Social entrepreneurship for the 21st century: innovation across the nonprofit, private, and public sectors

Abstract

Are you ready for social entrepreneurship revolution? her book Social for 21st Century, Georgia Levenson Keohane provides a great insight into emergence of social business and entrepreneurship. Her work provides a clear-sighted analysis of many different dynamics at play as we test new models and solutions for global economic change. (Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate, author of Banker to Poor). Entrepreneurship and venture thinking don't reside only in Silicon Valley; they can be found in nonprofit sector, and they are changing social fabric of nations and cultures around world. Just how nonprofit sector has evolved into a powerful agent of social change is story expertly told by Georgia Levenson Keohane in Social for 21st Century. This is a hugely important book for those who want to understand nonprofit world and its evolving role. (Eliot Spitzer, former governor of York and host of Current TV's Viewpoint). A timely, comprehensive, and well-written perspective on one of most powerful, positive forces for social change in our world today. Keohane's book not only synthesizes her state-of-the-art knowledge of field, but brings new insight into impact investing, growing role of social capital markets, essentiality of valid performance measures, and blurring of lines between social, public, and private sectors. (William F. Meehan III, Raccoon Partners Lecturer in Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business and Director Emeritus, McKinsey and Company). Modern social entrepreneurship is transforming way we invest our money and change world. Within 10 years, investors will channel hundreds of billions of dollars to achieve positive social and environmental impact in housing, health, education, energy, and financial services across globe. While there are extraordinary financial and social gains to be made, many unanswered questions remain. What's best way to harness markets to promote social change? And what kinds of investments can we make across nonprofit, private, and public sectors to achieve a more shared prosperity? This book demystifies complex world of social entrepreneurship, providing all information you need to understand social investment and innovation, whether you're a private investor, policymaker, nonprofit manager, or passionate and engaged donor. In clear and straightforward language, former McKinsey executive Georgia Levenson Keohane charts development of what New York Times calls the emerging hybrid of philanthropy and private equity. In Social for 21st Century, a must-read for anyone interested in innovative solutions to social problems, Keohane: shows how social entrepreneurship has radically transformed nonprofit, private, and public sectors; explores promise of impact investing - what it really is and how it works; illuminates challenges of bringing billions of dollars in private capital to bear on social problems; identifies smart public policies that promote social innovation at local and national levels; and recommends specific investment opportunities you can act on now. With in-depth coverage of cutting-edge social programs and philanthropic initiatives, Social for 21st Century provides knowledge and tools you need to be a responsibly engaged investor and citizen in coming decades.