Social Good in April: Stories You Don’t Want to Miss

Posted on April 30, 2018October 25, 2018 by Case Foundation

April was full of breaking news in social good, so we’re bringing you another edition of “This Month In Social Good,” rounding up our favorite stories from our Breaking Good newsletter so you don’t miss anything.

Of particular note this month, we saw a lot of great stories across the podcast circuit. Case Foundation CEO Jean Case talked to Wall Street Journal Podcasts about the importance of fearlessness in her journey to spark innovation in the social sector, and our VP of Social Innovation, Sarah Koch, was on Silicon Hills News and EU Now to talk about the need to support women in tech and entrepreneurship. We also revisited our roundup of Seven Fearless Founder Podcasts for those of you looking to brighten your daily commute.

April also brought us stories about industry leaders attaining B Corp certification, local communities embracing Impact Investing and female founders and investors coming together to change the face of entrepreneurship.

B Corps in the news

This month, a major player jumped into the world of B Corps: Danone North America. The certification, which makes them the world’s largest certified B Corp, comes just one year after Danone legally registered as a benefit company as part of their acquisition of WhiteWave. The North American entity is the eighth company under the Danone umbrella to be certified. The company has long been a proponent of corporate social responsibility and socially conscious business and the speed with which this large company achieved certification is a signal to other companies with social-impact goals that B Corp certification is attainable no matter their size. As an added bonus, the company worked with B Lab to create a case study of the steps they took throughout the year so other multinationals could learn from Danone’s experience and, hopefully, follow in their footsteps.

In April, we also got to hear firsthand about how Greyston Bakery, another B Corp, is making waves. For 30 years, Greyston Bakery has been focused on a big bet: to hire anyone, regardless of their background, as they bake gourmet brownies and cookies, including many of the brownies you see in Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Ice Cream, at their for-profit bakery located just north of New York City. On our latest episode of Be Fearless, we talked to CEO Mike Brady and the Greyston team about the success open hiring practices has brought for their company and their community and how they’re helping other companies do the same.

Impact Investing making inroads in local communities

From Atlanta to Lancaster to Baltimore, local foundations and governments are testing the waters with Impact Investing and alternative funding structures. At the beginning of the month, the Lancaster County Community Foundation announced that they would invest $500,000 in two local organizations aiming for both a social and financial return. The recipients were a housing and neighborhood revitalization organization and a financial inclusion organization. The investment is part of an ongoing effort from the foundation to leverage new funding mechanisms to support their community.

In Atlanta, the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta made a splash with a $10 million impact investment fund—the first local Impact Investing fund in the city. The fund, named GoATL will be distributed over the next two to three years and focused on five impact areas: arts, community development, education, nonprofit effectiveness and wellbeing.

Atlanta also is trying out innovative investing models with efforts to raise $12.9 million for an environmental impact bond through Neighborly, the municipal bond broker-dealer. The funds will go toward minimizing flooding and improving drainage. Baltimore is following suit with efforts to raise $6 million for an environmental impact bond aimed at reducing pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

Seeing communities across the country take on Impact Investing to tackle local but large-scale challenges is a great reminder of the field’s potential to grow and scale globally as it continues to move to the mainstream.

Female founders and the changing face of entrepreneurship in America

In the world of Inclusive Entrepreneurship, Vanity Fair’s April feature gave us both something to celebrate and something to work on. The magazine teamed up with Kathryn Finney and digitalundivided to feature the 26 Black women who have raised $1 million or more in venture funding. And while these groundbreaking women are truly worth celebrating, this was yet another reminder of the need to support all women of color launching business, many more of whom deserve to join the ranks of this “million dollar club.”

Also on the founder side, we heard the stories of inspiring female founders like Maneesha Mukhi, a social entrepreneur who created an online marketplace called ImmiGo to help individuals and businesses find high quality immigration attorneys. We also heard from GirlCrew cofounder, Aine Mulloy, who took to #FacesofFounders to tell the story of launching a platform to connect women across the globe, while fighting for female representation across industries.

Female investors are taking a stand too. April also heralded the launch of AllRaise, a group of 34 women investors—representing over $1 billion in investable capital—who are committed to helping women entrepreneurs raise money. Recognizing that there’s a robust pipeline of female entrepreneurial talent, the group is committed to increasing the percentage of venture funding going to women while doubling the number of female partners at venture firms.

These stories have inspired us and motivated us to get to work this month and beyond—and we hope they’ve inspired you too. To stay up to date on all things social good sign up for our newsletter, Breaking Good. 

Is there anything we missed this month? Tell us about your favorite social good story you saw in April!

Don’t Put Millennials in a Box

Posted on March 16, 2018October 25, 2018 by Case Foundation

For the last 10 years, the Case Foundation has studied, supported and celebrated how the Millennial generation engages with social issues and causes. Much has changed over a decade and we’ve learned a lot. When the foundation started this work, we spent a lot of time explaining the relevance of studying the new approaches Millennials were taking to social change, and who they wexre as a population. 10 years later, the Millennial Impact Report—the cornerstone of our decades long work—is the largest body of data and analysis on Millennial cause engagement, with information on how more than 100,000 U.S. Millennials engage with social issues and causes.

cultural generation gap — Source: Brookings Report, The millennial generation: A demographic bridge to America’s diverse future

Through the Millennial Impact Report, we’ve gained a wealth of important knowledge which we’ll be sharing over the next few months. But one of the key elements that we think is central to this work is the deepening of the understanding that the Millennial generation isn’t a monolith. It’s actually the most diverse adult demographic in the U.S. According to the Brookings Institute, the Millennial generation is more than 10 percent less white than all older generations (44.2 percent minority compared with 31.6 percent minority).

Millennials are also far more likely to identify as LGBT than older generations, according to January 2017 findings from Gallup. Specifically, 7.3 percent of adults aged 18 to 36 identified as LGBT, while 3.2 percent of those aged 37 to 51; 2.4 percent of the 52 to 70-year-old respondents; and 1.4 percent of the over 70 respondents identified as LGBT.

Many Millennials are influenced by common experiences, such as the aftermath of 9/11 and coming of age during the Great Recession, yet—unlike the Greatest Generation’s experience with the Depression and then World War II—these society-wide experiences have not had the same impact on the degree of activism and attitudes of everyone in this age group.

