Summer 2008

Summer 2008 - A brief report on progress so far

This note provides a short update on what the Young Foundation has achieved, what we're doing and our plans. The Foundation has a unique track record of successful social enterprise and social innovation stretching back fifty years, following a re-launch in 2005 we are now a team of almost 60 staff, who work alongside advisors, consultants and fellows, combining research, local projects, development of new enterprises and a widening range of international work.

We have published many books - mainly through commercial publishers - held events in China, Australia, the US and Europe, and engaged with practical change at many levels, from the very local to the global. Most of our projects are done in partnership with communities, national and local governments, businesses, NGOs, foundations and universities.

Our primary focus is building up the field of social innovation which we believe will be of growing importance as societies grapple with the challenges of ageing, climate change and inequality. We are doing this by:

• Developing research and ideas, with a stream of publications and research projects, and collaborations with other centres for research
• Demonstrating social innovation in practice, particularly in health and education, through developing enterprises and new models, and new ways of accelerating and incubating promising models
• Networking with others working in this field globally, primarily through SIX, the international social innovation exchange which launched formally in 2008
• Making recommendations to governments, foundations, business and others on how they can support effective innovation in the public sector, civil society and markets
• Working with agencies and communities at the local level to nurture innovation and develop new ways of improving community empowerment and quality of life
• Creating new tools to help the practice of social innovation, including organisational design, finance and growth

Our work now falls into four main areas:

• Launchpad and new enterprises;
• Research, action research, and international;
• Local Innovation; and
• Running a hub.