We have just posted a summary document, "Government and Social Innovation: Existing Models", that provides information on all the local, state, and federal initiatives we know about that are supporting social innovation and strengthening partnerships between government and the nonprofit sector.  The list includes both executive branch efforts and offices, as well as legislation that has been introduced and sometimes passed.

Check it out and let us know if there's anything you know about that we're missing.  Also, please share your thoughts on the models we've listed.  Anything stand out as especially compelling or useful to your state or city?

This morning is the kick-off of the Governor's Nonprofit Leadership Conference, hosted by the OneStar Foundation: Texas Center for Social Impact.  Root Cause has teamed up with Dallas Social Venture Partners and OneStar to launch the Texas Social Innovation Initiative; the winning organizations will be announced at the conference and will take part in a live social media press conference immediately following.

Watch it live at 10:30 AM CST on Wednesday December 9th.

For more on the press conference, visit their blog.  To learn more about the Texas Social Innovation Initiative and OneStar's partnership with Root Cause and SVP Dallas, click here.

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal featured a special section on philanthropy with a series of great articles that highlight trends in the field and suggest changes to ensure that philanthropic giving grows ever more effective.

One article, "Is It Public, or Is It Private?" discusses the growing trend toward public-private partnerships between private philanthropists and government. The reason? "Both sides stand to gain: Donors leverage their dollars, and the government gets additional capital, plus the expertise and credibility that high-profile philanthropists often bestow on the causes they support."

Root Cause CEO Andrew Wolk is quoted discussing the enormity of government dollars, "Government resources dwarf the funds spent by the nation's largest foundations and individual donors, who contribute $16.5 billion and $163.5 billion peryear, respectively. The federal government alone spends more than $1 trillion per year on social services."

Social Innovation Conversations has posted the podcast of the keynote discussion between Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu and Root Cause Founder & CEO Andrew Wolk that took place at last spring's Social Enterprise Summit in New Orleans.  Listen to it here.

About the Podcast

In February 2007, Mitch Landrieu, Louisiana lieutenant governor, launched an unprecedented effort to find and promote effective solutions to the challenges facing Louisiana after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Landrieu founded the nation’s first government-run Office of Social Entrepreneurship, making Louisiana the most hospitable place in the country for proving the most effective models for social change.

In this conversation with Andrew Wolk, Landrieu shares how Louisiana is demonstrating the potential for big change as civic leaders team up with social innovators. He details some of his work as head of the Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism; in particular, to rebuild New Orleans and strengthen the entire state by restoring and enhancing its cultural assets. Landrieu spoke at the 10th anniversary of the Social Enterprise Summit, held in New Orleans and sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation.

As the buzz continues around federal-level efforts to advance social innovation (via the White House Office of Social Innovation and the Social Innovation Fund currently being developed by the Corporation for National and Community Service), the concept is also gaining traction in several states.

As we blogged about last week, Public Innovators was proud to present Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu with the 2009 Public Innovator Award during his joint policy keynote address with Andrew Wolk at the Social Enterprise Summit in New Orleans.  We've just posted the audio file of the event - check it out!

Root Cause CEO Andrew Wolk presented Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu with the 2009 Public Innovator Award on Thursday for leadership in advancing social innovation.  The award was presented as part of the opening keynote address for the Social Enterprise Summit, held in New Orleans and launching a new policy track in partnership with Root Cause.

The Public Innovator Award recognizes government leaders who embrace six roles for advancing innovative, entrepreneurial solutions to today's most difficult problems.  "We're honoring Lt. Governor Landrieu for his vision in founding the Office of Social Entrepreneurship in 2006, the first office of its kind in the nation, to support the creation and growth of the solutions to the many social problems affecting the state of Louisiana," said Wolk. "He is on the leading edge of a national movement to identify what works and ditch what doesn't, and we hope his leadership spawns similar efforts at all levels of government across the nation."

This evening marks the beginning of the 10th Annual Social Enterprise Summit and Root Cause/Public Innovators is proud to be the co-sponsor of the Summit's first-ever policy track. With a reception this evening for government leaders supporting social innovation, four panel sessions on the connection between government and social innovation/entrepreneurship, and a keynote armchair discussion between Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu and Root Cause CEO Andrew Wolk.  

In the days ahead, we imagine there will be plenty of dynamic discussions and provocative questions, and we look forward to sharing them with you here!  If you're attending the Summit, we'd love to hear your reactions as well.

Special Reception: National Policy for Building the Field

This week Greg Werkheiser, executive director of the Phoenix Project, our partner in Virginia, authored a column for the South County Chronicle. His topic was methods for non-governmental organizations to achieve solutions to public challenges in ways that avoid or minimize reliance on public tax dollars.  While government involvement remains crucial on so many issues, we should be looking to the organizations and solutions that are maximizing the use of every dollar invested.

He highlights ITNAmerica as an example, outlining the core innovations of their model and their unique leveraging of all resources - both financial and nonfinancial - at their disposal.  Root Cause wrote the business plan for ITN's expansion (now in 12 cities nationwide) so we're very familiar with their model and big supporters. (Read our brief case profile here.)

Davos 2009 is under way and a lot of people will be thinking about the economic crisis and the possibilities for fruitful change -- and here and on SocialEdge we are discussing the impact government can have on social innovation and vice versa -- a conversation that needs to generate both enthusiasm and practical outcomes.

We welcome Davos participants to these discussions.

A post today on the SocialEdge event which we at PI are co-hosting announced the Social Enterprise Alliance's upcoming Summit in New Orleans, April 15-17, and discusses the Policy Track developed in conjunction with PI to "highlight the ways in which government and social enterprise can work together."