In the last year, we dug deeper into the impact that this demographic diversity had on the way Millennials responded to key issues the nation is facing. Once again, we partnered with Achieve to conduct the research, including a nationwide survey of 3,000 Millennials in the summer of 2017. We sought to gauge how Millennials’ perception and actions were changing in light of the new political landscape in the United States, and how demographic diversity impacted their responses to issues that are now in the forefront of national dialogue. Achieve found that demographics matter and influence priorities and engagement, for example:

Race and ethnicity influence Millennials’ top social issues of concern. In aggregate, civil rights, employment and healthcare reform were priorities, ranked in that order. However when you look at the responses broken out by race, priorities vary according to the survey:
- “White/Caucasian: The top three issues of interest among this group turned upside down from the prioritization of the aggregate’s top three issues. Healthcare reform topped their list, followed by employment (job creation) and then civil rights/racial discrimination.
- Spanish/Hispanic/Latino(a): Unlike any other racial/ethnic group, this segment chose immigration as the number one issue of interest. This group identified civil right/racial discrimination as its number cause of most interest.
- Black/African American: This group is in line with the overall sample, identifying civil rights/racial discrimination as the top area of interest, followed by employment (job creation).
- Asian: This is the only group that named climate change as their top area of interest, though it was followed closely by employment (job creation), civil rights/racial discrimination and healthcare reform.
Gender also influences cause engagement and activism, as Achieve’s director of research, Amy Thayer explains in her powerful piece on Millennial women, Millennial Women: Hear them Roar. For example, self-identified women reported lower levels of cause engagement and confidence in their own—and the ability of organizations—to create the change they want to see compared to their male counterparts. (41 percent of women believed strongly in their ability to address social challenges compared with 65 percent of men).
Education influences the methods and frequency of cause-related actions among Millennials with the least educated being most likely to report taking no action and the most highly educated reporting taking a greater number of more diverse actions, including: contacting representatives, participating in marches and joining a nonprofit board.

Politics also matter. The 2017 survey revealed that the majority of Millennials are dissatisfied with the current president and it is a key factor behind their post-election activism. They’re taking actions against policies and practices they don’t support, like the animated response to the 2017 travel ban. But, not all Millennials think the country is going in the wrong direction, and that segment who voted for and continues to support the president, reported the most active cause engagement in 2017. Their support for the president also correlated with different methods for engagement as well as a greater propensity to identify with activist labels, compared with non-Trump supporters.

In short, by trying to label Millennials with a broad brush—whether it is slacker or activist, engaged or apathetic—misses the essential nature of the generation. At its core, the Millennial generation is diverse and their opinions and insights and perspectives reflect that diversity of background, experience and lifestyle.

Why the details are important and how they impact you, whether you are a Millennial or not

In our 10 years of sharing research on how to engage with the Millennial generation as social changemakers, we’ve had a front row seat to witness a rise in the Millennial voice about the issues they care about and the way they perceive their power to create change. We’ve all seen how that voice is influencing greater social responsibility in corporate practices and modernizing nonprofit outreach. Now, the latest Millennial Impact research from Achieve identifies the important nuances between specific segments of the Millennial population.

This research shows the issues that matter to one group of Millennials don’t necessarily matter to everyone; therefore, to communicate effectively and activate Millennials, it’s essential to dig in beyond just their age-group. According to the findings, if you want to connect with Millennials on causes and engage with them, it matters where they live, their education level, their gender, their race and even their opinion about the president. Not only do the social issues that matter most vary by these factors, their level of confidence in their capacity to create change, their willingness to act on behalf of others and their interest in national or local causes are correlated. And many of the leading marketing firms and brands have sought to connect with these distinct groups through extensive micro targeting and by designing products and outreach for specific subgroups. To find success, it’s imperative that the non-profit world design messaging in a similar way. The 2017 Millennial Impact Report is one tool to help begin to build those relationships with Millennial cause supporters and we urge you to download your copy here.

Stay tuned for further learnings that we have gleaned over the past ten years of Millennial focused work and details on MCON, the annual conference where the Millennial Impact Report learnings are brought to life and tens of thousands of passionate individuals come together online and in-person to channel their enthusiasm into action for today’s most pressing issues.

7 Fearless Founder Podcasts to Listen To

Posted on March 6, 2018October 25, 2018 by Case Foundation

Everyone loves a good success story, and entrepreneurs tend to have especially fascinating ones. The road to success rarely goes in a straight line; rather, most successful people have encountered quite a few failures and obstacles along the way.

Learning from these challenges and failing forward is what often leads to breakthroughs. As our Be Fearless principles state, making big bets, failing forward, trying brave experiments, working with unlikely partners and letting urgency conquer fear can be the keys to success for entrepreneurs.

Being fearless isn’t always easy. But seeing stories of fearless entrepreneurs who have braved the path before can be the inspiration capital needed for aspiring entrepreneurs to begin to build their businesses. That’s why telling the stories of entrepreneurs from all backgrounds, and lifting up role models whose stories are not told as frequently in mainstream entrepreneurship coverage, is so important. Our #FacesofFounders campaign has brought together stories of entrepreneurs across race, place and gender, what they struggle with, what they’re building and why inclusivity makes entrepreneurship even stronger. We also regularly share stories of those changing the narrative of who is and can be entrepreneurs in our weekly newsletter, Breaking Good.

But sometimes hearing—not just reading—stories can be uniquely powerful. So, we asked the Case Foundation team to share some of their favorite stories of entrepreneurship, as told by podcasts. While there are many great stories out there, we compiled a list of nine podcast episodes of entrepreneurs who each stand out in a different way. Read on to learn about some of the founders who inspire us and remind us to Be Fearless.

Spanx—Sara Blakely on NPR’s “How I Built This”

Sara Blakely’s story starts with selling fax machines and ends with her becoming the youngest self-made female billionaire in the US. But her journey to get there may be less well-known. She launched Spanx with the money in her savings after seeing a need for an undergarment that incorporates the control top feature of pantyhose without the legs of pantyhose.

Blakely’s journey gathering support from manufacturers, patent attorneys, buyers and even Oprah is an inspiring one for women founders pitching unique and disruptive products. The story of how she convinced a Neiman Marcus buyer to work with her is also a funny reminder that unconventional methods can sometimes be the most effective ones.

Be Visible—Andrea Guendelman, on Backstage Capital’s “Mission and Values”

As fans of Inclusive Entrepreneurship, we loved hearing about the journey of Andrea Guendelman, who co-founded Be Visible. Recognizing a lack of available professional mentoring and networking resources for Latinx professionals, she built Be Visible as a professional social network for the group.

Throughout the podcast, Andrea breaks down the underlying barriers that separate Latinx professionals from many opportunities available to the wider population. She talks about the group’s unique needs and how Latinx Millennials specifically can be supported and encouraged to be engaged and connected citizens. She also has an interesting backstory that crosses countries and industries before launching Be Visible. Listen through the end to hear about where the platform is going and which big client Be Visible just landed.

**Hamdi Ulukaya—Chobani, on Fast Company’s “Innovators Uncensored”**

For a lesson in humble beginnings, hard work and compassionate leadership, listen to Fast Company editor, Robert Safian’s interview with Hamdi Ulukaya, Founder and CEO of Chobani. Ulukaya’s path to success was untraditional, to say the least. He started in a closed down factory in a small town in upstate New York, working with a team of just five people and had no prior formal business, marketing or managing experience.

What was the first thing his team did after opening the factory? It’s not what you’d expect, but Ulukaya’s story bucks tradition from the beginning and you have to tune into to hear it straight from Ulukaya. After Chobani’s massive success, Ulukaya shares how he didn’t let success go to his head, how he has sought to stay accountable to his employees and how he doesn’t shy away from wider issues, like the refugee crisis. Listen to the interview to hear him tell the story of two refugees (of the 600 he’s hired) who found success working for Chobani. Ulukaya’s story is the story of a leader rebelling against assumptions about how businesses are run and putting purpose at the center of his business.

