Abstract
clear in recent months that one of the brightest hopes for the country is to build upon a historic strength: its spirit of innovation. From Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Edison, Eli Whitney to Henry Ford, Mark Zuckerberg to Oprah Winfrey, Americans have dazzled the world with their creative powers. The U.S. often sends its scholars to Japan and China to understand why their students are so good at memorizing and mastering fields of study, but they send their scholars here to understand why U.S. students are so imaginative. Over the past five years, Americans have won 30 Nobel prizes in science and economics, while the Chinese—with a population four times as large—have been awarded one. There are dangerous signs that the U.S. is slipping, but still, there is something in the nation’s DNA that is reassuring. “The American, by nature, is
Highlights
From Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Edison, Eli Whitney to Henry Ford, Mark Zuckerberg to Oprah Winfrey, Americans have dazzled the world with their creative powers
David Gergen is a Professor of Public Service and Director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he oversees a program on social innovation
At a time in U.S history that demands long-term innovations and determined reinventions, we need to prepare a new generation of entrepreneurs and set them up for success
Summary
At a time of darkening troubles for the United States, it has become increasingly clear in recent months that one of the brightest hopes for the country is to build upon a historic strength: its spirit of innovation. The emerging field of social entrepreneurship and innovation holds the key to unlocking this promise by combining the passion for social change with the creativity and determination of successful for-profit entrepreneurs Organizations such as Teach For America and City Year have had recordbreaking applications over the past few years. The new British government under Prime Minister David Cameron is pursuing paths similar to that of the Obama team, building partnerships among government, social entrepreneurs, foundations, philanthropists, and private companies Outlining his vision, Cameron this summer gave a speech entitled “Big Society,” expressing sentiments that echo several recent books by American authors, notably Big Citizenship by Alan Khazei, The Power of Social Innovation by Stephen Goldsmith, and Third World America by Arianna Huffington. The question becomes, how can we create cities that place a premium on attracting, enabling, and scaling social enterprises as part of their economic development and community improvement innovations / summer 2010
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