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Here are five social innovation links we are clicking on today:

1. Amplify-New Profit Blog: America Forward: State of Play on Pay For Success Policy “America Forward, New Profit’s policy arm, recently brought together almost 60 organizations and thought leaders interested in the growing Pay for Success movement to provide an update on current federal legislative activity and discuss prospects for growth during this Congressional session.The cross-sector Pay for Success approach has the potential to be a powerful tool for getting dramatically better results from social programs and scaling the best social innovations, which is why America Forward and New Profit have invested heavily to support its growth”
2. The Huffington Post: Opportunity Lost or Gained? David Flink, founder of Eye to Eye, writes about the importance of reaching all students no matter their learning style. “There are societal costs for not reaching all of our kids. We risk losing the innovation of more than one third of our country’s future entrepreneurs and small business owners, who are dyslexic.” New Profit is a proud funder and partner of Eye to Eye.

3. The New York Times: Guiding Families to a Fair Day in Court “If a member of your family was arrested, would you know how to help? Would you know what to look for in a police report? Or guide your relative about what to expect from the defense attorney? For a wide swath of Americans, these are not hypothetical questions. More than 2.3 million people are in prisons and jails, and 5 million are on parole or probation. More astonishingly, nearly one-third of Americans have been arrested on criminal charges (other than a minor traffic violation) by age 23. Particularly in inner cities, it’s prudent for Americans to understand how the justice system works. (Watch this impassioned TED talk by a young sociologist, Alice Goffman). The question is: How can communities better prepare for the crisis of an arrest — so they can act more effectively in the defense of family, friends or neighbors?”

4. TED Blog: Toward new, more nuanced conversations: The talks in Session 5 of TEDWomen 2015 This blog provides a summary of the talks that were given as part of Session 5 of TEDWomen 2015, including one given by Mia Birdsong of Oakland’s Family Independence Initiative (FII). Birdsong’s talk focuses on “transformative ways to think of poverty.” New Profit is a proud funder and partner of FII.

5. NPR: Exploding Myths About Learning Through Gaming “If you had to pick the most promising — and possibly most overhyped — education trends of the last few years, right up there with the online college courses known as MOOCs would almost certainly rank this one: Game-based learning shall deliver us to the Promised Land! But between hype and hating lies the nuanced discoveries of veteran education reporter — and former teacher — Greg Toppo. ‘What looks like a 21st-century, flashy, high-tech way to keep kids entertained is in fact a tool that taps into an ancient way to process, explore and understand the world,’ he writes in his new book The Game Believes In You. Some of his findings might surprise you.”