Social innovation is a field dedicated to solving social problems by attacking root causes through novel approaches, shifting away from a conventional charity approach of managing conditions. As part of the 2016 International Folk Market | Santa Fe, the International Folk Alliance is proud to present, Social Innovation and Cross-Sector Solutions, Friday, July 8, 9:30am New Mexico History Museum (113 Lincoln Ave. Santa Fe, NM 87501).
The interview and discussion with New York Times best-selling author, David Bornstein, and immediate-past CEO of Philanthropy Northwest, Jeff Clarke, will cover a variety of topics surrounding global trends and the future of social entrepreneurship, cultural sustainability practices, and collaborative efforts among corporate and non-profit entities for lasting social impact. Additionally, International Folk Art Market | Santa Fe artist Meeri Tuya (Kenya), will share her story as an artist-entrepreneur who serves as a catalyst for positive social change, leveraging artisanship to create benefits for her community.
The group will be interviewed by International Folk Art Alliance CEO, Dr. Jeff Snell, whose extensive background in social innovation involves building a university consortium in social entrepreneurship as well as launching social enterprise start-ups. His leadership at IFAA involves moving the organization toward generating more earned, recurring revenue as a social enterprise so the organization can create additional sustainable sales opportunities for more artists globally – the top concern of the IFAA artist family.
Bornstein’s work focuses on social entrepreneurs, individual actors in the field of social innovation who have implemented models with value that accrues primarily to society rather than accruing wealth privately. A trained journalist, he co-founded solutions journalism as a means of reporting on what works in addressing social problems, a departure from conventional reporting on conflict narratives.
Clarke’s work involves a growing trend among foundations to tap their endowment principal in nontraditional business models, such as those often used by social entrepreneurs. The approach – often referred to mission investing or impact investing – addresses a gap in lending markets and creates a pathway for foundations to serve as a type of social venture capitalist, facilitating returns on investments that go beyond the economic and include social impacts.
Social Innovation and Cross-Sector Solutions is proudly sponsored by The Santa Fe New Mexican and IFAA Director, Benita Weber Vassallo. The program will be made available to the the public through a webcast on 172.97.101.154/webcast.
Participant Biographies:
Market artist, Meeri Tuya, is a mother and bead artist representing a village of Kenyan widows who make a living through the sales of their beadwork. The village empowers women by providing them a source of income, as well as reinforcing the cultural value of their beadwork to younger generations. These artists use colorful beads, leather, seeds, wires, and string, combining them in artistic and brilliant ways to create a wide range of jewelry and accessories.
David Bornstein is a journalist and best-selling author who focuses on social innovation. His books include How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank, and Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know. He is a co-founder of the Solutions Journalism Network and co-columnist for Fixes, appearing in the New York Times digital pages.
During his 15 years in philanthropy, Jeff Clarke has served as a senior executive, helping to build a large family foundation and as ceo of two leading philanthropic networks, Council on Foundations and Philanthropy Northwest. As a cofounder of the first national philanthropic network dedicated to impact investing, he believes that the rapid growth of impact investing bodes well for the future of social innovation.
Jeff Snell joined the International Folk Art Alliance team as Chief Executive Officer in March 2015, after more than 20 years in the charitable sector and extensive experience in social innovation and social entrepreneurship. Jeff has lectured widely, with talks that include Fordham University’s inaugural lecture for the Loschert Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship, and another at TEDxUW Milwaukee. He received his Ph.D. from Marquette University and a master’s in social ethics from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Massachusetts.
