Why do some social enterprises succeed when others fail? In New Orleans, the Post-Katrina era has seen an influx of innovative social entrepreneurs attempting to solve problems familiar to urban communities around the world. Five years later, some efforts have proven sustainable while others have not. This panel gathered New Orleans-based practitioners and leaders in the fields of entrepreneurship, sustainable agriculture, journalism and poverty relief to explore successful approaches to sustaining social change.
Moderator:
Herman "Dutch" Leonard, George F. Baker Jr. Professor of Public Management at the Kennedy School and Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration and Cochair of the Social Enterprise Initiative at Harvard Business School, Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School
Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard is George F. Baker Jr. Professor of Public Management at Harvard Kennedy School and Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration and Co-Chair of the Social Enterprise Initiative at Harvard Business School. He teaches leadership, organizational strategy, crisis management, and financial management. His current research concentrates on crisis management, corporate social responsibility, and performance management. He is a member of the board of directors of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a 1-million-member Massachusetts HMO. He was formerly a member of the board of directors of the ACLU of Massachusetts, the Hitachi Foundation, the Massachusetts Health and Education Facilities Authority, and of Civic Investments, a nonprofit organization that assists charitable enterprises with capital financing; a member of the Research and Education Advisory Panel of the General Accounting Office; a member of the Massachusetts Performance Enhancement Commission; and a member of the Alaska Governor’s Council on Economic Policy. He served as Chair of the Massachusetts Governor’s Task Force on Tuition Prepayment Plans. He received a PhD in economics in 1979 from Harvard.
Panelists:
Joseph Brock: Executive Director, NOLA Green Roots
Joseph Brock is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. A 2005 Loyola University New Orleans graduate of science, Joseph has a keen eye for the individual elements that make up the whole of any Web site, pot of soil or business deal. He has dedicated his life to educating young people, and has experience working as a Juvenile Counselor to Executive Director of a local run non-profit organization called SAWP (Study And Work Pay) Organizationwhich helps high school students prepare for college. While working at SAWP, Brock helped over 1,400 students prepare to enter and succeed in college!
Currently, Brock owns J. Brock Web Design and is the Executive Director of NOLA Green Roots. He has built several operating gardens in the New Orleans metro area that feed many and teach thousands. Brock is serving his community by revolutionizing the way urban-dwellers receive and perceive fresh fruit and vegetables. His true passion is the science in gardening. He partners with high schools located around these community gardens to hold gardening classes every week. He is a savvy businessman who loves creating not just sustainable community gardens, but sustainable business models and business plans.
Ariella Cohen: Co-Founder, The Lens
Ariella Cohen is a co-founder of The Lens, the Gulf Coast’s first nonprofit investigative news outlet. The site specializes in unique, in-depth coverage of New Orleans, with an eye toward government accountability and transparency. Cohen founded The Lens after two years reporting on the city’s rebuilding for New Orleans City Business, and the national urban affairs magazine, Next American City. Through her reporting, she observed a need for deeper coverage of the city’s ongoing recovery and met the local bloggers and journalists who would eventually become The Lens. In its second year of operation, the site is supported by grants from Open Society Foundation, Knight Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, and the Zeitoun Foundation started by author Dave Eggers. Cohen now writes for The Lens and manages its grant support.
Her reporting on public policy, housing and community development has appeared in a range of online and print publications, including Newsweek, Newsweek.Com, Harpers Index, The Brooklyn Paper and Planning, the national magazine of the American Planning Association.
Cohen graduated from Oberlin College in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing.
Robert X. Fogarty: Director, evacuteer.org
Robert X. Fogarty, 27, is the director of evacuteer.org and founder of Dear World. He started evacuteer.org, an emergency preparedness non-profit, after assisting the City of New Orleans in the largest hurricane evacuation in United States history. This evacuation before Hurricane Gustav involved 18,000 residents without cars.
Evacuteer.org trains 500 volunteers each hurricane season to assist in the event of a mandatory evacuation and fills a critical component of the City of New Orleans’ emergency operations plan. The organization also researches and promotes innovative emergency preparedness strategy.
In 2011, Fogarty started Dear World, a scalable version of Dear New Orleans, his for-profit photography venture for social good. Fogarty has photographed thousands, including Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Drew Brees, Academy Award Winner Susan Sarandon and NBA All Star Chris Paul. His photos are viewed 1.5 million times every month online, and 10 percent of Dear New Orleans’ revenue goes to evacuteer.org.
Fogarty graduated from the University of Oregon School of Journalism in 2005.
Posted by dpict.info on 2011-03-16 22:15:07
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