The contemporary social innovation movement arose primarily in the Bay Area. It was built up from a combination of new wealth, socially conscious business leaders and entrepreneurial spirit. Many nationally renowned nonprofits and for-profits such as Delancey Street and The Bridgespan Group began in the Bay Area. Local foundations, such as the Hewlett Foundation and Packard Foundation, have played important roles in shaping the movement and the nonprofit sector.

Stanford benefits from being located in the heartland of social innovation. Both the Graduate School of Business and the undergraduate programs have begun to promote and involve students in the growing field.

The Stanford Graduate School of Business houses the Center for Social Innovation in addition to the Public Management Program for MBA students. The Center for Social Innovation sponsors research, organizes conferences and publishes the quarterly “Stanford Social Innovation Review,” a journal on managing and improving nonprofits. The Center for Social Innovation brings together scholars and people with experience and research in these areas to help nonprofit leaders find new ideas and operate effectively.

Stanford students are fortunate in that they have the opportunity to take courses from some of the leaders in this field. The Public Policy and Urban Studies Programs offer several course options for students who wish to study social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship courses such as the SE Collaboratory give students the chance to work in groups and actually develop a business plan for an organization that would work to meet a certain social need.

Last quarter, a team of students from FUSION, the Future Social Innovators Network, and the GSB’s Public Management Program worked with Melanie Edwards, the founder of MobileMedia and GSB Associate Prof. of Organizational Behavior Jim Phills to put on a one-unit lecture series where a variety of social entrepreneurs spoke about the evolution and growth of their organizations.

The social entrepreneurship curriculum has empowered several teams of students to participate in the annual business plan competition put on by the Business Association for Stanford Engineering Students, commonly known as BASES. The competition started with an Innovator Challenge and an Entrepreneur Challenge, but has expanded to include a Social Entrepreneur Challenge. The SE Collaboratory directly prepares students for this socially minded business plan competition, where teams of Stanford students compete to win a cash prize of a few thousand dollars which can be used to fund the starting of their organizations. A series of presentation rounds are judged by Bay Area social entrepreneurs, thus simultaneously creating a forum for discussion and networking as well as a way for students to get feedback from experienced practitioners.

Undergraduate student groups also have focused on promoting social enterpreneurship on campus. The student group FUSION, to which we belong, has promoted social innovation and entrepreneurship among undergraduates at campus over the last three years. The group initially grew out of a class on social entrepreneurship by one of the academic leaders in the field, Prof. J. Gregory Dees, then at Stanford and currently at Duke University. The group has sponsored conferences, classes in public policy and consulting projects with local non-profits.

“The class made me realize that social entrepreneurship had the potential to unite the differences between public service and entrepreneurial communities at Stanford,” said Tarek Ghani, Class of 2003 and co-founder of Fusion.

The Stanford Association for International Development has also worked to promote social innovation on campus over the last three years. For the last three years, the group has organized events for students to learn more about international development, including an annual conference. The conference this year, which will be held on Feb. 26 in Bishop Auditorium, will focus on the role of non-governmental organizations and others in improving international health. The conference is entitled, “Innovations in Improving Access to Health Care: Appropriate and Feasible?”

“We hope the conference will get students more interested in innovative ideas in international development and health,” said senior Christina Riechers, the conference co-coordinator.

Social innovation is obviously alive and well at Stanford. There are endless opportunities for students to get involved through classes, student groups, competitions and more. In order for social innovation to create real change more is needed: Ideas and inspiration need to become real organizations that change real lives.

Want to become involved in social innovation? E-mail senior Lija McHugh at lmchugh@stanford.edu or co-term Adam Stone at astone@stanford.edu.