Capway—Sheena Allen, on “VC Cheat Sheet”

Sheena Allen took a non-traditional route to entrepreneurship, launching Capway, a Financial Tech company, from rural Mississippi. Allen talks about her journey to launching the FinTech company, which serves different groups of financially underserved consumers and talks about the unconscious bias that she had to overcome to succeed.

The ‘aha’ moment that led to her launching Capway came in a grocery store, where she saw a long line of people waiting to cash their checks. Through more research, Allen identified the massive gap in financial services for unbanked and underbanked populations—which leads to people cashing checks at nontraditional financial institutions, like grocery and convenience stores. Despite there being a huge market to serve this community, gaining support from investors was a challenge. Allen shares how she’s been able to find success and find the right investors to work with. And she holds nothing back, giving very direct advice to women and other underrepresented entrepreneurs looking to build support and sharing her advice on how to ask for help the right way. Listen to her story for insight into the experience of an entrepreneur building support for a service for underrepresented consumers.

Radio One—Cathy Hughes, on NPR’s “How I Built This”

For some serious entrepreneurial inspiration, you’ll want to listen to Cathy Hughes’ journey to radio success, which involves a fair share of bumps in the road along the way. As a young, single mom, Hughes moved from Omaha, Nebraska to Washington, DC to help launch the radio station at Howard University. She found success there by creating shows that catered to underrepresented communities in DC, but her journey didn’t stop there.

Hughes’s path to becoming a media mogul takes unexpected twists and turns, including a stint of living with her son in the young, struggling radio station she bought. Her story of navigating entrepreneurship, motherhood, success and expansion as a female founder of color is interesting for so many reasons; from the creative to the financial to the personal.

Coss Marte—ConBody, on Gimlet Media’s “Start Up”

Part 1 and Part 2
This is a story about second chances. Coss Marte is an ex-convict who spent four years in prison for selling drugs. Fast forward to today and he’s running a successful fitness business, ConBody.

The inspiration for the company came while Marte was still in prison. Dealing with health problems and the confinement of prison, Marte developed his own workout routines that could be done in small spaces and without weights, and he helped other inmates do the same. In the podcast, Marte shares his story building up a customer base, battling negative perceptions and making sure to hire fellow ex-convicts, who struggle to get jobs after leaving incarceration. The podcast begins and ends with Marte and his cofounder, Jenn Shaw going to a pitch competition where they’re starkly reminded how much they stand out; he being Latino and Shaw being a woman among a crowd of mostly white, Ivy league grads. The story of his journey there, and the results of the pitch competition, will inspire and surprise you.

Mariam Naficy—Minted, on “Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman”

Mariam Naficy is a two-time founder who launched both her companies in uncertain times. She started with Eve.com, the first major online cosmetics seller, which she launched in the late 90’s, a time when the future of the internet was unclear. In fact, to obtain the domain name, she actually had to make a deal with a very powerful five-year-old by the same name. From there, Eve.com raised $26 million in its first year and continued to scale rapidly until she sold the company in 2000.

After moving on from Eve, Naficy moved on to her next venture, Minted, an online stationary store. In this episode, she shares her challenges raising venture capital as a mom entrepreneur, and launching a company in 2008, at the height of a financial crisis. Minted would go on to raise $89 million in Venture Capital and ship to 70 million households, but along the way, Naficy faced a lot of teachable failures, which she shares with listeners.

We hope these podcasts inspire you as much as they have our team. For some more #BeFearless inspiration, check out our Be Fearless hub, and to learn more about how we’re championing entrepreneurship for all through inspiration capital and more, check out our Inclusive Entrepreneurship page and #FacesofFounders series.

This Month in Social Good

Posted on February 28, 2018October 25, 2018 by Case Foundation

February may be the shortest month of the year, but this February was packed with news in the world of social innovation. In particular, we saw new data, stories and perspectives brought forward in the world of Inclusive Entrepreneurship that we’d like to reflect on and use to power the movement. I spent some time rereading our weekly Case Foundation Breaking Good newsletter to gauge some of the conversation around supporting diverse entrepreneurs this month. Here are some of the articles and trends that stood out to me:

Black History Month is a reminder to uplift Black entrepreneurs—past and present

Every day is a great day to celebrate the achievements of groundbreaking innovators in history and the people who are carrying on their legacies and building their own. But as Black History Month comes to a close, we’re given a renewed commitment to uplift the stories of Black entrepreneurs—sharing both the contributions they bring and the unique challenges they face.

With that in mind, we were inspired by reflections from successful Black entrepreneurs on how they succeeded in a world filled with barriers designed to stifle their progress. One of the Be Fearless quotes that stood out came from Urban One founder, Cathy Hughes:

“[Don’t] let anyone convince you that your dream, your vision to be an entrepreneur, is something that you shouldn’t do. What often happens is that people who are well meaning, who really care for us, are afraid for us and talk us out of it.”

There’s a glaring gap for women entrepreneurs

As reports highlighting data on entrepreneurship from 2017 begin to come out, the statistics on women entrepreneurs are disheartening, to say the least. According to Pitchbook, businesses with all-women founding teams received just 2.2 percent of all venture capital in 2017. Teams with a mix of genders received just 12 percent, and a whopping 79 percent of venture capital went to all-male teams (the remaining 7 percent was unreported).

To change these numbers, there isn’t an easy fix. We know where we can start—more women launching businesses, more women in venture capital, fewer cases of bias at the hands of investors—but none of these alone will solve the problem. Partners are stepping up across industries to build solutions together that will collectively challenge the systemic biases that affect how opportunity is distributed in our culture. Data and storytelling can play major role in that, which brings us to our next trend.

We need to support data and storytelling on underrepresented innovators

Sherrell Dorsey is doing just that. Dorsey founded a daily newsletter called ThePLUG to report on founders, investors and innovators of color. This month, she talked to Vice about the need for more data on Black entrepreneurs. This is one of the many great points she made:

“A lot of times, especially in the black community, when you look at entrepreneurship, there’s been very little data collection—like, the kind of businesses we’re creating, the kind of problems that we’re solving. (…) A lot of times investors are looking for patterns in data, so when that information is not shared in public, you get a knowledge gap.”

To extrapolate out from what Sherrell is saying, if investors don’t have the data they are used to having when making investment decisions, they are less likely to fund initiatives. Therefore, having a more robust dataset on Black entrepreneurship could help spark solutions across the board. That’s something we’re working towards as we champion inspiration capital as a core part of our Inclusive Entrepreneurship work. By uplifting the stories of underrepresented entrepreneurs—stories that share both their challenges and their unique insights—we’re hoping to change widespread assumptions about who is and can be a talented entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship can flourish across in all communities across the U.S.

Another widespread assumption about entrepreneurship we’re working to challenge is the notion that Silicon Valley is the only great place to launch a company. Fortunately, that idea is being challenged by entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem builders across the country. We loved hearing about how Kela Ivonye, founder of connected delivery storage service, MailHaven found Louisville Kentucky, not Silicon Valley to be the best place to build the company.

On the ecosystem side, we’ve been inspired by news about places like Raleigh, where a program is helping formerly incarcerated individuals pursue entrepreneurship. In the Midwest, a variety of organizations are working to support the region’s female entrepreneurs. And in New York, three of the city’s major banks announced plans to give a combined $40 million to programs supporting women and entrepreneurs of color there.

