I was recently retained to help Touchpoint Trust Group find 75 Triple Bottom Line (TBL) deals to review by January 22. That means, these companies have put PEOPLE and PLANET on the same level of importance of PROFIT. I’m speaking to incredible human beings about their work EVERY DAY, and I can’t wipe the smile off my face.

The Innovative Lilith I4C Campaign is a partnership with Sarah McLaughlin and the Lilith Fair, and TouchPoint! Trust Group. The goal is to select 4-6 ’social enterprises’ or ‘people, planet, profit’ businesses to receive an investment and major promotion around the Lilith Fair, in June.  The selected companies will actually go ON TOUR with the Lilith Fair and the huge audience will learn about their business, and how they are changing lives.

Great story about this project here.

A little background on how I got here..

When I visited my friend Chandra Reddy Metzler during her Fullbright appointment in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2000, I was first introduced to micro-finance, micro-health and NGOs. I was incredibly inspired by the model, and it made an impression for the future when I would get introduced to the work of Acumen Fund.

I was head of fundraising at Acumen Fund in 2004 and 2005 and was more immersed than ever in the idea of ’social enterprise’ and ’social entrepreneurship’. I had dreamed about business models which generated social change before, but to see this group of MBAs, who could have been making a fortune in banking, putting their heads together to solve the world’s social problems.

I had a very successful time at Acumen Fund, and have been interested in the ‘Triple Bottom Line”  (TBL) space since then. To that end, in addition to this project, I recently joined the core team of w1sd0m, a network that connects entrepreneurs, investors and advisors in this industry.

You can do something too!

Please connect with the I4C Campaign on Twitter, and Facebook, and spread the word!!

To That End, I have 2 videos for you!

1. Cuppari/Gould Slideshow – This holiday season, I created this slideshow for Friends & Family, and I thought it would be fun to share on my blog. It includes pictures of my children Summer (4 1/2) and Cody (1 1/2), and our families’ adventures in 2009 – Click Here

2. Want to do good this season? Why not do even better? Acumen Fund has a new approach to tacking poverty that actually makes a lasting difference. Acumen Fund | A New Solution To Poverty That Makes a Difference – http://budurl.com/Acumen

Today I logged on and saw a story by an acquaintance of mine, Charles Best, who started DonorsChoose.org.  I met him  back in 2004 when he had just started this wonderful organization. I was working at Acumen Fund at the time, and he was seeking advice based on my experience on the Howard Dean for president campaign. As most people know, the Dean For America campaign really democratized political fundraising.

He felt his organization was democratizing charitable giving, and he wanted to build a similar community around his organization. We sat down and got into it. He was young at the time, around 26 or so, and very earnest, honest, passionate and driven. He struck me as the future of social entrepreneurship mixed with a really smart way to fund projects.  Donorschoose allows teachers around the country to post school projects which need funding, and then as a donor you can choose exactly which projects you want to fund. You can see the progress of the project as well and see pictures of the class you are helping. It’s awesome!

So, without further ado I will repost a bit of his article and link to it for your Optimistic reading pleasure!

The goodness of crowds

When large numbers of people give a little, they accomplish a lot. By Charles Best

The global economic recession is an opportunity to fuel social change. While financial instinct says philanthropy will suffer in times of economic distress, there’s evidence that the challenges we face are no match for collective action. I don’t think the road ahead is smooth. But we can’t underestimate the power of “ordinary” individuals in this age of connectedness.

Picture a nest of honeybees, where each insect makes a small but vital contribution. The result is greater than the sum of its parts. A large colony will produce far more honey than two colonies half the size of the larger one. As the colony grows, its efficiency increases.

People can achieve similar triumphs. One of the most promising models is “crowdsourcing,” through which an organization generates content, or gets work performed, by tapping the knowledge and creativity of members of the public. As with a nest of honeybees, each participant contributes a small piece of a greater whole. Zagat’s database of amateur restaurant reviews and YouTube’s user-submitted videos are examples. The more contributors, the better the results.

To continue reading, click here!