Topic: Nonprofit

Feliciano Reyna, Founder of Accion Solidaria, talks with Design For Change host Sheela Sethuraman about his multi-pronged approach to tackling AIDS in Venezuela. He shares his successes in influencing his government's policies and his strategies for engaging the corporate sector in this effort.

A high speed wireless network deployed throughout rural areas of San Diego county has changed both the quantity and quality of research done there. Most prominent is the repurposing of the Palomar telescope to rapidly respond to astronomical events. Following that is a review of some of the best tech toys of 2007.

In the frenzy over accountability, funders, donors, and the general public are calling for more program evaluation. Yet few understand how expensive and complex good evaluation is. Dr. Alana Conner, senior editor of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, illustrates how half-hearted evaluation can do more harm than good. Rick Aubry of Rubicon Programs Inc. and Victor Kuo of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation join her to give nonprofit and foundation perspectives.

On the fifth anniversary of IT Conversations, founder Doug Kaye joins Phil to discuss the past, present, and future of both IT Conversations and the Conversations Network. He reviews the technical aspects of how shows are assembled and also assesses the challenges with trying to produce quality programming in a non-profit environment. He also discusses how the Conversations Network will continue to evolve in the future.

AIDS, malaria, and maternal mortality are some of the chronic public health issues that plague Africa. Invited to Stanford, Paul Farmer talks about how his Boston-based organization, Partners In Health, is spending donor dollars to bring the lessons garnered from its work in Haiti to scale up health care services in war-torn Rwanda. His organization seeks to fill the gap that exists between medical R&D and health care delivery so preventions and cures can be brought to more of the people who need them.

For companies in the for-profit sector, branding is second nature. But how can nonprofits use branding effectively? Jennifer Aaker, Stanford business professor, shares her experiences studying and writing about nonprofits to offer three things that organizations do well when using brands successfully in the not-for-profit sector. She covers how a nonprofit can build a brand to differentiate itself, leverage limited funds, establish a reputation, inspire customer commitment, and more.

Your organization has an important mission. But could a potential funder or volunteer tell that by looking at your website or your annual report? And could one of your employees make the right decision in a tough situation by reading it? In this talk, part of the 2nd Annual Nonprofit Management Institute at Stanford in September 2007, Chip Heath, Stanford business professor, discusses how you can craft a mission statement that inspires people and helps them make important decisions, thereby offering powerful tools to lead your organization.

Taking the example of one of her clients, the Harlem Children's Zone, Susan Colby, partner and head of Bridgespan's San Francisco office, shares the Bridgespan approach to nonprofit strategy. She walks us through a rather challenging process to tactfully implement radical organizational changes. She speaks before a group of high-level nonprofit executives convened at Stanford by the Center for Social Innovation's publication, the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Dr. Joel Selanikio is the co-founder of DataDyne, a non-profit consultancy dedicated to improving the quantity and quality of public health data. He works mainly in developing countries where the dominant computer is the cellphone, and the dominant network protocol is SMS, a phenomenon that he calls "the invisible computer revolution."

Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and author of "Creating a World Without Poverty."