Social Innovation Conversations

Anyone who thinks the revolutionary spirit is dead in the United States didn't attend Bridging the Gap: Leading Social Innovation Across Sectors, the Stanford 2005 Net Impact conference. As the throng of 1,600 MBA Students and young professionals at this year’s 13th annual such happening attest, the will to make a difference is alive, well, and bolstered with business tools.

Indeed, with several keynote speeches and more than 50 panel discussions, the November 10-13 event at the Stanford Graduate School of Business served as a remarkably hopeful indicator that perhaps the world may pluck itself from the brink of ecological and social collapse after all.

From the famous like Al Gore, the former vice president who now heads Generation Investment Management, to socially responsible business pioneers like Stonyfield Farm’s Gary Hirshberg and Working Assets’ Laura Scher, to entrepreneurial newbies like World of Good’s Priya Haji and BUILD’s Suzanne McKechnie Klahr, the message was clear: Business, government, and nonprofits are all serving as both independent and linked forces for positive social change.

The Center for Social Innovation at Stanford brings you a selection from the rich array of panel discussions of topics such as:

Business and the environment,
Business in the nonprofit sector,
Corporate social responsibility,
International development, and
Socially responsible investing.

Learn more about Bridging the Gap: Leading Social Innovation Across Sectors , the Stanford 2005 Net Impact Conference.

The programs will be published over the next few weeks and will appear in the list below. The best way to learn about new releases is to subscribe to one of the RSS feeds below, or to one of the site-wide feeds.

Our publication of this series was made possible by your membership dues and:

Gary Hirshberg - Social Entrepreneurs Invent the Future

Can businesses deliver strong returns to shareholders while also promoting the health of people and the planet? Gary Hirshberg, the phenomenally successful pioneer of the organic foods industry, uttered a resounding yes in his keynote address at the Stanford Net Impact conference convened by the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Play

22 minutes, 10.3mb, recorded 2005-11-11 details...

Panel Discussion - What Does It Take to Get Off the Ground?

Have you ever thought about launching your own social venture? Are you curious if you have what it takes to become a social entrepreneur? What funding sources are available to social entrepreneurs? What are the challenges of running a social venture? This panel from Bridging the Gap, the Stanford 2005 Net Impact Conference organized by the Stanford Graduate School of Business, brings together people from both sides of the "start-up" fence--those who started with large financial backing and those who had none.

Play

75 minutes, 34.5mb, recorded 2005-11-12 details...

Bridging the Gap - Evaluating Social Venture Ideas

Are you planning on starting a social or environmental venture? If so, this workshop from Bridging the Gap, the Stanford 2005 Net Impact Conference, organized by Stanford Graduate School of Business, is the perfect opportunity to learn practical tips to gain support for your ideas. Three experts of social ventures share the process and tools they use to evaluate the impact and viability of aspiring change-makers' social or environmental venture ideas.

Play

51 minutes, 23.8mb, recorded 2005-11-11 details...

Amory Lovins - U.S. Oil dependency

Oil dependence is a problem we no longer need to have. Internationally recognized expert in energy policy, Amory Lovins, demonstrates how by the mid 2040s the United States could get off oil all together and strengthen its economy in the process. At Bridging the Gap, the Stanford 2005 Net Impact Conference, Lovins talks about the fundamental shifts that the American society needs to go through in order to make this scenario a reality.

Play

59 minutes, 27mb, recorded 2005-11-12 details...

Bridging the Gap - Social Entrepreneurs in For-Profit Education

Can business add value to the education field? This panel from Bridging the Gap, the Stanford 2005 Net Impact Conference, organized by the Stanford Graduate School of Business, features entrepreneurs who leverage for-profit business models to offer high caliber education. Pioneers and market leaders who have built successful businesses around the many unmet needs in education talk about the business opportunities in education today.

Play

24 minutes, 11.3mb, recorded 2005-11-12 details...

Bridging the Gap - Building and Integrating a CSR Agenda

Many companies now acknowledge the financial benefits of socially responsible behavior over the long term. Such commitments however, are managed with levels of involvement spanning from a centralized CSR office to a fully integrated approach calling on all mainstream operating departments in the organization. This panel discussion from Bridging the Gap, the 2006 Stanford Net Impact conference organized by the Stanford Graduate School of Business, explores strategies to advance corporate social responsibility in large companies.

Play

55 minutes, 25.2mb, recorded 2005-11-12 details...

Bridging the Gap - Capital Markets and Green Companies

What is the future for green companies, particularly those involved with alternative energy? As the market demands more products and services that address social and environmental issues, where will these innovative companies find financial backing to pursue their goals? What are the different challenges faced by green companies in securing capital funding? How will this type of initial investment affect the future success of these companies? Discover how venture capitalists envision the role of capital markets in green companies in this lively discussion from Bridging the Gap, the Stanford 2005 Net Impact conference organized by the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Play

43 minutes, 19.8mb, recorded 2005-11-11 details...

Bridging the Gap panel - Reducing Global Poverty

From clean water to disease control and global climate change, a new breed of business people design sustainable solutions to promote international development and reduce global poverty. At Bridging the Gap, the Stanford 2005 Net Impact conference organized by Stanford Graduate School of Business, leaders of The Acumen Fund, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, and Techno Serve, explain how they are applying business discipline to improve livelihood in many different nations.

Play

78 minutes, 36.1mb, recorded 2005-11-11 details...

Vyomesh Joshi - The HP Way

What does it take for a company to create a sustainable business? This is your chance to discover the five key success factors that enabled the growth of Hewlett-Packard. Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president of HP's imaging and printing group, shares management wisdom distilled from 25 years' experience with HP at Bridging the Gap, the Stanford 2005 Net Impact Conference, organized by Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Play

73 minutes, 33.7mb, recorded 2005-11-11 details...

Bridging the Gap Panel - Innovation in Public Education

This panel from Bridging the Gap, the Stanford 2005 Net Impact Conference organized by the Stanford Graduate School of Business, explores the challenges and opportunities of applying business practices and strategies to urban education reform. Innovation and entrepreneurship have grown increasingly important as the education landscape changes, bringing exciting new leadership and approaches to address the issues of today. This discussion is particularly timely as the K-12 arena continues to grapple with consequences of the No Child Left Behind legislation.

Play

55 minutes, 25.4mb, recorded 2005-11-12 details...

Editorial leadership by

Social Innovation Conversations