Earlier this week, the House passed the Senate's amended version of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.  The bill now awaits signature by President Obama, who is expected to do so upon return from his trip to the G-20 Summit in London. Lauded as a bipartisan victory (it passed the House on a 275 to 149 vote and the Senate 79 to 19), this legislation will invest in national service and volunteer opportunities and strengthen our nation's disaster relief efforts.

But perhaps most exciting of all, the Act establishes a Social Innovation Fund to find and grow the best solutions to pressing social problems.  Specifics on this Fund are summarized here (and copied below):

Creates a nationwide community-based infrastructure to leverage investments in service

• Builds a nationwide service infrastructure through community-building investments, social entrepreneurship, and programs to support and generate new volunteers.

1. Social Innovation Fund: Creates a Social Innovation Fund pilot program that awards competitive matching grants to social entrepreneur venture funds in order to provide community organizations with the resources to replicate or expand proven solutions to community challenges, including a new focus on leveraging public private partnerships in small communities and rural areas. (Examples of service organizations that were launched by social entrepreneurs include Teach for America, City Year, Citizen Schools, Jump Start, Working Today, an organization that provides affordable, portable health benefits to 100,000 Americans, and the SEED school, the nation’s first public urban boarding school.)
2. Volunteer Generation Fund: Provides grants to improve the quality and capacity of organizations to work with volunteers, and to create innovations in volunteerism in the areas of recruitment, training and management.

Learn more about the bill, read a summary of the legislation, and read the recommendation we made on this topic.

See also Andrew Wolk's blog postings on the Serve America Act - here and here.