This month, Engine also interviewed an ecosystem builder in Colorado as part of an ongoing series we love, #StartupsEverywhere, where the outlet talks to the people building entrepreneurial ecosystems across the country. And this week’s Kauffman Foundation newsletter poses important questions on how we can build inclusive ecosystems, including a powerful video by Melissa Bradley on her experiences as an entrepreneur, investor and ecosystem builder.

From celebrating past and present Black entrepreneurs and leaders, to building solutions for female founders, to tackling the data gap, to highlighting innovation everywhere—leaders in the world of Inclusive Entrepreneurship are getting to work. The stories we’ve seen this month inspire us and we can’t wait to read and share even more of these informative and inspirational stories. To learn more, sign up for our newsletter, Breaking Good.

Is there anything we missed this month? Tell us about your favorite social good story you saw in February!

33 SXSW Sessions You Shouldn’t Miss in 2018

Posted on February 23, 2018October 25, 2018 by Case Foundation

This year marks the 25th Anniversary of SXSW, the world renowned gathering that unites more than 420,000 people from across the globe. Each year SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people expand their knowledge and have the opportunity to meet fellow innovators on a mission to change the world. Featured speakers at this year’s gathering include philanthropist and investor Melinda Gates; internationally renowned chef and humanitarian José Andrés; tech pioneer and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki; social influencers like Karlie Kloss, Guy Raz and Eric Liedtke; and many more. The festival is the essential destination for social impact leaders, startup founders, investors, philanthropists and innovators.

The Case Foundation team is excited to announce that we will take the stage at four sessions this year and that we are also partnering with TechCo where we will host a series of video interviews with startup founders, investors and ecosystem builders dedicated to pushing the Inclusive Entrepreneurship movement forward. Be on the lookout for our Facebook LIVE videos from SXSW debuting on March 10th HERE. We also invite you to check out the Startup Night SXSW 2018 presented by the Kauffman Foundation in partnership with TechCo, as part of their annual Startup of the Year program.

Some other events we’re excited to attend are Latinas in Tech, a showcase with Latina stars in the tech industry who will have a candid conversation on the state of entrepreneurship for female founders of color and how we can move the industry forward. Attendees can also check out a panel with Kansas Senator, Jerry Moran, as he takes the stage with business and policy experts who will discuss a variety of issues that are impacting entrepreneurs during their session on Supporting Startups to Fuel American Competitiveness.

And while in Austin, one must eat, and eat well. In addition to the hundreds of SX sessions and parties, you’ll find top-notch Texas restaurants and food trucks to keep you busy. Our team of former Texans here at the Case Foundation recommends Micklethwait Craft Meats, Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ—the Austin outpost of famed Black’s Barbecue, Launderette, Franklin’s Barbeque, Le Politque, Emmer & Rye, Tiger Fork and Hula Hut. For those looking for a memorable sunset, try the Oasis on Lake Travis.

Keeping with tradition, the Case Foundation has done your homework for you and detailed the 33 can’t miss sessions that are guaranteed to challenge your mind and change your view of the world at SXSW. Mark your calendars and see you there!

