to take a broad approach to improving human rights, and so had expanded into other areas in the social sector.

Africa 151

Africa Kenya Tanzania Ghana 151

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

A Guest Beneblog by Viji Dilip, This summer I visited the International Institute of Social Entrepreneurship (IISE). Situated on the banks of the Vellayani fresh water lake, on the outskirts on Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, India , IISE is a testimony to social enterprise at its very best.

International 129

International India Social Student 129

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 4, 2010

I'm having a conversation over at Social Edge on What Matters. We need you to get engaged now, in business, government and the social sector, to build the better world we all need, and that our children and grandchildren will need. Tags: social entrepreneurs O'Reilly matters. So, how did you get to work on Stuff That Matters?

Work 113

Work Social Hunger Government 113

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 26, 2009

One of the highlights of last week's Social Enterprise Alliance's Summit was the Launch of the Policy Track. We were delighted to have with us Carlos Monje of the White House Office of Social Innovation (so new, it doesn't have a website). Social innovation. Social innovation is broader and apparently easier to sell.

Policy 104

Policy Track Social National 104

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 28, 2008

On my recent visit to Hong Kong, I was able to see the amount of excitement and interest in social entrepreneurism. In April 2008, 1KG More registered as a company and aimed to operate as a social enterprise model. Turns out that GLI is busy linking up the world with more information about social entrepreneurship: quite cool!

China 100

China Social Children Student 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 4, 2010

Great to see two social enterprise bloggers, Kylie Eastley of Tasmania and Tristan Pollock from Minnesota, won Halle Tecco's contest on Huffington Post to go to the Social Enterprise Alliance Summit later this month in San Francisco. Next year it will be in South Africa.

Contest 100

Contest South Africa San Francisco Social 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 6, 2010

His idea is straightforward: he believe the Middle East/North Africa region is ripe for values-centered for-profit social enterprises that can both make plenty of money and deliver social benefits. But, just companies that have social good as a crucial part of their DNA.

SWF 140

SWF Group Asia Social 140

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

David Wiley's keynote was on the social returns from a new venture he helped create, Flat World Knowledge. Flat World is a for-profit social enterprise that gives away its core textbooks under a creative commons license, and makes its money on ancillary products like a black and white print version for $30 (vs.

Conference 100

Conference Social Utah Open Source 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 25, 2007

I've seen two social simulator projects in the last couple of months, and they are both worth exploring. The first project was Social Simentor, which is aimed at helping people adapt their behavior to the workplace. It's an early prototype, but I could see the potential of this approach to teaching social skills for job readiness.

Social 100

Social Second Life Australia Game 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 2, 2009

Ten years ago, Jed was the head of REDF, the famous social enterprise foundation in San Francisco. Jed's just published a new article in Forbes.com entitled Steady Returns With Social Impact. Last week I was in New York City and had the opportunity to meet with many interesting people (and got lots of ideas).

New York City 124

New York City San Francisco Impact Blended 124

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JUNE 30, 2008

IDEO has been working with the Rockefeller Foundation to bring more of the design community into the social sector. They just released a manual on how to do this, called Design for Social Impact , which is freely available on the web.

Design 100

Design Impact Social Global 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 5, 2008

The Social Enterprise World Forum 2008 was great for gaining a perspective on an island with a great deal of innovative social enterprise. Even though the legal regime is somewhat different, I found many parallels with social enterprisers here in the United States and around the world. London as a global social finance capital.

Social 100

Social United States Government Homeless 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 3, 2008

I'm here in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the first-ever Social Enterprise World Forum. There are over 400 attendees from twenty-five countries, all here to talk about how to use business to accomplish social outcomes. One of the fun aspects of social enterprise conferences is to visit the social enterprises.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Social Government Conference 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 20, 2008

We found out all about Nukuoro, and how its residents had set up a community owned social enterprise to grow black pearls in their lagoon. But, I wanted to know more about the social enterprise, probably much more than the average purchaser of these pearls. George is from Nukuoro, and is a one-man marketing program for their product.

