Our History: Our purpose is to teach and inspire leaders to better understand and undertake the process of innovative thinking and social entrepreneurship. In 2008, we started the The Social Innovations Journal ™, in a journey to change the world. We had a simple mission: to create a space for social sector leaders to share their ideas, and, in the process, to inspire others to dream and innovate. Over time the journal expanded to include the Social Innovations Institute and Lab™ whose mission is to teach and inspire civic, government, social, and private sector leaders to better understand and undertake the process of innovative thinking and social entrepreneurship to achieve social impact.

LEADERSHIP

Co-Founder

Social Innovations Journal (SIJ) is dedicated to social innovators and entrepreneurs who work at the cross section between the private sector, government, and not-for-profits and aligns them toward collective social impact goals and public policy.  SIJ chronicles social innovations and enterprises addressing the world’s most challenging issues surrounding social policy, leadership, human capital, and systems. In collaboration with government, philanthropy, not-for-profits and universities, the Journal bridges formal research and real-life experience.

Social Innovations Journal (SIJ) provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater exchange of knowledge.

This journal is open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to users or / institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to full text articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or author as long as acknowledge the original author as stated in the Creative Commons License. 

The mission of the Social Innovations Journal is to promote innovative ideas informed by data and research, incubate social innovation and thought leadership, and to spark a culture of innovation leading to improved social sector products and services, systems and policies.  SIJ is creating a new standard for social innovations and enterprise publications by including the “why” behind their innovation, their bottom line impact (social and financial), and the system and policy implications.

The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) defines social innovation as a mechanism that “can concern conceptual, process or product change, organizational change and changes in financing, and can deal with new relationships with stakeholders and territories.” The OECD’s Forum on Social Innovation identifies the core components of social innovation as: 

• “identifying and delivering new services that improve the quality of life of individuals and communities; and

• “identifying and implementing new labour market integration processes, new competencies, new jobs, and new forms of participation, as diverse elements that each contribute to improving the position of individuals in the workforce.”

In the words of the OECD, “Social innovation is distinct from economic innovation because it is not about introducing new types of production or exploiting new markets in itself but is about satisfying new needs not provided by the market (even if markets intervene later) or creating new, more satisfactory ways of insertion in terms of giving people a place and a role in production.

“The key distinction is that social innovation deals with improving the welfare of individuals and community through employment, consumption or participation, its expressed purpose being therefore to provide solutions for individual and community problems.”

THE COLLABORATIVE IMPACT FUND

WHY: “We must redirect our efforts toward the urgent necessity of making our democracy more fully representative of our population. We must support people in finding their own solutions, boosting their sense of agency, and supporting them in building their own communities.”

HOW: The Greater Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal and Greater Philadelphia Social Innovations Awards, through a Collaborative Impact Fund (the “Fund”), addresses the inequities that currently exist in the Greater Philadelphia Philanthropic ecosystem. The Fund is positioned to serve as the micro-grant infrastructure arm of Greater Philadelphia foundations providing grassroots and small nonprofits the opportunity to access capital in the form of grants.  The Fund encourages and supports the spark and incubation of new social sector ideas, innovations and collaborations across sectors.   

WHAT: The Fund will make small grants to “changemakers” small nonprofits/fiduciaries or businesses, directed by The Fund Partners,  to support the seeding, exploration or implementation of an idea, innovation, or collaborative. The Fund will support projects serving Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and/or Philadelphia counties.

GREATER PHILADELPHIA COLLABORATIVE FUND PARTNERS

HOW IT WORKS: The Fund will identify, through a public nominations process, community change makers, small nonprofits and community leaders driving community impact.  The selection and nomination committee members will narrow down nominations to 6 finalists for 10 priority social issues facing Greater Philadelphia.

The Fund will reach out to all winners and finalists and invite them to be part of an investment portfolio. An investment portfolio of a maximum of 6 finalists and winners per social issue that will be packaged and sent to individual and foundation donors.  Individual and foundation donors, or designee will select which and the dollar amount to direct to winners and finalists.  The Donor Advised Fund will distribute general operation funds. The Fund will produce an impact report, from a survey to funded organizations/individuals, and sent to donors.

