LIVE UNITED Y’All!

By Howard Mason

The LIVE UNITED Social Innovation prize, presented by Ernst & Young, was designed for change makers in Kentuckiana who are prepared to put their ideas into action. The winners were picked by the public making credit card contributions to the eight finalists. Contributions were accepted through November 10, 2009.

Here are the finalists and their totals:

The competition closed at 9:00 a.m., November 10, 15 hours earlier than expected, due to an issue with the web donation technology.  Because the totals of the innovators in fourth and fifth place were virtually the same and it is not known what amounts would have been donated in the last 15 hours, fourth place was determined to be a tie and the award split among the two.

And the winners are…

The prize recipients and the amounts awarded will be:

1^st Place         $10,000 Grand Prize — Breaking New Grounds

2^nd Place        $5,000 Prize — Weber Gallery

3^rd Place         $5,000 Prize — Steward’s Staff

4^th Place         $5,000 Prize — Tie

• $2,500 Prize — Americana Family Literacy for Immigrants
• $2,500 Prize — Muscle Mover Clinic

Next steps:

December - Convene winners and finalists to launch learning community. Assess needs for support, learning, incubation.

January through June - Conduct monthly meetings of learning community with mentoring/education activities selected by participants.

Read about the finalists and their innovations at liveunitedyall.org/innovation

Education, General, Giving, Income Social Entrepreneur, Social Innovation, Social Innovation Prize

By Howard Mason

In May of this year, Metro United Way announced the LIVE UNITED Social Innovation Prize presented by Ernst & Young and opened the competition for submissions. A total of 46 completed submissions were received by the entry deadline, July 8, 2009. Metro United Way Community Change Incubator volunteers reviewed these submissions and found 18 to be ineligible for judging, primarily due to not being aligned with our Education, Income or Health Building Block(s) and/or not sufficiently innovative.

The remaining 28 proposals were scored by three-judge panels, using an online survey scoring tool. The average score of all judges for each proposal was determined for these items:

• Statement of issue/problem
• Innovation and benefits connected to selected Education, Income, Health Building Block(s)
• Finances and implementation
• Ability to grow, sustain and contribute learning
• Overall attractiveness

Judges also recommended whether to advance a submission to finalist.

Eight innovations emerged as the clear leaders and were selected as the finalists. See them on liveunitedyall.org/innovation.

I had the pleasure of calling each finalist to let them know that they had been selected to advance in the competition. I also asked them to come to a meeting at Metro United Way to meet the Community Change Incubator volunteers and social innovation prize judges, tell their story, hear about the plan for creating a learning community, and get briefed on the deliverables that were required of finalists.

It was a great meeting and everyone was touched and energized by the passion and creativity of the innovations. Most of the finalists were at least a little intimidated by the deliverables.

Each finalist had three weeks to provide:

1.      Innovation name or title.

2.      Innovator name.

3.      Still photo.

4.      Resume for individual innovator or organizational description, contact information and three references.

5.      Headline description of the innovation.

6.      Description of the innovation with a one-sentence summary, a paragraph on how the innovation is unique, and another paragraph on how it would work.

7.      A short video pitching the Social Innovation.

8.      An account to receive credit card donations.

This was a tall order, but these are the kind of things our volunteers have learned were first steps to go from idea and discussion, to action and accomplishment.

To be a successful social innovator, it takes a burning idea that has magnetism-that draws excitement, people, resources to it. It also takes the energy and commitment to dig in and do the work that is needed to make the idea come to life.

Now it’s up to YOU to vote on which innovations will win. You cast your vote by making a contribution in any amount up to a maximum of $250 from any individual donor through the innovation’s ChipIn widget, displayed on the innovation’s web page on this site: liveunitedyall.org/innovation.

No matter how much money each finalist receives in this competition, it will not completely fund their innovation. The work they did to prepare for the finalist round of the LIVE UNITED Social Innovation Prize will help them be more effective by getting them recognition, opening doors, and practicing the skills to become the magnet.

Next steps for the LIVE UNITED Social Innovation Prize:

November–Announce winners and award prizes.

December–Convene winners and finalists to launch a Community of Social Innovation. Assess needs for support, learning, incubation.

January through June–Conduct monthly meetings of the Community of Social Innovation with mentoring/education activities selected by participants.

Special thanks to the Community Change Incubator volunteers whose efforts made the prize happen: Doug Lowry, Deborah Boyer, Michelle Wyrick, Rob Kaplan, Merv Antonio, Jud Hendrix, and David Allgood.

Many thanks to Lynn Smith for organizing the entries and the surveys-a huge task with many tight deadlines.

And extra special thanks to Erin McMahon for her tireless work and unflagging enthusiasm and good nature in developing the web sites.

Don’t forget to donate to your favorite and encourage others to do the same!

Education, General, Giving, Health, Income Add new tag, Social Entrepreneur, Social Innovation, Social Innovation Prize

By Howard Mason

Do you have a BURNING IDEA that will change our community for the better? Metro United Way’s LIVE UNITED Social Innovation Prize is designed for change makers in Kentuckiana who are prepared to put their ideas into action. Prizes totaling $25,000 will be awarded to the innovators who gain the most support from the community.

Everyone deserves opportunities to have a good life: a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health. That’s why Metro United Way’s work is focused on the building blocks for a good life:

• Education - Helping Children and Youth Achieve Their Potential
• Income - Promoting Financial Stability and Independence
• Health - Improving People’s Health

To be successful, we need to harness the wide-ranging talents of our best social pioneers-encouraging them to innovate and pursue their visions. As in the business sector, there is no shortage of innovators, but there is not yet enough systematic support available to social innovators.

Many of the best know, most effective human services that Metro United Way partners with, like Big Brother Big Sisters, were started by social innovators in the 20^th century to solve the 20^th century problems. Metro United Way wants to encourage and support the work of 21^st century innovators who achieve lasting social change through a new invention, a different approach, a more effective use of known technologies or strategies, or a combination of these.

Purpose

To attract social innovations and to highlight the benefits of innovative approaches to solving social problems, Metro United Way is creating the LIVE UNITED Social Innovation Prize.

Prizes

A total of four prizes will be awarded. Three $5000 prizes will be awarded: one for the best solution in each of the areas of education, income and health. A grand prize of $10,000 will be awarded for a solution that produces results in two or more of these areas.

The LIVE UNITED Social Innovation Prize is for expenses directly related to the implementation of the solution, and will help attract funding and other resources and support.

Finalists will be offered nurturing and support to incubate their solutions. Each finalist will be connected to a “wisdom council” of mentors and advisors with whom the finalist may meet regularly. The wisdom council will be empowered to connect the finalists with additional resources for advice, training, and support.

For many of the social innovators who participate in the competition, the wisdom council and additional connection to resources will be more valuable than the prize.

Judging

Judging will be done in two phases. Initial screening and selection of finalists will be done by a panel of volunteers who have indicated their willingness to serve on wisdom councils.

Finalists will be posted on Metro United Way’s website and assigned to education, income, health or combination categories. Visitors to the website will have the opportunity to donate by credit card to one or more finalist. To encourage broad participation, minimum donation will be kept as small as feasible.

The winners would be determined by the highest total donations in each category. All finalists will receive the amount donated to their solutions.

The website for applying for the LIVE UNITED Social Innovation Prize will open May 4, 2009.

Go to www.metrounitedway.org/innovation

The deadline for submissions is July 8.

If you know a social innovator with a BURNING IDEA, please ask them to visit the website and encourage them to apply.

Education, General, Health, Income Innovator, Live United, Prize, Social Innovation