Last week I wrote about a conference I attended hosted by the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders entitled, "Our Evolving Food System: Perspectives from the Heartland."

What single bill -- albeit with a great many tentacles -- currently sits before Congress and will define the future of so much of the commons -- our land use, soil and water quality, the future of our rural communities? Look no further than the tip of your fork: the Farm Bill.

June 26th marked the 4th Annual Share Our Strength's Chefs on Bikes presented by Fortessa event. Chefs on Bikes is a day-long motorcycle rally filled with lovely meals and several 100 mile rides through the beautiful Virginia countryside.

I read an article on Saturday that is, without question, one of the most disturbing I've read in many years. New York Times op-ed columnist Bob Herbert wrote that the number of Chicago public school children killed since the start of the most recent school year as a result of gang or random violence has reached 34.

As an article by Colleen DeBaise in this week's Wall Street Journal explores, some nonprofits, including Share Our Strength, are beginning to look at national franchises as a way to earn income:

The Academy of Achievement's purpose is to connect graduate students from 40 countries around the world to "leaders, thinkers and pioneers."

A Discussion Between Paul Shoemaker and Mario Morino... Paul Shoemaker ended his recent post with a great point to which I first pose a consideration and then ask a question.

A Discussion Between Paul Shoemaker and Mario Morino... It's a pleasure to be able to respond to Mario Morino's excellent points. I hope others will chime in and leave comments and reactions to this interesting exchange. I have a few reactions to the ideas Mario raised:

A Discussion Between Paul Shoemaker and Mario Morino... During our recent Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP) board meeting, marking the end of our first seven years and beginning our next stage and second fund, we started a discussion of lessons learned.

A Discussion Between Paul Shoemaker and Mario Morino... The Bridgespan Group consistently does a great job building knowledge in the social sector, and they've come out with some excellent articles lately.

It takes a lot to get a chef up before dawn. With the lure of breakfast burritos upon arrival at the Crescent City Farmers Market, all eighteen CulinaryCorps cooks managed to drag themselves out of their post-po'boy slumber and load with zombie-like obedience into the waiting vans.

For years, the field of micro-finance has struggled with the challenge of blending a social mission with a need to operate economically viable institutions. Some in the field have argued that, as long as microfinance organizations provide the poor with reliable access to credit, they should seek to maximize returns in order to attract investment capital.

Reports about poverty in America are not uncommon but it was jarring to see one published during the same week in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average passed 13,000 for the first time, symbolizing the continued creation of massive wealth for some of America's richest corporate shareholders. The report, published by a Washington think tank called the Center For American Progress, released recommendations on April 25 for cutting poverty in half in ten years.

March 23, 2007 -- It had been less than five months since I first visited New Orleans as a Share Our Strength-Henckels Cutting Edge Student.

Every year since 1948, BBC has organized a series of lectures in which a leading public figure addresses a worldwide radio audience about important contemporary issues. This year the Reith lectures, named in honor of the BBC's first director general will be delivered by Jeffrey Sachs.

Thursday, April 5th was a happy day in New Orleans. Church calendars indicated that it was Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday which commemorates the Last Supper. But the smiling people lined up at the corner of Orleans Ave and Miro Street indicated a new beginning.

On Friday Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu gave a keynote speech at NYU's annual conference on social entrepreneurship. Speaking easily and without notes, lacing his comments with self-deprecating jokes, he was powerfully eloquent on the issues of race and poverty in America:

This past week, the political establishment has been obsessing over who "won" and who "lost" stage one of the so-called "money primary." But the first incumbent-free presidential election in 55 years should first and foremost be about ideas and leadership.

The class I teach at NYU's Stern School of Business was fortunate to have as a guest speaker last night Chuck Harris who is a founding partner of a new financial intermediary called SeaChange Capital Partners. Chuck's ambitious, innovative and much needed idea is to fill the market gap that exists for growth capital for nonprofits with proven track records.

One of the most difficult challenges facing entrepreneurial, innovative leaders who found organizations - whether business or nonprofit - is knowing when it's time to move to broader-based ownership so the organization becomes independent and capable of sustaining its long-term impact. Sooner or later these founders face a day when the organization they helped birth is no longer theirs alone.

When I read Billy Shore's op-ed about his visit to Arlington National Cemetery, I realized I've been waiting to see a reflection like his for several years. The White House and Pentagon have done so much to make the final stage of military sacrifice invisible, so every experience is individualized and isolated - like Billy's personal excursion to Arlington.

Mergers in the corporate world, if done well, create value for shareholders. Inevitably, there is also personal benefit in the form of sizable payout to the management team for orchestrating the merger, whether that team remains in the company or puts themselves out of a job.