Social Innovation Awards

The Social Innovations Journal (SIJ) Awards is dedicated to health and social innovators and entrepreneurs who work at the cross section between the private sector, government, and not-for-profits and aligns them toward collective health and social impact goals and public policy. Social Innovations Journal chronicles social innovations and enterprises addressing the world’s most challenging issues surrounding health and social policy, leadership, human capital, and systems. In collaboration with government, philanthropy, not-for-profits and universities, the Journal bridges formal research and real-life experience. The Innovation Awards is a way to recognize agencies and leaders doing innovative work.

Global Innovation Awards

Building on our 15+ year history of discovering and supporting change-makers and innovators, the Social Innovations Journal is thrilled to announce the Global Innovation Awards. This prestigious awards program is designed to recognize and amplify the most impactful social innovations worldwide. The top two winners of all categories will receive a split of the membership capital allocated for the Global Innovation Awards.

Join us in celebrating and supporting the innovators who are making a real difference in the world. Stay tuned for more details on how to participate in the nomination process and support your favorite change-makers through our membership program.

Greater Philadelphia Social Innovation Awards

The Greater Philadelphia Social Innovations Awards celebrates greater Philadelphia social innovators. These awards honor our region’s most passionate social innovators, entrepreneurs and changemakers whose work and social impact too often goes unacknowledged, yet their efforts are what makes our communities a thriving region of innovation and opportunity.
The theme of the awards, “achieving a more just society,” recognizes organic leadership who re-envision the challenges that communities face and find innovative solutions to reshape communities.

Social innovators create change through innovative programs, policies, and by revolutionizing realities to bring us all forward to a more equitable and inclusive tomorrow -- today.

The 2025 Greater Philadelphia Social Innovations Awards will begin accepting nominations in October, 2025.

INTERESTED IN HOSTING

If your city, region, and/or ecosystem is interested in co-hosting A Social Innovations Awards, please inquire with nick@socialinnovationspartners.org

BRINGING YOUR IDEAS TO FRUITION

Social Innovation Idea Generation and Culture: We take your team through our social innovation process to transform their ideas into viable solutions to your most pressing problems. The journey is intensive, sharpening entrepreneurial and innovative thinking skills of participants, and promoting a culture of innovation for your organization. Through interactive guides and modules, your team will imagine, refine, and pursue their ideas, resulting in multiple business models primed for execution.

Complex Problem Solving: We convene government, philanthropy, private sector, and community around better “collective” problem solving to address the core challenges of your ecosystem and/or region. Cross sector collaborations need to lead by returning humanity to communities, including community voices, culture, lived experiences, empathy, and understanding. A cross-sector network needs to work toward improved partnerships and collaborations with regional and national associations and institutions that are aligned in strategies, efforts, and initiatives.

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DRIVING COLLECTIVE IMPACT AND OWNERSHIP

Scaling Impact through Replication: We help social sector organizations develop strategies to scale their social impact through partnerships and market forces. Social sector leaders who ask "How do you scale?" are posing the wrong question. We help social sector organizations who aspire to expand usage of its product or model to communicate the efficacy of its approach and then to find partnerships that can deliver its product or model. In this shift, we help the define it’s financial sustainable model.

SOCIAL INVESTING STRATEGY and PROJECT SUPPORT

Social Investing Strategy: Whether you are a corporation or a social investor we advise and coach you to develop a sound and practical corporate social responsibility and/or investment strategy to increase your social impact. We work with your team to develop a sound and practical social investing strategy ensuring a social return on your investment or an attracting investing strategy attracting social investors to launch and scale your innovation.

OUR CLIENTS

Founded, designed and launched Education Plus Health. Established in Pennsylvania in 2009, Education Plus Health serves over 7,000 students in fifteen (15) school-based health centers in Philadelphia. Understanding that education and health outcomes are closely interrelated, the Education Plus Health model supports the whole student from elementary school through high school and beyond school-based health care paired with our after school enrichment programs and post-secondary educational opportunities in two schools for improved academic and health outcomes.

