Friday, May 8th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
To the Crown
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced this morning that starting July 4th, the crown of the Statue of Liberty will be open to visitors again, and the Baggage and Dormitory Building at Ellis Island, built in 1908 to house immigrants waiting for further processing, will be restored.
The press release has lots more on this history there, as well as the role of the National Parks Service under DOI. The Secretary was there this morning:
Friday, May 8, 2009
From "Wait and See" to "The Next Opportunity"
Friday, May 8th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
From "Wait and See" to "The Next Opportunity"
This morning the April employment numbers were released, showing that our economy lost 539,000 jobs, bringing the total number of jobs lost since this recession began to 5.7 million. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis opened her statement by saying that the numbers "reflect the urgent needs of Americans, and they are the focus of this administration's immediate action and relief." But she closed noting that, "As the comprehensive plan of the administration takes hold, we have begun to see signs of recovery. We've seen the financial system and the housing market stabilize. New jobs are being created as ground has broken on thousands of new infrastructure projects in all 50 states."
And so with the tremendous task of turning around the economy on a national scale ongoing, the President announced a new set of programs to help make the task of individuals turning around their own lives a little bit easier. The President made clear that, in reality, fighting unemployment and creating a 21st Century economy nationally would come down individuals finding individual jobs, and better yet find training for the kinds of jobs that would last for decades:
Now is the time to put a new foundation for growth in place -- to rebuild our economy, to retrain our workforce, and re-equip the American people. And now is the time to change unemployment from a period of "wait and see" to a chance for our workers to train and seek the next opportunity -- so when that new and better day does come around, our people, our industry, and our entire country are ready to make the most of it.
As he often does, the President discussed how the ideas he had in mind related to somebody he knew. In this case it was Maureen Pike, who Maureen lost her job as a physician's receptionist, but kept afloat with unemployment benefits and used Pell Grants to become a registered nurse through community college. The President talked about her example as enabled by unique rules in the state of Maine:
But today, far too many Americans are denied that opportunity. Let me just give you an example. Say an unemployed factory worker wants to upgrade his skills to become a mechanic or a technician. In many states, that worker might lose temporary financial support if he enrolls in a training program. And to make matters worse, unemployment might mean he can't afford higher education, and he likely won't qualify for federal help simply because he may have made a decent salary a year ago, before he was laid off.
Well, that doesn't make much sense for our economy or our country. So we're going to change it. First, we'll open new doors to higher education and job training programs to recently laid-off workers who are receiving unemployment benefits. And if those displaced workers need help paying for their education, they should get it -- and that's why the next step is to make it easier for them to receive Pell Grants of the sort that Maureen used.
I've asked my Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, and my Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, to work closely with states and our institutions of higher learning and encourage them not only to allow these changes, but to inform all workers receiving unemployment benefits of the training programs and financial support open to them. And together, the Department of Education and the Department of Labor have created a new website called opportunity.gov -- I'll repeat that, opportunity.gov -- to help workers discover and take advantage of these opportunities.
And together, these changes will increase access to education and opportunity for hundreds of thousands of workers who've been stung by this recession -- people just like Maureen. And like her, many may take advantage of one of America's underappreciated assets -- and that's our community colleges. These schools offer practical education and technical training, and they're increasingly important centers of learning where Americans can prepare for the jobs of the future.
And that's also why I'm asking Dr. Jill Biden, a community college professor who's devoted her entire life to education -- and who happens to be married to the Vice President -- to lead a national effort to raise awareness about what we're doing to open the doors to our community colleges.
From "Wait and See" to "The Next Opportunity"
This morning the April employment numbers were released, showing that our economy lost 539,000 jobs, bringing the total number of jobs lost since this recession began to 5.7 million. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis opened her statement by saying that the numbers "reflect the urgent needs of Americans, and they are the focus of this administration's immediate action and relief." But she closed noting that, "As the comprehensive plan of the administration takes hold, we have begun to see signs of recovery. We've seen the financial system and the housing market stabilize. New jobs are being created as ground has broken on thousands of new infrastructure projects in all 50 states."
