In This Issue:

• Green Jobs for all? By Carla I. Javits
• Five Minutes with Jed Emerson, REDF Founding Director
• The Road Less Traveled: Esther Kim's Journey from Korea to MIT to REDF
• Announcements

 

Green Jobs for all?

by Carla I. Javits, President, REDF

Despite the drumbeat of bad news about climbing unemployment and California’s budget meltdown, the Bay Area still is alive with rays of hope that emanate from the innovative spirit at its’ core. Just as the silicon chip revolutionized the economy, energy innovation has the potential to drive economic growth. Even in the face of the dismal economy, California’s venture capitalists and institutions like Google are investing billions of dollars, aspiring to incubate the power source that will eventually replace oil.

We at REDF see this as an opportunity to...

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Five Minutes with Jed Emerson

REDF’s founding director on blended value, a new venture and advice for the Obama administration

Jed Emerson, partner at Uhuru Capital Management, led REDF over a ten year period, advancing venture philanthropy, social enterprise and social return on investment and helping them gain national attention. He later worked with the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, Harvard Business School and the Skoll Center on Social Entrepreneurship at the Said Business School (Oxford University). His work focuses upon how capital and organizations may maximize their full value potential, including economic performance and environmental/social impacts. The Nonprofit Times has twice selected Jed as one of the “Top 50 Most Influential People in the Nonprofit Sector.” His papers and articles are posted at www.blendedvalue.org.

On the timeliness of co-funding given the current economic climate

“It’s obviously a great time for collaboration to raise its head. With fewer assets across the board, investors can get greater leverage by banding together.  But the questions for a lot of folks seem to be, first, what issues are collaborators coming together around and secondly, to what degree are their combined efforts having impact and worth scaling?

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The Road Less Traveled: Esther Kim's Journey from Korea to MIT to REDF

“My ‘a-ha’ moment occurred when I was working as a consultant for a school district in California. I had to duck and run into the building’s back door to avoid camera crews who were covering school closures.” The anger of the community, the political pressures and the media attention were more than Esther Kim had ever faced with her consulting clients, most of which were for-profit companies.

But it made her realize she wanted to use her time and skills to help nonprofits navigate the unique business challenges they encounter – and even more, that people like her, with a passion for social change and a head for business

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REDF Announcements

• Carla Javits has started a blog that highlights the unique perspective of REDF and our partners. Check out and comment on her first post, When the stimulus coffers run dry, social enterprise will keep on…

• WasteNot will recycle your old TV – in the San Francisco Bay Area - as you prepare for the transition to digital TV in June. Many other electronics also accepted by this social enterprise of St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County.

• A Solution to Philanthropy’s Funding Maze: Strategic Co-Funding: Read and rate REDF’s first article and its accompanying tool in our Out of Philanthropy's Funding Maze series. This first article explores strategic co-funding, the adaptation of VC-style capital aggregation to foundation grantmaking.

• Need promotional t-shirts for an upcoming event? Ashbury Images, a social enterprise with customers nationwide, is offering 15% off custom screen-printed & embroidered apparel and promotional products for a limited time.

• A report we think you should know about: Based on studies of 28 programs involving more than 100,000 sample members, Welfare-to-Work Program Benefits and Costs compares the costs, benefits, and returns on investment of six welfare program strategies.

• REDF is teaming up with Social Solutions to assess the social impact of social enterprises in the REDF Portfolio through their performance management application (ETO software), and to create the next generation of Social Return On Investment thinking and tools.