Amazing how fast we slide right back into "real life." Davos was only a couple of days ago and already I'm neck deep into my normal work.

"Malaria Kills. Kill Mosquitoes" That is the saying on over a million yellow bracelets that were handed out throughout Nigeria in 2006. Imitating the cause marketing sensation, LiveStrong wristbands, these yellow bracelets are all over the country, namely in rural areas of Nigeria.

Every year there's a big party at the WEF on the last night (Saturday). Countries vie to sponsor the main event, throwing a big show and serving up their best food. Of course, the reason is economic development. After the opening show, we were treated to a short video extolling the virtues of investing in Malaysia.

People are often surprised when I tell them how social entrepreneurs are well received at Davos. We're full participants in panels, including being speakers. I think the reason for this integration is the strong support of the WEF's founder, Prof. Klaus Schwab, for the regard of social entrepreneurs.

I attended the Internet governance panel this morning (lest you think that Davos is all play and no work). Fascinating panel: Vint Cerf (Google), Michael Dell (Dell), John Markoff (New York Times), Hamadoun Toure (ITU), Jonathan Zittrain (Oxford) and moderated by Paul Saffo (Institute for the Future). Just a few snapshots:

I hope to share a little of the flavor of Davos as we get into what's going on. Davos is a little mountain town in a valley with ski slopes on both sides. There are basically two main drags around the town, an upper one and a lower one, that meet at the two ends of town and make a long winding oval.

We're wrapping up an intense couple of days here in Zürich, and I take the spectacular train to Davos this afternoon. The event here in Zürich is the Schwab Social Entrepreneur Summit, where roughly a hundred social entrepreneurs get together with global leaders to advance the movement.

Day three of the Schwab summit and the pace is quickening as we try to juggle lots of sessions, conversations in the hall with Google, Reuters, and fellow entrepreneurs, and preparation for Davos.

I am in day 2 of the Schwab Forum in Zurich before heading to Davos. They have brought together their network of social entrepreneurs worldwide with academics, business people, and funders or investors in a fairly standard conference format. The social entrepreneurs keep agitating for a less structured environment since I think most of us feel that we learn most from peer dialogue and engagement and as in most conference contexts find that the most meaningful conversations are happening during breaks. As a new Schwab Advisory Council member, I will bring this up in our forthcoming meeting.

It's that time of year when social entrepreneurs get to hang out and carouse with the world's leaders. I'm en route to Switzerland for two conferences (or, a pre-conference and a conference). The first event is the Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur Summit. This is where many of the key global players from the social entrepreneurship field get together, under the auspices of Klaus and Hilde Schwab. Klaus is the founder and head of the World Economic Forum. And, later in the week I move to Davos for the World Economic Forum - Annual Meeting 2007.

The good and evil of the foundation, nonprofit, corporate and even individual worlds was exposed in a hard hitting two-part investigative story on January 7th and 8th with the front page first part stating "Dark Cloud Over Good Works of the Gates Foundation" and the second installment warning "Money Clashes with Mission." This story did its damage exclusively with the headlines as most people probably did not read the entire exhaustive piece of journalism. Plus, the issues addressed, as is true when dealing with astronomical sums of money, were complicated.

A new Congress and changing political dynamics might hold hope for future public sector investments in human service delivery, but we shouldn't count on it. A crushing federal debt, massive annual deficits, and a politically disenfranchised constituency base add up to serious challenges for new government support. For nonprofit human service agencies - especially those most dependent on public sector funding - crunch time is not going to disappear.

On Friday while driving to Maine for the long weekend, I got the same little twinge I always get when passing through New Hampshire. I can't help wondering if any presidential candidates are out and about in the first primary state, and if I know the folks they might be out and about with.

Mario Morino's post, "Slow Down and Listen": Lessons from Gates Foundation CEO Patty Stonesifer, is an excellent summary, and what a great duo Mario and Patty Stonesifer make! I heard Patty interviewed by Diana Aviv at the recent Independent Sector conference, and was impressed then as now. Several great points were made, and here are a couple of my favorites, with some thoughts.

The latest issue of Fast Company features the winners of the fourth annual Fast Company/Monitor Group Social Capitalist Awards, and it's an all-star list of organizations using the most effective methods to address pressing social problems. The 43 honorees have applied the lessons of the business world - and their own hard-earned experience - in the pursuit of good. For the first time this year the awards highlight the winners' innovative cross-sector partnerships that leverage the ever-increasing convergence of the nonprofit and for-profit worlds.

In the early 1990s, I retired from business and became deeply involved in philanthropy. Initially, we considered various forms of social investing and "capacity building," which were then popular emerging trends. But after some initial experimentation and practical application, it dawned on me that what was really needed in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors was an approach that I had lived for years in the private sector - that of growing my business in partnership with General Atlantic, LLC, a premier global private-equity investment firm.

