The Center for Civic Innovation makes investments
in social impact businesses that exist in
under-represented and under served communities,
and we're starting right here in my home town
of Atlanta.
What's interesting about investing in social
impact businesses, particularly in under-represented
communities, is that these social entrepreneurs
who exist on the ground, they don't call themselves
that. They call themselves teachers, they
call themselves doctors, they call themselves
farmers. These are people who have a product
or service that they're already giving back
to their community. They're already making
their community better, but we don't take
bets on those.
The idea is that if we actually invest in
community driven and community owned ideas
with the same resolve and the same risk tolerance
that we do with any other investment, I see
no reason why a community based idea can't
be our next billion dollar idea. And there's
an economic argument there. Problem solving
is an economic development argument. That
problem solving against social challenges
is something that makes sure that when economies
collapse, that not half of our population
is drowning, sometimes literally. When we're
thinking about income inequality gaps, that
they're not widening, that we're actually
bringing them closer together. Social impact
businesses create jobs, social impact businesses
revive our economy, they also make sure that
if we're going to build a smart city that
it's a smart city for everyone, not just for
some people.
We believe community engagement is the way
to start. Honestly, I'm a grass-roots organizer
by trade. It's the field I know best. And
one of the first things you have to do and
what I've learned as an organizer is you go
into a community and you keep your mouth shut
and your ears open. You don't know what's
best for that community, that community knows
what's best for them. And it's important to
really understand where there is opportunity
and what are the assets that that community
already has.
