Perhaps an old concept for many of us, this article in the Harvard Business Review, "Shared Values" by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer may be a defining moment in the transformation of thinking about capitalism.

The social innovators in the world know and understand that that the economy versus environment paradigm is dead. We inherently embrace that within a 'collective interest' framework exists the 'self-interest' needed to sustain a living. We see the potential of making a living by doing good. We also know that the very best social innovations emerge out of community, aka... knowing ones customer.

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I wrote the following letter in response to The Philanthropist’s Point/Counterpoint entitled “Social Enterprise Is a Nice Idea, But It Is Not a Panacea that Justifies Rewriting Charity Law” (Vol 23, No 2, 2010).

After reading the polite exchange between Bob Wyatt and Don Bourgeois, I was left feeling that both authors somehow missed the fundamental point of social enterprise. Social enterprise, as a field, exists first and foremost to serve people, communities, and the environment. The approach of social enterprises is often embodied by a “whatever it takes” attitude that results in hybrid legal formations and impact-generating products and services, as well as more traditional charitable programs.

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SocialFinance.ca produces a weekly round up featuring social finance related news, insights, job openings, and events. We source the content for these round ups from Twitter, an RSS reader, and directly from our community of social finance practitioners. Below is our round up for the week of January 24, 2011.

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This is the third blog post in a series on the development of an open business plan for SocialFinance.ca. For the previous post, see Road to Social Impact Lined with Enabling Support.

This morning, I had the privilege of attending an informal discussion featuring Sean Stannard-Stockton of Tactical Philanthropy Advisors, fellow colleagues at SiG @ MaRS, and a collection of leaders within Canada’s philanthropic and social innovation community.

Sean had more than a few insights to share with the group, notably that:

• Every business creates social value although its often overlooked, and every non-profit creates economic value that’s also often overlooked;
• Investments in a non-profit’s overhead (talented staff, ongoing evaluation, and program innovation) are key to creating long-term social and economic value; and
• Effective use of blogging and social media combined with a willingness to share ideas exponentially increases an organization’s capacity to create enduring social impact.

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This blog post is the first in a series curated by Al Etmanski on the topic of what leading thinkers would like to see become 'more visible' in 2011. You can download the complete collection of responses to Becoming Visible here: Download Becoming Visible. SocialFinance.ca will be cross-posting the contributions to Al's project that refer to social finance. Enjoy.

2010 saw several important developments in social finance in Canada and internationally, much of which has been blogged about and discussed at SocialFinance.ca. In 2011, I would like to see more opportunities for young people to take their interest in social finance to the next level, so that they can actually build a meaningful career in this area.

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