And so with the tremendous task of turning around the economy on a national scale ongoing, the President announced a new set of programs to help make the task of individuals turning around their own lives a little bit easier. The President made clear that, in reality, fighting unemployment and creating a 21st Century economy nationally would come down individuals finding individual jobs, and better yet find training for the kinds of jobs that would last for decades:
Now is the time to put a new foundation for growth in place -- to rebuild our economy, to retrain our workforce, and re-equip the American people. And now is the time to change unemployment from a period of "wait and see" to a chance for our workers to train and seek the next opportunity -- so when that new and better day does come around, our people, our industry, and our entire country are ready to make the most of it.
As he often does, the President discussed how the ideas he had in mind related to somebody he knew. In this case it was Maureen Pike, who Maureen lost her job as a physician's receptionist, but kept afloat with unemployment benefits and used Pell Grants to become a registered nurse through community college. The President talked about her example as enabled by unique rules in the state of Maine:
But today, far too many Americans are denied that opportunity. Let me just give you an example. Say an unemployed factory worker wants to upgrade his skills to become a mechanic or a technician. In many states, that worker might lose temporary financial support if he enrolls in a training program. And to make matters worse, unemployment might mean he can't afford higher education, and he likely won't qualify for federal help simply because he may have made a decent salary a year ago, before he was laid off.
Well, that doesn't make much sense for our economy or our country. So we're going to change it. First, we'll open new doors to higher education and job training programs to recently laid-off workers who are receiving unemployment benefits. And if those displaced workers need help paying for their education, they should get it -- and that's why the next step is to make it easier for them to receive Pell Grants of the sort that Maureen used.
I've asked my Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, and my Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, to work closely with states and our institutions of higher learning and encourage them not only to allow these changes, but to inform all workers receiving unemployment benefits of the training programs and financial support open to them. And together, the Department of Education and the Department of Labor have created a new website called opportunity.gov -- I'll repeat that, opportunity.gov -- to help workers discover and take advantage of these opportunities.
And together, these changes will increase access to education and opportunity for hundreds of thousands of workers who've been stung by this recession -- people just like Maureen. And like her, many may take advantage of one of America's underappreciated assets -- and that's our community colleges. These schools offer practical education and technical training, and they're increasingly important centers of learning where Americans can prepare for the jobs of the future.
And that's also why I'm asking Dr. Jill Biden, a community college professor who's devoted her entire life to education -- and who happens to be married to the Vice President -- to lead a national effort to raise awareness about what we're doing to open the doors to our community colleges.
Streaming at 12:30:
Friday, May 8th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Streaming at 12:30: Secretary Solis and Others Hold Town Hall on H1N1 in Spanish
Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis is joining other Administration officials for a Latino town hall meeting to listen to the community’s concerns and inform the public about the government’s efforts to control the impact of the H1N1 virus.
Watch live at WhiteHouse.gov/live2 [UPDATE: This event has concluded.]
Learn more, including all of the participants and partners, in yesterday's release.
UPDATE: The President made a surprise visit immediately before the event began:
(President Barack Obama speaks at the Latino Town Hall meeting on the H1N1 swine flu virus at the
White House Friday, May 8, 2009. Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Hola. (Applause.) Thank you. Please, everybody have a seat. (Applause.) Muchas gracias. Thank you very much. Please, everybody have a seat.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Viva Obama! (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Now, I don't want to take up too much time. I just wanted to stop by and let you know how important I think this is.
Obviously, all of us are concerned about the health of our families and our children. And our experience with the H1N1 virus over the last couple of weeks is a sobering reminder of how vital it is that we all recognize we're all in this together. We're one country, we're one community. When one person gets sick, that has the potential of making us all sick. And when we help to make everybody well, one person well, then everybody has the potential to get well. We can’t be divided by communities.