Engaging Millennials to Support Education, Mar 8, 2018 – 11:00am – 12:00pm Nnamdi Asomugha of The Asomugha Foundation and Derrick Feldmann of Achieve will discuss the current state of education and how a generation can support educational advancement for all of America’s youth. Feldmann will also debut the newest study from the Millennial Impact Project, a multi-year study in partnership with the Case Foundation on how Millennials engage with causes.
Attracting VC Investment Outside of Silicon Valley, Mar 9, 2018 – 12:30pm – 1:30pm presented by Capital Factory—hear from three VC’s who recently made investments in Texas-based startups to find out what factors they considered and how you can make your pitch stand out from the rest.
Opening Sessions at the HBCUSXSW18 House, Mar 9, 2018 – 1:00pm – 5:00pm featuring presentations on navigating SXSW, high demand technology careers, high growth company building, and multi-generational wealth creation. Featured speakers include Janice Bryant Howroyd (Founder, ACT-1 Global), Brian Bracken (Founder, Kairos & $KRS), Yulkendy Valdez (Founder, Project 99), Pat Kirkland, (Founder, Pat Kirkland Leadership), Samson Williams (Cofounder, Axes & Eggs), Jamarlin Martin (Founder & CEO, Moguldom), Arif Gursel (Founder & CEO, Black TechUnion), Sheena Allen (Founder, Capway), Rodney Williams (Cofounder, Lisnr), Dave Parker (Founder, Six Month Startup), Alicia Jones (Financial Education & Coach, Journey To Wealth), Berto Horne (Founder, The Perfect Gentlemen) and more.
Return on Inclusion: Investing in Diverse Startups, Mar 9, 2018 – 2:00pm – 3:00pm featuring Arlan Hamilton from Backstage Capital, Kai Bond from Comcast Ventures/Catalyst Fund, Sutian Dong from the Female Founders Fund and Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures, panelists will discuss the challenges that entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds face as they look to raise money and build their businesses, and will explore how startups can leverage their diverse perspective as a competitive advantage.
Giving Back Rocks: How Austin Brands Do It, Mar 9, 2018 – 5:00pm – 6:00pm what do a jewelry designer, hair care billionaire, tennis player, and hospital have in common? Successful businesses that give back to the community, while remaining “on brand.” This session highlights how an unconventional collection of panelists: Kendra Scott, John Paul DeJoria, Andy Roddick, Austin’s St. David’s HealthCare—leverage their individual talents and brands for serious philanthropy.
Improving Diversity and Reducing Harassment in VC, Mar 10, 2018 – 11:00am – 12:00pm join Reed Albergotti, a reporter at The Information; Niniane Wang founder & CEO of Evertoon; and Sarah Kunst founder & CEO at Proday.co as they discuss the culture within the VC community, ideas around improving diversity among decision-makers at VC firms, and the climate for women in tech.
Film + Storytelling in a Politically-Charged Era, Mar 10, 2018 – 12:30pm – 1:00pm national Geographic leads a conversation on how private and nonprofit sectors have stepped up to tell the stories of those affected by political actions, increasing activism and empathy. This panel features creative industry pros – top Hollywood directors and execs – sharing how they partner the profit-bearing potential of the business world with visionary storytelling to make waves on Capitol Hill.
Latinas Removing Barriers in Tech, Mar 10, 2018 – 12:30pm – 1:30pm this session explores the role of Latinas in tech both as users and as leaders of tech companies. Join Carolina Casares of Yahoo Latin America and Spain, Kety Esquivel from Edelman, Claudia Romo Edelman of UNICEF and Samira Saba of Smartmatic for the discussion.
New Girls’ Network: Women Funding Women, Mar 10, 2018 – 2:00pm – 3:00pm leaders from iFundWomen, Portfolia and Belle Capital USA share insights on the vast and growing ecosystem of organizations looking to capitalize on the underserved market of women-led companies.
Convergence Keynote: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Mar 10, 2018 – 2:00pm – 3:00pm Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic leads a conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates — national correspondent for The Atlantic, best-selling author, and current scribe of Black Panther comics—about culture, politics, and social issues in the Age of Trump.
Where Are the Women? How to Diversify Journalism, Mar 10, 2018 – 3:30pm – 4:30pm four leading female print and multimedia journalists from the BBC, The Fuller Project, Vignette Interactive and Women Photograph shed light on the gender imbalance in journalism through the lens of their own global reporting.
The End of Global Hunger? AI Will Make it Work, Mar 10, 2018 – 3:30pm – 4:30pm panelists from XPRIZE, Google, Gates Foundation and the UN World Food Programme will discuss how AI’s disruptive potential could help end global hunger.
Creating New Stories of Immigration, Mar 10, 2018 – 3:30pm – 4:30pm narratives of immigration play a crucial role in shaping public opinion and public policy, but nuanced narratives are all too often missing or ignored. The story of the individual, model immigrant is exalted, but what of those who don’t fit this image? Panelists working from varying perspectives and platforms will discuss their efforts to create new forms of storytelling that represent the immigrant experience in all its contours and speak to those on multiple sides of the issue.
Tech-no-color: Advancing Women of Color in Tech, Mar 10, 2018 – 3:30pm – 4:30pm a panel including Aubrey Blanche of Atlassian, Lafawn Davis of Twilio, Y-Vonne Hutchinson of ReadySet and Janet Ikpa of HIRED will shine a light on how to further build diversity and inclusion strategies with a focus on women of color.
Resistance & Disruption Through Diversity & Data, Mar 10, 2018 – 5:00pm – 6:00pm join Hilary Sloan, director of business development at ShopStyle; Nicolette Mason, diversity pioneer and founder; and Blake Gifford, attorney and digital influencer, as they discuss the power of activism and the opportunities for influencers to take a stand.
The Future of Business is Female, Mar 11, 2018 – 12:30pm – 1:30pm join Sonal Shah, Executive Director of the Beeck Center and Case Foundation Board Member as she leads a discussion with Stephanie Lampkin from Blendoor, Jennifer Stybel from the Rent the Runway Foundation and Cindy Whitehead from The Pink Ceiling exploring why intentionality around equal opportunity for women is a cornerstone to building and funding a successful startup enterprise and how new research and the #MeToo movement have opened up new pathways for investing in women leaders.
Corporate VC: The Firms, The Myths, The Legends, Mar 11, 2018 – 5:00pm – 6:00pm corporate Venture Capital is the topic of discussion in this session with Iris Capital, Orange Digital Ventures and Verizon Ventures led by Crunchbase/TechCrunch. They share more on the the rise of Corporate VC, the benefits they can offer startups and the key differences and similarities they share with traditional VC firms.
Minority Report: Engaging Kids of Color in Tech, Mar 12, 2018 – 9:30am – 10:30am Kimberly Bryant of Black Girls Gode, Laura Donnelly from Latinitas, Dalinda Gonzalez-Alcantar of Border Kids Code and Daniel Lucio of Google Fiber take the stage to share how high-touch programs are engaging minority youth in the tech world and inspiring them to go from becoming tech consumers to tech creators.
A Better World: Next-Gen Tech for Social Good, Mar 12, 2018 – 9:30am – 10:30am presented by CI&T—speakers from KnowTheChain, Thorn and Comrade share how companies are harnessing the power of technologies to amplify a social cause or mission.
Designers Who Broke the Internet, Mar 12, 2018 – 11:00am – 12:00pm join some of the designers behind Hulu, Twitter and Instagram to hear what their rationale and guiding principles were when they disrupted their respective ecosystems.
Women Rule, Mar 12, 2018 – 12:30pm – 1:30pm join POLITICO’s Editor Carrie Budoff Brown as she sits down with female leaders on the Women Rule podcast to talk power, politics and policy, and explore how dynamics shift when women have a seat at the table.
Black Women & The Invisible Billion Dollar Startup, Mar 12, 2018 – 5:00pm – 6:00pm breaking down barriers for black women founders is hard. Join TresseNoire, Be Nimble, Precursor VC and KeepUp for a conversation about how they are creating solutions to support black female founders and drive toward a world where the next billion dollar founder is a black woman.
Latino Entrepreneurship: Scaling to Excellence, Mar 13, 2018 – 9:30am – 10:30am how can Latino entrepreneurs manage the challenges to scaling their businesses and what resources are available to assist them? Check out this panel discussion featuring entrepreneurs and leaders that have dealt with this problem.
Democratizing AI for Individuals & Organizations, Mar 13, 2018 – 9:30am – 10:30am AI is the focus of the conversation when Dr. Fei-Fei Li, Director of Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence Lab and Chief Scientist of AI/ML at Google Cloud; Megan Smith, CEO of shift7 and former U.S. CTO; and Joanne Chen, Partner at Foundation Capital take the stage. They will discuss the enormous potential AI has for improving the world, from increasing productivity to creating new medicines, as well as the challenges that it must overcome to produce these results.
The Truth about Diversity in Tech, Mar 13, 2018 – 12:30pm – 1:30pm Vice President of Public Policy at Lyft, Joe Okpaku discusses what drove him to pursue work at an early stage tech startup, how he thrives as a black executive in Silicon Valley, and offers advice to others looking to blaze their own unique career paths and improve people’s lives.
Agents of Mass Construction, Mar 13, 2018 – 12:30pm – 1:30pm filmmakers and environmentalists are teaming up to leverage film and storytelling to make a positive impact for nature. Mission Blue’s Sylvia Earle, Exposure Lab’s Jeff Orlowski, race car driver Leilani Munter and academy award winner Louie Psihoyos make media that Psihoyos calls “weapons of mass construction.” They will discuss taking viewers to the depths of the oceans and up close with endangered wildlife to turn audiences into agents for change.
Earth v. Mars: The Future of Exploration, Mar 13, 2018 – 12:30pm – 1:30pm National Geographic unites renowned explorers and astronauts as they dive deep into the future of expeditions on Earth, Mars and beyond. Speakers include Brian Skerry and Nadia Drake of National Geographic, as well as Leland Melvin and Nicole Scott from NASA. Together they will share the risks and rewards of pushing the limits of our capabilities as a species; breakthroughs in the potential to make a new home on the Red Planet; and surprising insights that are making us rethink staying put right here on Earth.
Why Black Women are 2018’s Best Investment, Mar 13, 2018 – 3:30pm – 4:30pm The Case Foundation sits down with inclusive entrepreneurship champions providing important connections, training and mentorships for entrepreneurs, as well as with the investors and influencers working to change the way capital and media attention flows to diverse entrepreneurs. Our VP of Social Innovation Sarah Koch will moderate a conversation with Cheryl Contee of Fission Strategy and Kathryn Finney of digitalundivided.
Creating a Movement Through User Generated Content, Mar 13, 2018 – 3:30pm – 4:30pm User Generated Content (UGC) has quickly become a valuable form of marketing, and today’s rich analytics environment means we have more information than ever about how people are reacting to brands and using different platforms. But creating a campaign that leverages UGC across multiple channels—playing to each of their strengths—remains a challenge for many marketers. Join Kate Coughlin from National Geographic, Megan Bond from the ONE Campaign, Monique Carswell from Comcast NBCUniversal and Jessica Zetzman from the Case Foundation to explore how to use UGC to break through.
How Can Venture Capital Achieve Gender Parity? Mar 13, 2018 – 5:00pm – 6:00pm how can women seize more of the venture capital pie? Doree Shafrir, senior tech writer for BuzzFeed News and author of STARTUP: A NOVEL, will moderate a panel with Trail Mix Ventures GP and entrepreneur Soraya Darabi, Homebrew founder and partner Hunter Walk, and Parity Partners program director Natalia Quintero.
Journalists Shattering the Business Status Quo, Mar 14, 2018 – 2:00pm – 3:00pm join a compelling conversation about how journalists and editors are conquering stereotypes and busting myths every day through their digital, online and print platforms. Seasoned media influencers share how news agencies are crafting stories about entrepreneurs of color, female founders, and the inclusive ecosystems that shatter the status quo. Jade Floyd of the Case Foundation will moderate a discussion with Megan Rose Dickey from TechCrunch, Valentina Zarya from Fortune Magazine and Vanessa De Luca from Essence Magazine.
Building a Bada#$ Business Against All Odds, Mar 15, 2018 – 2:00pm – 3:00pm this session is taught by experienced entrepreneurs from underrepresented sectors of tech who’ve made something out of nothing. Join Danielle Leslie from Course Alchemy, Tara Reed from Apps Without Code, Thomas Stovall from Candid/I’m Black in Tech and Aniyia Williams from Tinsel as they discuss the challenges they overcame and the opportunities they created.
How Tech Hubs Outside SV Lead The Way on Diversity, Mar 15, 2018 – 2:00pm – 3:00pm Detroit, Kansas City, Coeur D’Alene, Chattanooga: Cities with robust tech ecosystems show how starting a company outside Silicon Valley can create more opportunities to under-represented entrepreneurs and elevate diverse business ideas. Speakers from St. Martins Press, SLACK, UBS and Innovation Collective take the stage.

