News on The Edge
Welcome to the Social Edge update! We recently started questioning our Theory of Change philosophy, which used to be an individual program-driven in-house tool and is now being envisioned as a collaborative sector methodology that avoids needless duplication of effort. Now is the time to also review the way we evaluate impact and take the process to the level of issue-driven ecosystems. “With growing ambition yet shrinking resources, funders are increasingly interested in the collaborative impact of multiple grantees working together around a common goal,” writes this week’s host, Lakshmi Karan. This cluster approach brings opportunities for social entrepreneurs, but there are challenges in trying to measure systems change and the power of collective investments. Join Lakshmi Karan, the Skoll Foundation's Director of Impact Assessment and Learning, in a conversation that is taking place first on Social Edge then at the 2010 Skoll World Forum. Then read the story of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who was so convinced that business was the best route to development that he left Google to help D.Light Design grow its impact in West Africa. Sara Olsen also writes about the strategic value of impact measurement, Dr. O rejoices in the rise of student innovation, Magogodi Makhene discovers innovative technologies, Dhaval Chadha wonders about the impact of a UN conference, and Stephen Goldsmith shares how to use “elevated expectations” to achieve greater impact. Another great story of impact: Alvin Hall visits Camfed, where founder Ann Cotton has been using an innovative community-based approach to girls’ education, supporting them from elementary school through adulthood. The final word on impact goes to Jonathan Lewis, who reflects on what he recently overheard: “Social entrepreneurship is a religious devotion as much as a poverty reduction strategy.”
Join this Week's Live Discussions  The Power of Impact & Measurement
What are the challenges in trying to measure systems change? How do you implement programs that measure the power of collective investments? Join the Skoll Foundation's Lakshmi Karan in the conversation.
What's wrong with being poor?
Are the poor actually unhappy? Do we want them to have things they don’t need? What is really wrong with being poor? Join Mumbai-based Lindsay Clinton in this provocative (but constructive) conversation. Knowledge Transfer for Greater Impact
We need to provide knowledge transfer to build capacity building and move away from a system of dependency, writes Almaz Negash. But how do we support those social entrepreneurs who are trying to transfer knowledge? Theory of Change: A Collaborative Tool?
Your Theory of Change can simply be an in-house tool, or an in-sector methodology that you can use collaboratively to avoid needless duplication of effort. Join Charles "Hipbone" Cameron as we discuss how to get greater impact at the level of the issue. The Personal Bottom Line
Where do you fit on a three-axis graph with X=social, Y= financial and Z=personal? SVT Group’s Sara Olsen wonders what your personal bottom line looks like. The Fetishization of Metrics
If the value of social entrepreneurship is not reducible to simple quantitative terms, how do we define and capture the impact we are having? Join Charles (Hipbone) Cameron in the conversation.
Do you have suggestions for Social Edge or for this newsletter? Send us feedback. You can remove yourself from this list at any time. Hope to see you on The Edge and on Twitter @socialedge! Victor d’Allant
Executive Director, Social Edge
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Palo Alto, CA 94301 | 
"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." George Washington CarverWhat is Social Entrepreneurship?Statement of Faith
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