The Phoenix Project, our Virginia-based effort to identify and prepare a next generation of social entrepreneurs, today released a detailed report on the results of our 2008 Nonprofit and Social Entrepreneurship Program.  Top undergraduate and graduate students drawn from universities statewide compete for enrollment in a 6-week academic and experiential program that takes place in the context of one of the nation's most economically distressed communities.  Since government officials and staff were engaged by the Phoenix Project to contribute to the design of the program and teach portions of the curriclum, we thought it might be of interest to readers of this blog.

In 2006, Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu established the nation's first statewide Office of Social Entrepreneurship (see an overview of the OSE's mission, model, strategies, and vision).  This coming fall, the office will pilot a social innovation fund which will provide support to innovative, effective and sustainable solutions to social problems in Louisiana.
 

 
It is a great pleasure to be blogging for Public Innovators and alongside folks who are working so hard to bridge the gap between social entrepreneurs and public sector leadership. 
 

For this first post, I'll briefly describe what we are up to here in Virginia through the Phoenix Project and, in particular, how we are engaging public officials in our work.  The Phoenix Project (www.phoenixproject.org) is an independent 501(c)(3) organization founded in January 2006.  We have four full-time and nine part-time employees at present working in several offices throughout Virginia.  Our mission is to find new ways to alleviate poverty for the 750,000 (and growing) Virginians who live and work in these conditions, so our interest in social entrepreneurship is not as an end unto itself, but as a necessary means.  

Louisiana’s Lieutenant Governor recently took part in a roundtable, co-hosted by the Aspen Institute and Root Cause Public Innovators, to discuss the newly released report, "Advancing Social Entrepreneurship: Recommendations for Policy Makers and Government Agencies".  Included in the panel were a government official, a social entrepreneur, two think tank policy experts representing the political left and right, and an expert on social entrepreneurship.