Finally, I’m excited to also serve as a WeDC Ambassador this year where I will be joined by fellow Washington, D.C. creatives, chefs, makers, entrepreneurs and innovators who each represent DC’s vibrant business sectors. Led by the Washington DC Economic Partnership and Executive Office of the Mayor, D.C. is committed to inclusive innovation focusing on providing access, opportunity and resources to the people, companies and organizations. Be sure to check out the many #WeDC House events taking place at SX this year.

Have a session you want us to share that didn’t make the list? Tweet us @CaseFoundation and @JadeFloydDC

Finding Light in the Darkness

Posted on January 10, 2018October 25, 2018 by Case Foundation

Devastating hurricanes that have taken lives and left untold numbers without power, food and water. A catastrophic earthquake in Mexico that left hundreds dead and thousands more homeless. Deadly fires leapfrogging across regions in California that included populated neighborhood streets, destroying everything in its path. These are just some of the stories of human toll in 2017. Perhaps even harder to grasp are the deadly rampages that cut short the lives of too many people across the world. Add to these truly horrific events that destroyed lives, property and precious natural resources, the revelation that across industries and across continents, sexual harassment and abuse, some targeting the young and vulnerable have run rampant. The political news of our day only adds to an already discouraging sense that the world is aflame.

It’s no surprise that people, even those not personally affected by the events, are struggling to make sense of it all—trying not to let hopelessness or despair set in.

However, to characterize 2017 exclusively from this perspective would be a mistake. There are true rays of hope that shine but are often not given light amongst the more dramatic news of our day.

As we have moved beyond the holidays—known to many as “the season of light”—we would do well to turn our eyes to the inspiring stories of individuals across the globe whose selfless and fearless actions lit a path to bring hope and inspiration in the midst of darkness. And, as this New Year dawns, recognize the heroes all around us. I have written about some of the signs of hope that I saw in the responses of citizens to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and am always inspired by the way that citizens continue to answer the call to provide aid and support when times are tough.

Take, for instance, the courageous and selfless actions of celebrated chef, José Andrés, who upon learning that the island of Puerto Rico was experiencing power outages and food and water shortages, set out to make a difference. José is no stranger to disasters. Since his experience with providing disaster relief following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, José has mobilized an army of chefs ranging from local to world-renowned, as he scaled World Central Kitchen (WCK) he founded, to deliver millions of meals to date, in settings and regions others feared to go. In 2017, WCK delivered 3.1 million meals to the people of Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria, provided 35,000 meals to Californians impacted by this Fall’s fires and over 100,000 meals to the people of Houston in the wake of Hurricane Harvey while also supporting the first responders and National Guard personnel in the field. The New York Times called WCK “the largest emergency feeding program ever set up by a group of chefs.” WCK has also improved health, increased education rates, provided career skills and has helped to create food businesses in regions where it operates.

When José was asked to give a commencement address at George Washington University in Washington, DC, he told the moving story of coming to America from Spain with just $50 in his pocket. He spoke of coming to the country in pursuit of the American dream. Then he continued: “Today you are doing something much more important,” he said. “You are shaping the new American dream. It’s not about having high paying jobs, big houses, fast cars. There is nothing wrong with that, but the new America Dream is bigger. It’s about how to achieve your success while also making an impact in the world. What you create for yourselves you must also create for others.”

And José is not alone as he embodies a #BeFearless spirit and works tirelessly in times of crisis. You can see that same spirit in the volunteers who mobilized as California’s fires raged, including two women who jumped into action to help rescue 150 horses left behind when their owners had to flee fast moving fires in Northern California; the small business people like “Mattress Mack” who opened his mattress stores to provide shelter those who were forced out of their homes when Hurricanes hit; heroic citizens, like concertgoer Jonathan Smith, who helped others escape America’s deadliest mass shooting in modern history while incurring severe injuries themselves; and even Frida, the trained rescue dog who worked alongside the Mexican Navy following the 7.1 quake that rocked the nation, as she helped save numerous earthquake victims and symbolized the Mexican volunteer citizen rescue groups from working class families that were founded after the 1985 earthquake and now aids in disasters worldwide. I am also inspired by those young individuals like Amanda Nguyen of RISE, who used her own experience as a rape survivor to get unanimous passage of the Sexual Assault Survivors Bill of Rights in Congress.

These are just a few of the lights I see shining through the darkness as we turn the calendar from 2017 to 2018. And I look forward to hearing, seeing and featuring more of these positive and inspiring stories throughout 2018. Day by day, across the nation and across the world, it is the fearless and selfless acts of citizens taking action that can inspire hope and allow us to confidently look to the New Year with optimism.

The Best Newsletters for Philanthropy News

Posted on December 18, 2017October 25, 2018 by Case Foundation

The world of philanthropy is always evolving, and our team is inspired each day by the tremendous giving that is taking place across the globe. From families and entrepreneurs lining up to give a majority of their wealth away through the Giving Pledge, to the boom of online giving platforms being modernized and democratized, to open source emerging as a new form of philanthropy, there’s a lot to keep up with and celebrate. The many advances in the practice of giving back have opened the doors for new givers, both large and small, who are supporting nonprofits that are changing the world.

At the Case Foundation, we want to empower people to use their time, their talents and their treasures, and the first step to doing so is understanding the field. We are often asked how we stay up-to-date on the news across the sector, so we’ve compiled a list of newsletters we read each week that will bring you up to speed on all things philanthropy.

