The Top Trends Shaping Social Entrepreneurship at SoCap09

Published September 01, 2009 @ 12:06PM PT

Luminaries at the Social Capital Market conference 2009

Between last Christmas and New Years, I wrote a series of posts discussing the top trends that I thought would shape social entrepreneurship in 2009. The list was diverse - from education to technology to government partnerships. The panel sessions that will take place over the next couple days demonstrate just how important some of these trends are.

Measurement is clearly a question on people's minds, and for good reason. As this market is emerging as an actual ecosystem with many funders, entrepreneurs, and other actors, people are looking fora way to rationalize their impact in order to improve what they do and understand their impact relative to their peers. On Wednesday, the "Metastasizing Metrics" session will feature folks from the Salesforce Foundation, Acumen Fund and others who are on the front line of the conversation.

Mobile technology is clearly taking a place as one of the most disruptive areas of social innovation. Later today, the "Disruptive Innovation" panel will feature folks like Luck Gunasekara, one of the founders of FrontlineSMS:Medic, a nonprofit that is using mobile devices to expand the quality and reach of rural health care.

Online action platforms are more prominent than ever. At this year's SoCap they are represented not only by panel discussions featuring folks like the founders of Kiva, Change.org, and Global Giving, but in the extraordinary social media presence. Do a Twitter search for "SoCap09" to see what I mean.

There are also green innovators, blended value investors, and educators galore, but one of the most notable additions to this year's event is the presence of Sonal Shah, the director of the Obama Administration's new Office of Social Innovation. She'll kick off the event this year with a keynote that hopefully tells everyone here more about the government's partnership with social innovators.

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Author

Nathaniel is the founder of Assetmap, a San Francisco-based startup that builds web tools to help people better visualize and leverage their social capital. Before that, he was the founding director of the Northwestern University Center for Global Engagement.