Summary

REDF-supported social enterprises have employed more than 3,300 people since our founding in 1997. In 2007 we launched a new strategy headlined by the goal of putting 1,000 more people in jobs by the end of 2010. Over the next three years our efforts will establish social enterprises with at least six new nonprofit partners, expand existing social enterprises by brokering contract and vendor opportunities, and develop a pipeline of employees who "graduate" from the social enterprise into entry level for-profit jobs.

Business Assistance

REDF uses a hands-on, committed approach to work with a carefully selected portfolio of well-run nonprofits, providing financial support coupled with technical assistance and staffing.

While a nonprofit's potential to successfully operate a social enterprise is a requirement for our engagement, it is through REDF's portfolio assistance-which touches multiple elements of the nonprofit's overall structure and operations-that REDF creates value for the nonprofit, the employee, and the community. The outcomes include greater sustainability for the nonprofit, the ability to measure results, and more impact on the people and communities served.

For the employee, these social enterprises are defined by two vital characteristics: the offer of a real, decent job with normal work requirements and pay, and a uniquely supportive work environment that leads to success on the job and sustained employment. This, in turn, gives the employee the motivation to avoid repeat episodes of incarceration and homelessness and start on the path out of poverty. Over time, regular income lays the groundwork for improved money management and asset development.

From the perspective of the nonprofit, these earned-income ventures successfully compete in the marketplace for screen-printing, landscaping, concession sales, and a variety of other goods and services, while also accomplishing a distinctive social purpose by employing the people their mission motivates them to serve. The nonprofit also benefits from the sustained relationship with REDF- over time integrating the business acumen and network access gained through this unique partnership throughout its' entire operation.

The community benefits from nonprofits' increased efficiency and effectiveness and from the employees' progress in the workforce resulting in measurable reductions in homelessness and incarceration-factors that cost taxpayers and negatively impact the community's quality of life.

Business Contract Brokering

REDF also works to create employment opportunities by brokering new contracts between social enterprises, for-profit businesses, government agencies, and other entities to expand the operations of social enterprise and, in turn, their capacity to employ more disconnected workers.

Since 1997, REDF-supported social enterprises have employed over 3,300 working-age adults. The groups we worked with over many years - our "original portfolio" consisting of Community Gatepath (Burlingame, CA), Community Vocational Enterprises, Inc. (San Francisco, CA), Juma Ventures (San Francisco, CA), New Door Ventures (San Francisco, CA), and Rubicon Programs (Richmond, CA) - have created thriving social enterprises that deliver needed goods and services and provide jobs to more than 600 people each year. With total annual revenues exceeding $12 million, these businesses are effectively meeting financial goals while also accomplishing a distinctive social purpose by employing people who have been shut out of the workforce, and who many assume can't work.

Several of these social enterprises are now positioned to expand their business. They are seeking new earned revenue sources through business growth and REDF is well-positioned to help them succeed in this mission. To accomplish this the REDF staff seeks out new business opportunities.

For-Profit Employment Development

REDF aspires to help the portfolio organizations develop pathways for social enterprise "graduates" to move into private sector businesses.  We structure delivery of the support necessary for success on the job. Most of the social enterprises that REDF has (or will) support offer relatively limited numbers of job opportunities due to business size constraints (mostly small and medium enterprises). Moreover, the mission of these businesses is to employ as many of the organization's clients as possible while remaining competitive in the marketplace. While some opportunities for advancement exist within the social enterprise, for most employees this job represents a transitional stepping stone - a real, wage-paying job with support that is meant to prepare these first-time workers for other private sector employment.

In partnership with the social enterprises, we are developing a powerful and unique approach and a set of tools to help them succeed in placing employees in private sector employment. We will also partner with for-profit businesses to create a strategy of recruitment and retention that incorporates the best human resource practices of the social enterprises and provides for-profit employers with a reliable pipeline of work-ready employees from the social enterprises.