And that means that government at every level has to make sure that good information is getting out to every part of the broader American community. And that's part of the reason why we wanted to do this today. It's our first step in making sure that whenever we have a public health issue that has to be addressed, that everybody is on the same page.
So I want to ensure everybody that we're seeing that the virus may not have been as virulent as we at first feared, but we're not out of the woods yet and we still have to take precautions. Many of you are community leaders; obviously those who are viewing this on television are going to be able to give information to your friends and family about washing your hands, about covering your mouths, staying home if you're sick, keeping children home from school if they're sick. That kind of common-sense approach can make all the difference in the world.
And so I just want to thank the Center for Disease Control. They've been vigilant on this issue. They believe that we're going to have to keep on taking some precautions, and we may have to prepare for an even worse flu season sometime in the fall. This H1N1 flu obviously has hit Mexico much more badly than it's hit us so far, and I've been working very closely -- I spoke to President Calderón last weekend to ensure that we were providing Mexico with the assistance that it needed, because one of the things that we have to understand is public health issues like this -- not only is it important for all communities within the United States to be working together, it's also important to be working internationally together.
So I'm very proud of this first White House town hall meeting conducted entirely in Spanish. I am grateful -- except for my part. (Laughter.) You know, I'm kind of messing up the whole thing. (Laughter.) I'm grateful for Univision for hosting us, and I'm happy to see that we've got officials from many different departments, including my Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis.
So I want to let you continue with your conversation. I hope you learn something. Please ask questions -- these folks are extraordinarily well informed -- and then distribute the information that you learn from this town hall throughout your communities. And this is just the first of many, I hope, mechanisms for outreach that will improve the quality of service that the White House provides to the American people.
So, muchas gracias. Thank you. (Applause.)
Streaming at 12:30: Secretary Solis and Others Hold Town Hall on H1N1 in Spanish
Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis is joining other Administration officials for a Latino town hall meeting to listen to the community’s concerns and inform the public about the government’s efforts to control the impact of the H1N1 virus.
Watch live at WhiteHouse.gov/live2 [UPDATE: This event has concluded.]
Learn more, including all of the participants and partners, in yesterday's release.
UPDATE: The President made a surprise visit immediately before the event began:
(President Barack Obama speaks at the Latino Town Hall meeting on the H1N1 swine flu virus at the
White House Friday, May 8, 2009. Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Hola. (Applause.) Thank you. Please, everybody have a seat. (Applause.) Muchas gracias. Thank you very much. Please, everybody have a seat.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Viva Obama! (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Now, I don't want to take up too much time. I just wanted to stop by and let you know how important I think this is.
Obviously, all of us are concerned about the health of our families and our children. And our experience with the H1N1 virus over the last couple of weeks is a sobering reminder of how vital it is that we all recognize we're all in this together. We're one country, we're one community. When one person gets sick, that has the potential of making us all sick. And when we help to make everybody well, one person well, then everybody has the potential to get well. We can’t be divided by communities.
And that means that government at every level has to make sure that good information is getting out to every part of the broader American community. And that's part of the reason why we wanted to do this today. It's our first step in making sure that whenever we have a public health issue that has to be addressed, that everybody is on the same page.
So I want to ensure everybody that we're seeing that the virus may not have been as virulent as we at first feared, but we're not out of the woods yet and we still have to take precautions. Many of you are community leaders; obviously those who are viewing this on television are going to be able to give information to your friends and family about washing your hands, about covering your mouths, staying home if you're sick, keeping children home from school if they're sick. That kind of common-sense approach can make all the difference in the world.
And so I just want to thank the Center for Disease Control. They've been vigilant on this issue. They believe that we're going to have to keep on taking some precautions, and we may have to prepare for an even worse flu season sometime in the fall. This H1N1 flu obviously has hit Mexico much more badly than it's hit us so far, and I've been working very closely -- I spoke to President Calderón last weekend to ensure that we were providing Mexico with the assistance that it needed, because one of the things that we have to understand is public health issues like this -- not only is it important for all communities within the United States to be working together, it's also important to be working internationally together.