On October 17, 2006, the board of Venture Philanthropy Partners was privileged to host Patty Stonesifer, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in a special event for VPP founding investors, new supporters, friends, board members, and team. Patty, joined by her colleague Allan Golston, President, US Program, candidly shared what she has learned as the foundation has stepped up its efforts to reduce inequities in the United States and around the world.

When Metairie, Louisiana redrew the school district lines, Robert Ingram was thrust into a new world. At age eight, Ingram left his comfortable neighborhood and entered a school on the other side of the tracks. Here many of his new classmates arrived with crayon boxes half empty, book bags in tatters - and these were the fortunate ones. Robert first encounter with poverty was tangible and untenable. Instead of sitting on the sidelines, he decided to do something.

"If I had a choice between spending time with a $100k donor or a potential candidate for a senior role, hands down it's the candidate" - Nonprofit Executive Director

Accomplished nonprofit leaders recognize that nothing matters more than having the right people in the right jobs at the right time, especially when their organizations are growing. Money is an essential (and often scarce) resource - we struggle throughout the year to achieve fundraising goals and resist adding incremental costs; we celebrate significant grants. Indeed, money naturally grabs headlines and dominates share of mind.

Business page headlines in the wake of the hurricane last year juxtaposed two sharply divergent stories - Corporate Gifts to Aid Victims of Hurricane Katrina Could Top $1 Billion... Oracle CEO to Settle Suit Revolving Around $900 Million Gain... On a day not unlike most days, the surge of simplistic good guy/bad guy stories about business can leave even the most informed reader with whiplash. On top of that, we continue to be treated with the Milton Friedman vs. corporate citizenship debate as if this were new, deep, and relevant.

Every election year, the horrors of hurricane season and the mock horrors of Halloween are followed by Election Day, which some find the scariest of all. Certainly this year the mud-slinging and negativity were terrifying, and gloomy predictions made it seem as if American-life-as-we-know it hung in the balance.

America could really use a civics lesson. And it's about to get one. The National Conference on Citizenship, a federally chartered nonprofit founded in 1946 to strengthen civic ties, released the first Civic Health Index, tracking changes in the awareness and engagement of the citizenry over the past three decades. It presents a bleak picture - steep declines in most of the 40 measures that were analyzed, including how much people trust one another and major institutions, and their connections to their communities.

As nonprofit groups seek to accomplish their missions as efficiently as possible, they often look to corporations for help. Most of the time, what nonprofit groups want is money. Indeed, according to a study conducted last spring by Deloitte & Touche USA and the Points of Light Foundation, a solid majority of nonprofit executives believe financial contributions are what they need most from corporate America.

I recently dropped by the Kennedy School at Harvard to sit in on a study group led by Alan Khazei, co-founder of City Year. His guest speaker was former Senator Gary Hart for whom both Alan and I once worked. Gary and Alan and I had coffee and then walked over together. On the way, we bumped into Peter Hart, the pollster, who told us that his latest research for the NBC Wall Street Journal poll would show the Democrats likely to take back control of the Congress for the first time since 1994. The three of them stopped to chat, a striking tableau: the pollster, the politician, and the social entrepreneur.

I’ve only had one job where I had one good idea. My one idea, the web site DonorsChoose.org, began six years ago in the teachers’ lunchroom at a public high school in the central Bronx. My colleagues and I often talked over lunch about books our students should read, field trips that could bring subject matter to life, or art supplies needed for a project.

We are entering the third age of American unionism. The world of work has been transformed twice before, and we are currently in the midst of another major shift. Work is now decentralized, workers are mobile, and they want to take their benefits with them. A huge portion of the workforce now consists of independent workers, and too many of them have fallen through the widening cracks in the old system.

Since Warren Buffett announced plans to give a large portion of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, countless analysis and commentaries, both favorable and unfavorable, have been offered. The wide range of comments, criticisms, and postulations clearly illustrates that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

On Friday, all of us at the UN Foundation were delighted to hear that our Board member Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank had won the Nobel Peace Prize for their pioneering work on microcredit. It’s not hard to appreciate the beauty of Professor Yunus’ breakthrough idea: small loans and a measure of trust can help people written off by old-fashioned thinking lift themselves out of poverty. But I didn’t fully appreciate the impact of microcredit – or Professor Yunus – until last year, when I joined him and the UN Foundation Board on a trip to Bangladesh.

Imagine the continuum of a for profit business's responsibility to the civic square - from bare compliance to selflessness. Compliance isn’t a high enough standard, and selflessness precludes profitability - a fiduciary obligation for every CEO. So where on this spectrum would you situate your company?