Blog

In December 2007, America Forward launched with a collective vision to not only transform the national climate in which social entrepreneurs and their organizations were operating, but to ultimately create a new role for government, enabling it to support innovation, partner with results-driven organizations, and emphasize results, not rules.

Four policy ideas were brought to the table and endorsed by more than 70 organizations that joined the coalition: a Community Solutions Fund Network to bring proven solutions to scale, a Commission on Cross-Sector Solutions to examine how government can work more effectively and efficiently with the nonprofit sector, a White House Office of Social Innovation and Results to spearhead a government-wide effort to increase focus on innovation and results in social programs, and Serve America Fellowships to support future social entrepreneurs. With two goals in hand—ensuring the implementation of America Forward policy ideas and promoting the principles of social entrepreneurship to policymakers and thought leaders across sectors—the coalition set to work.

Now, with November 4th less than one week away, we wanted to take a moment and reflect on our progress and success during the past year.

Take three minutes and help YouthBuild call for a decisive expansion of its programs and national service over the coming decade by adding your name to Sign On Letters to both Presidential candidates. As YouthBuild President and Founder Dorothy Stoneman explained in an email last week, both candidates need to be reminded to keep the engagement of low-income youth on the agenda especially in this time of economic crisis.

Last week Kelly Ward, Director of America Forward, highlighted common ground between the McCain and Obama campaigns on the Public Innovators’ blog.

With less than 50 days until Election Day, the presidential candidates are working hard to point out their differences. By the tenor of this election, you’d never know there are issues on which the candidates actually agree! But there are, and policies that support the work of social entrepreneurs are among them.

This month Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) unveiled the Serve America Act of 2008—a landmark piece of legislation that proposes several America Forward policy ideas: a Community Solutions Fund Network to bring effective solutions to scale, a Commission on Cross-Sector Solutions to spur change within the federal government, and Serve America Fellowships to support future social entrepreneurs.