The Power of Social Innovation: How Civic Entrepreneurs Ignite Community Networks for Good

Stephen Goldsmith (Cambridge, MA) is the Daniel Paul Professor of Government and the Director of the Innovations in Government Program at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School. Goldsmith, himself an entrepreneur, occupies the unique position of having approached these issues as a national leader across sectors. Goldsmith served two terms as mayor of Indianapolis, where his transformative efforts to revitalize urban neighborhoods and to transfer real authority to community groups received national acclaim. Goldsmith led reform as special advisor to President Bush on faith-based and nonprofit initiatives, and has served under both Presidents Bush and Obama as chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Goldsmith has been widely published and is the author of Governing by Network, winner of the National Academy of Public Administration’s Louis Brownlow Book Award.

Gigi Georges spent the past year as a visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. She has served as a White House special assistant to President William J. Clinton and communications director for the New York City schools under Mayor Bloomberg, and holds a M.P.A from Princeton University and a B.A. from Wellesley College. Tim Glynn Burke coordinates research on social innovation at Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. He holds a M.S. in public affairs from the University of Massachusetts Boston and a B.S. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.