Philanthropy News Digest from Foundation Center is a weekly news digest of the top philanthropy news. Sign up here.
Inside Philanthropy has the top news in who’s funding what, and expert commentary on the philanthropy world. Sign up here.
Future of Philanthropy from Fast Company has weekly updates on the individuals, groups, ventures and tactics leading the way in philanthropy. Sign up here.
Philanthropy Today from the Chronicle of Philanthropy is a daily roundup of the news in the nonprofit world. Sign up here.
The NPQ Newswire from Nonprofit Quarterly has a rundown of the latest events and trends on fundraising, philanthropy, nonprofit board governance and nonprofit management. Sign up here.
SSIR Now is Stanford Social Innovation Review‘s weekly roundup of their top news stories covering the world of social change. Sign up here.
Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy’s newsletter covers philanthropic, foundation and changemaking news with a focus on the next generation of innovators. Sign up here.
Causeartist shares news in social impact with a focus on socially conscious consumerism. Sign up here.
The Daily Good is a daily digest from Good Magazine that shares the top news geared towards next generation conscious consumers. Sign up here.

With these great newsletters, you can be better informed as a practitioner and as a philanthropist just by checking your email. And if you’re interested in the news on our other movements, check out my roundup of Inclusive Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing newsletters.

18 Leaders in the Open Source Community to Follow on Twitter

Posted on December 4, 2017October 25, 2018 by Case Foundation

Open source is an essential tool for the tech community, providing open and accessible platforms for accomplishing everything from building websites to artificial intelligence. Yet the drivers behind open source are often individuals, and their commitments of time, energy and inspiration are truly an act of personal philanthropy; many players in the movement do it on their own time.

We talked about how open source can accelerate social good last month in SSIR, and increasingly, open source is critical for nonprofits and individuals who may not have the funds to build out software from scratch or license expensive and cumbersome enterprise software.

At the Case Foundation, we’re committed to contributing to the open source community and recognizing others who are doing so too. These 18 people have made a personal commitment to sharing their digital work with the online community. Learn more about them and how you can follow their work on Twitter below.

Name Twitter Handle Bio

Alolita Sharma	@alolita	Software Engineering, Open Source, Open Standards, Language Technologies i18n/NLP/ML/AI, Women In Tech At:@AWSCloud Boards:@Unicode,@SFLCin
Andrew Means	@meansandrew	Head of the #philanthropy beyond @Uptake; Founder – @theimpactlab & Data Analysts for Social Good @da4sg ; Invested in @City_Fields
Angela Byron	@webchick	Herder of cats. @Drupal core committer. Director of Community Development for @Acquia. @OReillyMedia author. Mom. Lesbionic Ace. Nerd. Gamer. INTJ.
Ben Balter	@benbalter	Attorney, open source developer, Product Manager working on Community and Safety at @GitHub. Previously @WhiteHouse Presidential @InnovFellows.
Christopher Fabian	@hichrisfabian	UNICEF ventures lead. co-founded our innovation unit. advise on open-source overlaps of tech, design, development, start-ups, and academia. our team is awesome
Daniel Berg	@dancberg	IBM Distinguished Engineer delivering cloud native solutions focusing on microservices, containers, and DevOps practices. Opinions are my own.
David Stoline	@davidstoline	Avid reader. Occasional cyclist. Well rounded geek. Former @POTUS44 tech lead. @drupalsecurity team member
Erica Kochi	@ericakochi	co-leads (and co-founded) UNICEF Innovation, TIME100 most influential, mobiles in emerging markets, epicurean, extreme sports enthusiast
Erie Meyer	@Erie	America’s foremost technologist named after a Great Lake. Now @CodeforAmerica! Co-founder @techladymafia + @usds. Former @harvard @whitehouse @cfpb.
James Kurczodyna	@jamesmk	Director of Technology at @wearefine and creator of Fae. #webdev #ruby #js #rctid
Jeff Walpole	@JeffWalpole	CEO @phase2. Board @DrupalAssoc. Leader in #opensource. Following #omnichannel #cms, #ux, #drupal, #collaboration #leadership #opengov #ai,
Jessica Bell	@SirJesstheBrave	Developer with @WapoEngineering. Chair of @DCACM. Leadership with @DCtechmeetup, @DCFemTech. JavaScript, SASS, cat gifs, and comics. My opinions are my own
Jessica Lord	@jllord	Node.js @MongoDB, previously @GitHub, @CodeforAmerica and @BostonPlans // I saw all the Vermeers!
Joshua S Campbell	@disruptivegeo	Geographer, PhD. Founder @sandhillgeo & @MapGive, Council @AmericanGeo. Fmr @StateHIU & @GFDRR. Geospatial, Open Source, Design, Product. Views mine.
Michael D. Johnson	@CodeNonprofit	Chief Operating Officer @freeCodeCamp
Rikki Endsley	@rikkiends	A little bit country, a little bit punk rock & roll. https://Opensource.com community manager, tech journalist, runner
Sage Sharp	@_sagesharp_	Diversity & inclusion consultant at @ottertechllc. @outreachy organizer. Explorer of the kyriarchy. Hufflepuff.
Shannon Turner	@svthmc	Founder @hearmecode: free beginner-friendly coding classes for 3000 women in DC \| Full-stack developer \| Portfolio at https://shannonvturner.com \| Views mine

Changing the Face of Entrepreneurship

Posted on November 15, 2017October 25, 2018 by Case Foundation

At the core of the Case Foundation’s Inclusive Entrepreneurship work is finding solutions that allow all innovators, specifically women and people of color, to explore and participate in the entrepreneurship arena and all it has to offer.

As a part of the 2017 Summer Essence Festival, I had the pleasure to host an engaging panel discussion with Kristen Sonday, Co-Founder of Paladin (and a #FacesofFounders winner!), Kathryn Finney, Founder of digitalundivided and Brian Brackeen, CEO and Founder of Kairos. These changemakers are disrupting the image of who is and can be an entrepreneur and are part of a movement to seize the opportunity that inclusive entrepreneurship provides and dramatically change the distribution of capital required to make that happen.

On the Essence Festival stage, we had thoughtful and action-oriented conversation trying to unbundle what’s at play behind the following set of stats: If women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs, particularly black women, women-led businesses are outperforming their male peers in many VC portfolios and racially-diverse companies are outperforming industry norms by 35 percent, why does so little capital go their way? For context, less than 10 percent of venture-backed companies have a female founder; less than one percent have a black founder; less than one percent have a Latinx founder, and; a mere 0.2 percent have a black female founder.

These statistics make up the backdrop to the great conversation we had on stage. Key themes we covered are:

Talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not.
It’s not just about the financial capital; social capital is hugely important.
He (because it’s largely men) who make the decisions matters
Media plays a big role in setting default narrative and images of who is an can be an entrepreneur.

I hope you’ll watch and share your feedback on social media using #FacesofFounders!

Be Fearless Spotlight: Foster America

Posted on November 10, 2017October 25, 2018 by Case Foundation

This Spotlight is a part of a special blog series curated by the Case Foundation featuring Be Fearless stories from the field. Follow along with us as we meet people and learn about organizations that are taking risks, being bold and failing forward in their efforts to create transformative change in the social sector. This Spotlight is authored by Emily Ente, Director of Strategy and Partnerships at Foster America.

