January 24, 2009
I recently came across this excellent overview prediction about social entrepreneurship in 2009 at change.org. Most importantly, the author, Nathaniel Whittemore, predicts that social entrepreneurship will play an ever-increasing role in social change. The article highlights seven predicted trends for 2009: a partner in the White House, green innovation, blended value investing, online action platforms, mobile technology, measuring social impact, and globally-engaged education. We in Salud del Sol have witnessed some of these trends, such as the popularity of green innovation in the generous reception of the solar autoclave project into the engineering design course. We have also seen the increasing importance of globally-engaged education, with the growth and success of the ETHOS program, as well as in our attendance and interactions with other universities at the recent Colloquium on International Engineering Education in Rhode Island. The entire emphasis of the weekend was exploring ways to educate engineering students for the global workplace. The workshops focused on partnerships in exchange programs, internships, and international projects.
I found one trend particularly enlightening: measuring social impact. Here, the author discusses the many forces that are pushing non-profits to provide more proof of impact than mere anecdotal stories, such as forces from new blended-value investors who seek good economic, social, and environmental investments; forces from the people that programs are supposed to help; and pressure from the economic crisis and its effects on endowments and other grantors. Third party consulting has taken off as a way for organizations to measure their social impact in ways that compare them to other organizations. The author also predicts that some organizations will find new ways to hear the voices of the organizations’ beneficiaries, such as by using mobile technology.
Measuring our success is something that Salud del Sol is in the midst of figuring out. We have some of the women’s stories here on our website, complete with pictures and even video. The interviews have confirmed the intensity of the needs we hope to help meet: an environmentally sustainable way to sterilize medical instruments in the small local clinics, employment and empowerment for the local community, and a boost to the Nicaraguan economy. But now, how do we measure the progress toward these goals? Fortunately, accountability is built into our business plan, especially with frequent immersion through the ETHOS program, which is continuing again this year. But besides self-accountability, we are currently searching for ways to measure our social impact. Any ideas?
- Lori
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Subscribe to Salud del Sol- MIT Global Challenge Award Winners May 4, 2011 Bill
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Thanks for mentioning my writing in your post. It sounds like you all are doing tremendous work and certainly exemplary demonstrations of globally engaged education. Keep up the great work!
Thank YOU, Nathaniel for the great article. It was a really valuable contribution to change.org!