So I'm very proud of this first White House town hall meeting conducted entirely in Spanish. I am grateful -- except for my part. (Laughter.) You know, I'm kind of messing up the whole thing. (Laughter.) I'm grateful for Univision for hosting us, and I'm happy to see that we've got officials from many different departments, including my Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis.
So I want to let you continue with your conversation. I hope you learn something. Please ask questions -- these folks are extraordinarily well informed -- and then distribute the information that you learn from this town hall throughout your communities. And this is just the first of many, I hope, mechanisms for outreach that will improve the quality of service that the White House provides to the American people.
So, muchas gracias. Thank you. (Applause.)
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Service, Coming to a Town Near You
Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Service, Coming to a Town Near You
A few weeks ago, President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act into law, ushering in a new era of service and volunteering for our nation. Facing unprecedented challenges, the President has asked all Americans to engage in service opportunities help create a better nation.
The Corporation for National & Community Service was charged with dramatically expanding opportunities for Americans to serve, and in a sign of how seriously they are taking that charge today they announced a nationwide listening tour. Visit their site to learn more and register for their public listening sessions MO, SC, DC, MA, UT, or LA.
The Serve America Act goes into effect on October 1. In the meantime, here's what else you can do to stay involved and make a difference:
Answer President Obama’s call to service. You can find a service project at Serve.gov.
Register a new project to help bring your community together;
Become of fan of the Serve.gov Facebook page.
Service, Coming to a Town Near You
A few weeks ago, President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act into law, ushering in a new era of service and volunteering for our nation. Facing unprecedented challenges, the President has asked all Americans to engage in service opportunities help create a better nation.
The Corporation for National & Community Service was charged with dramatically expanding opportunities for Americans to serve, and in a sign of how seriously they are taking that charge today they announced a nationwide listening tour. Visit their site to learn more and register for their public listening sessions MO, SC, DC, MA, UT, or LA.
The Serve America Act goes into effect on October 1. In the meantime, here's what else you can do to stay involved and make a difference:
Answer President Obama’s call to service. You can find a service project at Serve.gov.
Register a new project to help bring your community together;
Become of fan of the Serve.gov Facebook page.
Transportation Projects under the Recovery Act
Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Transportation Projects under the Recovery Act
Jared Bernstein, the Vice President's Chief Economist and Economic Policy Advisor, gives us this update:
Recovery Act includes $48 billion dollars for transportation construction projects, and funding has been announced for over 2,800 projects in all 50 states. In order to obtain feedback on transportation policy issues related to the Recovery Act, Jared Bernstein, the Chief Economist and Economic Policy Adviser to the Vice President, recently met with labor groups. The groups raised concerns about the fact that the Act funds capital costs but not operating costs. They presented information showing that mass transit ridership is up, and because of state and city budget cuts, mass transit operating budgets have been flat or falling. This is leading to layoffs and service reductions. One substantive question raised in the meeting was whether it would be possible, with legislation, to shift some capital funds over to operations.
Present at the April 21 meeting were the following, each representing the entity noted:
Edward Wytkind
President
Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Larry I. Willis
General Counsel and Chief of Staff
Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Brendan Danaher
Legislative and Policy Representative
Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Cynthia P. Bradley
Legislative Affairs Specialist
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Ron Kloos
International Representative
Transportation Communications International Union
Frederick P. McLuckie
Deputy Director of Legislation, Government Affairs
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Portia Reddick White
Director of Legislative and Political Affairs
Transport Workers Union of America
Transportation Projects under the Recovery Act
Jared Bernstein, the Vice President's Chief Economist and Economic Policy Advisor, gives us this update:
Recovery Act includes $48 billion dollars for transportation construction projects, and funding has been announced for over 2,800 projects in all 50 states. In order to obtain feedback on transportation policy issues related to the Recovery Act, Jared Bernstein, the Chief Economist and Economic Policy Adviser to the Vice President, recently met with labor groups. The groups raised concerns about the fact that the Act funds capital costs but not operating costs. They presented information showing that mass transit ridership is up, and because of state and city budget cuts, mass transit operating budgets have been flat or falling. This is leading to layoffs and service reductions. One substantive question raised in the meeting was whether it would be possible, with legislation, to shift some capital funds over to operations.
