Former Googler Sonal Shah to Lead White House Office of Social Innovation

Published April 20, 2009 @ 10:04AM PT

Late last week, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that the White House will appoint Sonal Shah to head the first ever Office of Social Innovation, a new Obama Administration initiative designed to help government better coordinate with, support, and scale up the work of social sector innovators.

The appointment has not yet been formally announced, and it is still unclear precisely what the mandate and scope of the Office will be. One responsibility almost definitely falling within Shah's purview will be sheparding the new experimental Social Innovation Fund, signed into law as part of the Serve America Act:

The office will no doubt be involved in the Social Innovation Funds pilot program that was just created by the Serve America Act, a national-service bill that will be signed by the president next week. The funds, which will be administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, will provide money for groups that are “developing innovative and effective solutions to national and local challenges.”

Sonal Shah is not a surprise pick, but so far is a welcome one. Craigslist founder Craig Newmark calls her the "real deal," and Jane Wales of the Aspen Institute writes that she is "remarkaby talented."

What I'm even more interested in than "who," however, is "what?" What will Shah's mandate really be? How much room will she have to spread her wings and experiment? How many of her responsibilities will be pre-determined? How much voice will social sector leaders have in the new Office, and what will the communication channels be? These are the details I'm really waiting for.

Still, it's nice that there finally seems to be some movement here. And as a side note, Google.org seems to be a good platform for jumping to exciting new initiatives, with Larry Brilliant being announced last week to lead the new Skoll Urgent Threats Fund.

For more background on the Office of Social Innovation, see the following links:

Crafting a Plan for Social Innovation

Who Will Direct the White House Office of Social Innovation?

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Comments (4)

Congratulations to Sona. It is great to see change. We needed it.

Posted by Tutor Melbourne on 04/20/2009 @ 04:26PM PT
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Thanks Nathniel for updating the breaking news.
Seriese of your recent blog postings have been making real sense to me, and I even have been "stealing":-) and sharing some of your ideas/posting , translated here in the Japanese language at www.socialcompany.org. Hope I can create a English blog, spreading the word about the movement in Japan soon.
Please keep up good work!
cheers,

ichi - Japan

Posted by Hiroyasu Ichikawa on 04/20/2009 @ 06:29PM PT
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Hi Ichi,

Thanks for writing, you're welcome to translate and share - I'm glad you're spreading ideas about the field and am excited that you're building it!

Best,
Nathaniel

Posted by Nathaniel Whittemore on 04/20/2009 @ 06:32PM PT
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Starting September 11, 2009 the Pass It Forward (PIF) Movement will be the answer to how we are going to manage all of the volunteers. One by one every person (www.aunitedworld.org/programs.asp) and organization (www.aunitedworld.org/pages.asp) is creating their own version of a PIF program. Here are the PIF programs that came out the National Conference on Volunteering and Service (www.itsallwhoyouknow.org). The best news of all - WE DON'T NEED ANY MONEY to empower each and every person to realize that they are capable of helping to make the world a better place.

In just 30 minutes (www.30minutementor.org) a volunteer mentor will help their protégé find their purpose, so that they can develop a passion (along with their gift) into their own PIF program. In the same 30 minutes a mentor will train the protégé so that they can do the same for others and PIF too. Our goal - "To give every person the opportunity to have a mentor and to be a volunteer mentor."

A PIF mentor is a master networker that will help their protégés do exactly what they want to be doing, when they want to be doing it, under their own terms and conditions. The only obstacles is first, their program must appeal to 100% of people; second, they must abide by all 6 pillars of character (www.aunitedworld.org/char.asp); and third, their program has to do with making the world a better place.

The only money we need from our government is to help create a website so we can empower 1000's of people in one day. Here's what we have so far www.aunitedworld.org/all.asp.

As the Director of the PIF movement, I am currently mentoring hundreds of people (all over the internet). It is not time consuming at all as I will always help my protégés go to the next step by referring them to a page on the website www.aunitedworld.org that will help them get what they want. To better understand what a PIF mentor is, please go to www.aunitedworld.org/mentor.asp.

I welcome your comments

Posted by Arlan Berglas on 06/30/2009 @ 01:57PM PT
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Author

Nathaniel is the founding Director of the Center for Global Engagement at Northwestern University, which works annually with hundreds of students in dozens of countries around the world through curricular programs and student project incubation.