At least one in eight children in America is abused or neglected by the time she or he turns 18. When this happens, the U.S. child welfare system—a network of federal, state, local and nonprofit agencies—provides services to keep children safe in their homes, and, in the worst cases, places them in foster care. But across all key measures, our country is failing these most vulnerable kids. For example, among older youth leaving foster care, only half graduate from high school, one-third experience homelessness, and four out of five young men in this group are arrested. Unfortunately, the child welfare system is stretched beyond its capacity and expertise to change the odds for these kids. We can and must act with urgency to do better.

Sherry Lachman, Founder and Executive Director of Foster America, knows from both personal and professional experience about the challenges that kids face in the child welfare system. Between the ages of six and eight, she was placed in three different foster homes. As Sherry explains, “Ultimately I feel very lucky. Instead of allowing me to view myself as a victim, my fourth-grade English teacher Ms. Owen convinced me that I could someday use the trauma I had experienced to help other vulnerable kids. Ms. Owen’s message changed my life.”

Motivated by her experience and wanting to improve outcomes for other kids in the system, Sherry took a risk in late 2015 and left her job as domestic policy advisor to Vice President Biden to found Foster America, an organization devoted to improving the child welfare system. Sherry first interviewed over 100 experts in the field about critical pain points in the child welfare system and why it has been so slow to evolve. She recalls, “One of the major themes that emerged from these interviews is that there is a shortage of reform-minded leaders in the field with the diverse skills needed to drive change.”

To address this critical gap, Foster America launched a fellowship program, reaching beyond its bubble to build a pipeline of extraordinary leaders with the diverse skills, bringing these seemingly unlikely partners together to tackle the major challenges in the child welfare system. The Foster America program recruits and prepares talented mid-career professionals from business, technology, health and education backgrounds for high-impact fellowship roles at child welfare agencies.

In the short run, Foster America fellows lead reform projects at these agencies, leveraging their professional expertise to develop new approaches to child welfare problems. For example, fellows with expertise in marketing and user-centered design can help child welfare agencies improve the recruitment and retention of high-quality foster families. Fellows with data expertise can develop predictive analytics models that enable agencies to predict and prevent negative outcomes such as child abuse or neglect. Each fellowship project is designed to have a lasting local impact while also informing scalable solutions for the child welfare sector.

In the long run, Foster America’s aim is to build a national movement of fellowship alumni who will move on to higher levels of child welfare leadership and help transform the child welfare system. Foster America is making a big bet and setting an audacious goal: within five years, Foster America intends to recruit more than 100 new leaders, who will reach more than 75 percent of children in foster care. Given the relatively small scale of the child welfare field in the U.S., 100 new leaders can have a major impact on outcomes for kids and families nationwide.

Progress is already underway. Foster America launched a pilot fellowship cohort in Fall 2016. In the process, the organization confirmed there is a high level of demand for the program from both child welfare agencies and prospective candidates. Leaders at 13 child welfare agencies expressed an interest in participating in the pilot and the Foster America team chose three: New York City, Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) and Rhode Island. During the pilot, agency partners invested about $800,000 in the fellows’ salary and benefits, which further signaled their commitment and strengthened the organization’s sustainability and scalability. More than 250 candidates applied for eight fellowship spots in the pilot cohort, resulting in an acceptance rate of only three percent.

In 2018, Foster America will continue to support the first cohort of fellows, who are already making significant contributions on the ground, and add new fellows to the original partner sites. The program will also post fellows in four additional sites, including the child welfare agencies of Washington, DC, Minnesota, Missouri and Washington State. Overall, the organization is committed to fearlessly continuing to bring together nontraditional partners from across sectors and challenging the status quo. This bold experiment, coupled with an organizational culture of continuous experimentation, learning and improvement, positions Foster America, along with its partners in child welfare, to fundamentally transform outcomes for kids and families.

Visit www.foster-america.org to learn more about Foster America and how you can partner with the organization as a fellow, volunteer, donor or corporate partner. If you have any additional questions about how to get involved, contact me, Emily Ente, Foster America’s Director of Strategy and Partnerships, at Emily.ente@foster-america.org.

Feeling inspired? If you’re ready to begin your own Be Fearless journey start by downloading our free Be Fearless Action Guide and Case Studies.

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Entrepreneurship can flourish across in all communities across the U.S.

Name Twitter Handle Bio

Alolita Sharma

Software Engineering, Open Source, Open Standards, Language Technologies i18n/NLP/ML/AI, Women In Tech At:@AWSCloud Boards:@Unicode,@SFLCin

Andrew Means

Head of the #philanthropy beyond @Uptake; Founder – @theimpactlab & Data Analysts for Social Good @da4sg ; Invested in @City_Fields

Angela Byron

Herder of cats. @Drupal core committer. Director of Community Development for @Acquia. @OReillyMedia author. Mom. Lesbionic Ace. Nerd. Gamer. INTJ.

Ben Balter

Attorney, open source developer, Product Manager working on Community and Safety at @GitHub. Previously @WhiteHouse Presidential @InnovFellows.

Christopher Fabian

UNICEF ventures lead. co-founded our innovation unit. advise on open-source overlaps of tech, design, development, start-ups, and academia. our team is awesome

Daniel Berg

IBM Distinguished Engineer delivering cloud native solutions focusing on microservices, containers, and DevOps practices. Opinions are my own.

David Stoline

Avid reader. Occasional cyclist. Well rounded geek. Former @POTUS44 tech lead. @drupalsecurity team member

Erica Kochi

co-leads (and co-founded) UNICEF Innovation, TIME100 most influential, mobiles in emerging markets, epicurean, extreme sports enthusiast

Erie Meyer

America’s foremost technologist named after a Great Lake. Now @CodeforAmerica! Co-founder @techladymafia + @usds. Former @harvard @whitehouse @cfpb.

James Kurczodyna

Director of Technology at @wearefine and creator of Fae. #webdev #ruby #js #rctid

Jeff Walpole

CEO @phase2. Board @DrupalAssoc. Leader in #opensource. Following #omnichannel #cms, #ux, #drupal, #collaboration #leadership #opengov #ai,

Jessica Bell

Developer with @WapoEngineering. Chair of @DCACM. Leadership with @DCtechmeetup, @DCFemTech. JavaScript, SASS, cat gifs, and comics. My opinions are my own

Jessica Lord

Node.js @MongoDB, previously @GitHub, @CodeforAmerica and @BostonPlans // I saw all the Vermeers!

Joshua S Campbell

Geographer, PhD. Founder @sandhillgeo & @MapGive, Council @AmericanGeo. Fmr @StateHIU & @GFDRR. Geospatial, Open Source, Design, Product. Views mine.

Michael D. Johnson

Chief Operating Officer @freeCodeCamp

Rikki Endsley

A little bit country, a little bit punk rock & roll. https://Opensource.com community manager, tech journalist, runner

Sage Sharp

Diversity & inclusion consultant at @ottertechllc. @outreachy organizer. Explorer of the kyriarchy. Hufflepuff.

Shannon Turner

Founder @hearmecode: free beginner-friendly coding classes for 3000 women in DC | Full-stack developer | Portfolio at https://shannonvturner.com | Views mine

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