Present at the April 21 meeting were the following, each representing the entity noted:
Edward Wytkind
President
Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Larry I. Willis
General Counsel and Chief of Staff
Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Brendan Danaher
Legislative and Policy Representative
Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Cynthia P. Bradley
Legislative Affairs Specialist
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Ron Kloos
International Representative
Transportation Communications International Union
Frederick P. McLuckie
Deputy Director of Legislation, Government Affairs
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Portia Reddick White
Director of Legislative and Political Affairs
Transport Workers Union of America
Ending Bad Habits
Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Ending Bad Habits
Today the President released his full budget providing all the details for the blueprint that Congress recently approved in the Budget Resolution. Having spoken about his vision to create a new foundation for the country a few weeks ago, today he returned to that theme:
We're doing everything that we can to create jobs and to get our economy moving while building a new foundation for lasting prosperity -- a foundation that invests in quality education, lowers health care costs, and develops new sources of energy powered by new jobs and industries.
But one of the pillars of this foundation is fiscal responsibility. We can no longer afford to spend as if deficits don't matter and waste is not our problem. We can no longer afford to leave the hard choices for the next budget, the next administration -- or the next generation.
That's why I've charged the Office of Management and Budget, led by Peter Orszag and Rob Nabors who are standing behind me today, with going through the budget -- program by program, item by item, line by line -- looking for areas where we can save taxpayer dollars.
He referenced the 100-program volume of Terminations, Reductions, and Savings released by OMB Director Orszag in his blog post this morning, and went on to give a few examples of how these programs represent the long-standing bad habits in Washington. He mentioned an obsolete navigation system that still gets funding, a literacy program that devotes half its budget to overhead, an a Department of Education outpost in Paris whose work could easily be accomplished here at home.
In addition, we're going to save money by eliminating unnecessary defense programs that do nothing to keep us safe, but rather prevent us from spending money on what does keep us safe. One example is a $465 million program to build an alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter. The Defense Department is already pleased with the engine it has. The engine it has works. The Pentagon does not want and does not plan to use the alternative version. That's why the Pentagon stopped requesting this funding two years ago. Yet it's still being funded.
These are just a few examples. But the point to remember is that there are consequences for this kind of spending. It makes the development of new tools for our military, like the Joint Strike Fighter, more expensive -- even prohibitively so -- and crowds out money that we could be using, for example, to improve our troops' quality of life and their safety and security. It makes government less effective. It makes our nation less resilient and less able to address immediate concerns and long-term challenges. And it leaves behind a massive burden for our children and grandchildren.
He closed by reiterating all of the ways the Administration has fought for fiscal discipline already, from supporting "pay as you go" rules, to ending sibsidies for insurance companies, to empowering government employees to find and suggest efficiencies. He pledged that this was just the beginning.
Ending Bad Habits
Today the President released his full budget providing all the details for the blueprint that Congress recently approved in the Budget Resolution. Having spoken about his vision to create a new foundation for the country a few weeks ago, today he returned to that theme:
We're doing everything that we can to create jobs and to get our economy moving while building a new foundation for lasting prosperity -- a foundation that invests in quality education, lowers health care costs, and develops new sources of energy powered by new jobs and industries.