Guam 142

Guam Social Grant Instruction 142

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 18, 2009

I'm getting ready to head to the Social Enterprise Summit 2009 next month in New Orleans. I'm especially excited about the significant focus on public policy and advocacy for social entrepreneurship. We were lucky to have the support of the Surdna Foundation for a policy-specific conference track.

Social 104

Social Policy Advocacy Influence 104

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

AUGUST 26, 2007

My eldest son, Jimmy, and I were able to attend a portion of the Global Social Benefit Incubator at Santa Clara University last week. We were able to hear the elevator pitches of more than a dozen social entrepreneurs from literally all over the world. Jimmy's quite interested in social entrepreneurship.

Global 100

Global Benefit Courseware Switzerland 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 13, 2007

I'm heading down to Malibu next week to give the keynote for the 'Revolution Through Social Enterprise' Conference at Pepperdine. Two nights ago, I spoke at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, in a class on social enterprise taught by my buddy Jim Schorr, former CEO of Juma Ventures.

Conference 100

Conference Social Classes Fun 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 29, 2007

There was a chapter in the report entitled Social Entrepreneurship and Government, and Benetech was one of the case studies used (see pages 36-37). He covers some other great social enterprises such as ITNAmerica (a novel approach to senior-focused paratransit) and Kaboom!

Business 100

Business Social Lecture Case Study 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 23, 2007

The event here in Zurich is the Schwab Social Entrepreneur Summit, where roughly a hundred social entrepreneurs get together with global leaders to advance the movement. Sunday was a day of content aimed just at the social entrepreneurs. We discussed leadership, recruiting and succession, among other topics.

Social 100

Social India South Africa Global 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

FEBRUARY 22, 2009

It’s an impressive web-based application for helping multi-national corporations engage their employees and customers in social sector activities such as volunteering or donating. Over the last two years, Wal-Mart has made huge efforts to engage socially and change their image from being a Scrooge.

Platform 100

Platform Singapore Asia Social 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

SEPTEMBER 29, 2006

I am an enthusiastic support of the social enterprise movement, people who are operating enterprises that have social outcomes as a primary goal. One of the most interesting things from a recent Gathering of the Social Enterprise Alliance was having an interview with a Hong Kong film crew that was doing a piece on social enterprise.

Social 100

Social Interview Web Site 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 18, 2006

I'm responding to Paul Light's first post on Social Edge: Let There Be Light: 1. Do social entrepreneurs exist? The question of "social entrepreneur" being too exclusively applied is somewhat amusing to me. For me, the two main reasons to identify as a social entrepreneur are: 1. It's a fund raising hook.

Social 100

Social Application Analysis Foundation 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 30, 2006

The Global Social Venture Competition is a great event: bringing the talents of business school students from around the world to bear on society's pressing problems. I just found out about a matching making blog for the 2007 GSVC, where social groups can link up with students who want to work on a business plan. Who should attend?

Global 100

Global San Francisco Social Student 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 15, 2005

I am proud to be affiliated with the Social Enterprise Alliance, a group that works to advance the cause of people who run enterprises with a social mission. Early bird registration has just started for the Seventh Gathering, the annual meeting of the Alliance.

Atlanta 100

Atlanta Social Registration Causes 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

MARCH 31, 2007

The big celebration was also in the Sheldonian: the 2007 Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. For social entrepreneurs (except Jeff) this is the Academy Awards, and the smiles were beaming. And it was exciting! Below, I have picked a few select photos: the rest are on my Flickr page.

Award 104

Award Social Celebrate Flickr 104

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

OCTOBER 3, 2006

An article of mine just appeared in the Social Enterprise Reporter, entitled High Tech Approaches for Building Social Enterprise. The SER is one of the leading publications in the social enterprise field, and I think it's now one of the membership benefits of joining the Social Enterprise Alliance.

Tech 100

Tech Long Beach Build Social 100