The social innovators who founded the UnReasonable Institute have unveiled the next step of the their model, the funding marketplace.  The UnReasonable Institute is a novel incubator for social benefit organizations.  Potential fellows were just screened down to 35 finalists, who have been posted in a market place.  In order to attend the 10-week fellowship [...]

This video, produced by our friends at In The Telling, tells the story of Bernard Amadei, one of the co-founders of Engineers Without Borders, and the new Center for Engineering for Developing Communities.
“We tap into local talent, and strengthen that talent,” Amadei says about his philosophy, a more sustainable approach than typical imperialism still practiced [...]

Together with colleagues John Cleveland and Pete Plastrik, the founders of two amazing change networks in urban sustainability (John) and social innovation (Pete), I’ve been working on a concept called the Social Innovation Commons.
The project is an answer to an obvious problem: a maze of data and a warren of information stores permeates the field [...]

Our friends Rick Zwetch and Caryn Cappricioso at interSector Partners L3C just shared this draft of the L3C legislation (PDF download) that Rep Joe Mikosi is introducing in the Colorado legislature.
Beyond “you heard it here first,” Rick is seeking:

feedback on the bill (this would be your lawyer or friend starting an L3C)
supporters for the bill [...]

In our busy lives, let’s all take a moment to consider the lessons Dr. Martin Luther King taught us.  His focus on non-violent change in pursuit of social justice is an inspiration to change agents and social entrepreneurs around the world.
Rest in peace, Dr. King.

A great new project is accepting applications for funding from sustainable ventures.
The i4c campaign (as in “I forsee… a better tomorrow”) is a project launched by Boulder-based TouchPoint Trust Group to connect the entertainment industry with sustainable and triple-bottom-line oriented ventures.  The first initiative in the campaign is a million dollar venture fund set up [...]

One of our good friends and advisors, Jed Emerson, has been on the front lines of the intersection of sustainable investing and traditional capital markets.  For the past year, Jed was a partner at Uhuru, a hedge fund play with a sustainability bent, created by Peter Kellner, of Endeavor fame.  Although the fund failed to [...]

This picture of me is worth one thousand words, at the minimum. Taken at Berthoud Pass, CO, while skiing with some very good friends.

With that, my midwinter haitus ends, and it’s back to a regular schedule of posts on the intersection of transformative IT, impact investing and sustainable business.

Looking down the page, it’s clear I’ve gotten behind on the blogging.
It’s a workload thing — so much exciting, impactful, time-consuming work and work travel going on that I’m in total overwhelmsion.
Soon, more reports and updates from the oddventures.  Until then, happy holidaze.

Our friends and collaborators Peter van Geldern and David Marks have re-launched their Shades of Green Network (SGN) this week.  SGN is a network of advisors and investors who are focusing on building green businesses in the New York metro area.  Their network has professionals of all disciplines (accountants, lawyers, grant writers, marketers and more), [...]