But one of the pillars of this foundation is fiscal responsibility. We can no longer afford to spend as if deficits don't matter and waste is not our problem. We can no longer afford to leave the hard choices for the next budget, the next administration -- or the next generation.
That's why I've charged the Office of Management and Budget, led by Peter Orszag and Rob Nabors who are standing behind me today, with going through the budget -- program by program, item by item, line by line -- looking for areas where we can save taxpayer dollars.
He referenced the 100-program volume of Terminations, Reductions, and Savings released by OMB Director Orszag in his blog post this morning, and went on to give a few examples of how these programs represent the long-standing bad habits in Washington. He mentioned an obsolete navigation system that still gets funding, a literacy program that devotes half its budget to overhead, an a Department of Education outpost in Paris whose work could easily be accomplished here at home.
In addition, we're going to save money by eliminating unnecessary defense programs that do nothing to keep us safe, but rather prevent us from spending money on what does keep us safe. One example is a $465 million program to build an alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter. The Defense Department is already pleased with the engine it has. The engine it has works. The Pentagon does not want and does not plan to use the alternative version. That's why the Pentagon stopped requesting this funding two years ago. Yet it's still being funded.
These are just a few examples. But the point to remember is that there are consequences for this kind of spending. It makes the development of new tools for our military, like the Joint Strike Fighter, more expensive -- even prohibitively so -- and crowds out money that we could be using, for example, to improve our troops' quality of life and their safety and security. It makes government less effective. It makes our nation less resilient and less able to address immediate concerns and long-term challenges. And it leaves behind a massive burden for our children and grandchildren.
He closed by reiterating all of the ways the Administration has fought for fiscal discipline already, from supporting "pay as you go" rules, to ending sibsidies for insurance companies, to empowering government employees to find and suggest efficiencies. He pledged that this was just the beginning.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
What Is the Social Innovation Fund?
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
What Is the Social Innovation Fund?
Last night the First Lady discussed the Social Innovation Fund at the Time 100 Most Influential People Awards; we asked Michele Jolin, Senior Advisor for Social Innovation for the Domestic Policy Council, to tell us about it:
Yesterday, the President announced that he would ask Congress in the FY2010 budget to provide $50 million in seed capital for his Social Innovation Fund, fulfilling a campaign pledge. The Fund will identify the most promising, results-oriented non-profit programs and expand their reach throughout the country.
This is a dramatically different way for the government to do business – and it reflects the President’s new governing approach -- finding and scaling the best social innovations; partnering with those who are leading change in their communities; and creating a policy environment for all these innovations to thrive.
President Obama has said that this is an "all-hands-on-deck" moment and that government cannot solve our nation’s problems alone. He has said that it is critical to partner with citizens, nonprofits, social entrepreneurs, foundations and corporations to make progress on our nation’s great challenges. The President has also talked about finding new solutions to old problems, and this is where the social innovation can play a unique role.
As the First Lady said in her remarks on Tuesday to the TIME 100 Most Influential people:
The idea is simple: to find the most effective programs out there and then provide the capital needed to replicate their success in communities around the country that are facing similar challenges. By focusing on high-impact, result-oriented non-profits, we will ensure that government dollars are spent in a way that is effective, accountable and worthy of the public trust.
(First Lady Michelle Obama attended and gave remarks at the TIME 100 Annual Dinner at the Rose Jazz Center
in New York City. She was greeted by (L to R) Jeffrey Bewkes, Chairman of Time Warner Inc., Rick Stengel,
Managing Editor of TIME magazine, and John Huey, Editorial Director of TIME Inc.)
The First Lady also talked more broadly about the need help nurture a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs who will direct their skills and energy toward solving their community’s – and our nation’s – most serious social problems:
Careers focused on lifting up our communities – whether helping transform troubled schools or training workers for green jobs or helping low-income families access health care – are not always obvious. But, at a time when our nation is facing unprecedented challenges, encouraging careers in public service and social innovation are more important than ever.