Established and manage 4 Harcum College Satellite sites on behalf of I-LEAD. I-LEAD enrolls adult working learners in an accredited Associate Degree program delivered onsite in their neighborhood (school, church, library, housing development, community based organization) during evening hours, in an accelerated cohort-based format, with a real-world curriculum that complements rather than conflicts with the competing demands of work and family. I-LEAD designed ACE to address the primary barriers adults face when pursuing a college degree: time, cost, skills and culture. I-LEAD supported sites demonstrate a graduation rates equaling 70%.

Re-established and currently managing The Network Toward Unity for Health as a Global Leader in Universal Access and Equitable Health Delivery. TUFH believes that Universal Access and Equitable Health Delivery can only be achieved when there is coordination and “sharing” between Academic Institutions, Health Systems, and Communities. By serving as the global connector between these 3 sectors (the network of networks) The Network: TUFH is fostering the creation of new knowledge, collective solutions (helping subsystems become more than their individual parts), and informing global policy. 

What our Clients have to say about the social innovations process?

The future of the healthcare industry depends on providing value over volume. The Social Innovations Lab pioneered the concept of measuring outcomes, and helped Geisinger leaders put into practice rapid-prototyping, testing, and delivering products and services that will serve to delight our members and patients now and in the future. The Social Innovations Lab brought energy, excitement, and skill sets for the change we needed in Geisinger. Alex Maiersperger, Business Strategy Manager, Geisinger Health Plan

Social Innovations presented us with the tools and guidance that helped evolve business ideas into tangible business plans, equipping staff for the next steps in business development for the organization. Through this process we were provided with the inputs and training to embed entrepreneurial thinking in our development efforts and served to change the culture of the organization to a more innovative and business-oriented approach. Because of this process we initiated seven services lines that are at various stages of implementation, from rapid prototyping to implementation. Finally, this process allowed leadership and business divisions to interact and collaborate in ways that will increase organizational-level collaboration across business divisions. Joseph Kimbrell, CEO and Thomas Carton, Chief Business Development Officer: Louisiana Public Health Institute

The Social Innovation Lab was an invigorating experience for us at MPHI. It pushed us to think differently about our work and to trust in our ability to “sell” our expertise and products and explore how to do more of what we love to do. The lab brought together multidisciplinary teams from across the institute, each contributing different perspectives and skill-sets. The collaboration was very gratifying, it fostered a closer interaction between staff who have similar interests and complementary skills. The Social Innovations Process was very thoughtful, flexible and readily adaptable to our unique structure and needs. I personally appreciated your professionalism and your temperament and clear passion for what you’re coaching organizations in doing. You were generous with your time and your knowledge. May Darwish-Yassine, Ph.D. Chief Program Officer, MPHI

Social Innovators and Social Entrepreneurs Instructional Lectures

Nicholas Torres describes the importance and process to understand to research prior and current models and best practices related to a social issue to understand the gaps. Only when one understands the gaps can one launch a social innovation.

Kimberlee Douglas describes that in order to produce better service models or products we need to be better understand our targets and the context of their communities by designing with the target consumers and communities.

David Castro provides a macro perspective on Design Thinking in context of Social Innovation, Social Enterprise, Disruptive Innovation, and Systematic Thinking.

Nicholas Torres describes the importance and process of testing and then adapting your service or product on the targeted consumer before launching.

Philanthropy and Government as VC Video

Michael Clark describes the full array of social financing models that should be considered when seeking investments.

Nicholas Torres describes the thinking behind considering alternative revenue sources to philanthropy and governmental grants by first understanding the business behind the service or product and then creating 3-5 year financial projections.

Hadass Sheffer from Graduate! Network describes Graduate! Network’s model inception in Philadelphia’s Ecosystem and over a period of ten years scales to over 40 ecosystems across the United States.