The First Lady highlighted the work of a couple of young, new social entrepreneurs. One example was Rebecca Onie, a creative young woman who founded "Project Health" to help break the link between poverty and poor health. Rebecca organizes college students to staff Help Desks in urban medical centers, universities and community centers. Students then connect low-income families to other critical community and government resources – such as housing vouchers, supplemental nutrition assistance, and educational support.
This is just one example of the kind of social innovation and entrepreneurship that the Obama Administration wants to encourage and replicate in communities across the country.
The Social Innovation Fund will help do that. We recognize that there is no ready and available source of growth capital for programs and ideas that have demonstrated they work and are ready to spread. This gap in the social capital markets is a good niche for government action. The Social Innovation Fund will build a "pipeline" of programs that have demonstrated results and are ready to spread across the country to meet community needs. Now, more than ever, we need to invest in programs that work and find innovative, effective solutions to our nation’s most serious challenges.
What Is the Social Innovation Fund?
Last night the First Lady discussed the Social Innovation Fund at the Time 100 Most Influential People Awards; we asked Michele Jolin, Senior Advisor for Social Innovation for the Domestic Policy Council, to tell us about it:
Yesterday, the President announced that he would ask Congress in the FY2010 budget to provide $50 million in seed capital for his Social Innovation Fund, fulfilling a campaign pledge. The Fund will identify the most promising, results-oriented non-profit programs and expand their reach throughout the country.
This is a dramatically different way for the government to do business – and it reflects the President’s new governing approach -- finding and scaling the best social innovations; partnering with those who are leading change in their communities; and creating a policy environment for all these innovations to thrive.
President Obama has said that this is an "all-hands-on-deck" moment and that government cannot solve our nation’s problems alone. He has said that it is critical to partner with citizens, nonprofits, social entrepreneurs, foundations and corporations to make progress on our nation’s great challenges. The President has also talked about finding new solutions to old problems, and this is where the social innovation can play a unique role.
As the First Lady said in her remarks on Tuesday to the TIME 100 Most Influential people:
The idea is simple: to find the most effective programs out there and then provide the capital needed to replicate their success in communities around the country that are facing similar challenges. By focusing on high-impact, result-oriented non-profits, we will ensure that government dollars are spent in a way that is effective, accountable and worthy of the public trust.
(First Lady Michelle Obama attended and gave remarks at the TIME 100 Annual Dinner at the Rose Jazz Center
in New York City. She was greeted by (L to R) Jeffrey Bewkes, Chairman of Time Warner Inc., Rick Stengel,
Managing Editor of TIME magazine, and John Huey, Editorial Director of TIME Inc.)
The First Lady also talked more broadly about the need help nurture a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs who will direct their skills and energy toward solving their community’s – and our nation’s – most serious social problems:
Careers focused on lifting up our communities – whether helping transform troubled schools or training workers for green jobs or helping low-income families access health care – are not always obvious. But, at a time when our nation is facing unprecedented challenges, encouraging careers in public service and social innovation are more important than ever.
The First Lady highlighted the work of a couple of young, new social entrepreneurs. One example was Rebecca Onie, a creative young woman who founded "Project Health" to help break the link between poverty and poor health. Rebecca organizes college students to staff Help Desks in urban medical centers, universities and community centers. Students then connect low-income families to other critical community and government resources – such as housing vouchers, supplemental nutrition assistance, and educational support.
This is just one example of the kind of social innovation and entrepreneurship that the Obama Administration wants to encourage and replicate in communities across the country.
The Social Innovation Fund will help do that. We recognize that there is no ready and available source of growth capital for programs and ideas that have demonstrated they work and are ready to spread. This gap in the social capital markets is a good niche for government action. The Social Innovation Fund will build a "pipeline" of programs that have demonstrated results and are ready to spread across the country to meet community needs. Now, more than ever, we need to invest in programs that work and find innovative, effective solutions to our nation’s most serious challenges.
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