Leading the Way: Social Innovation in Massachusetts

CSI Co– Director Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes along with faculty members at the Center for Social Innovation have worked together to complete this detailed report on social innovation and its practice occurring in Massachusetts. Twenty three socially innovative organizational leaders across the state were interviewed for this report. Click here to view the Providers Council Report

Social Innovation Day 2013

April 8,2013

Students in the Social Innovation &  Leadership Program at the Graduate School of Social Work participated in a day long series of guided activities to develop innovative responses to social problems. Continue Reading»

Boston College Designated 'Changemaker Campus'

March 14, 2013

Boston College has been named a Changemaker Campus by Ashoka, a global association of leading social entrepreneurs. Ashoka cited BC’s use of social innovation as “a pathway to social justice,” noting the establishment of a social innovation program in the Graduate School of Social Work. Continue Reading »

GSSW Social Innovation Leaders Looking Ahead

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

With an important major milestone completed, organizers of the Graduate School of Social Work’s social innovation initiative are now planning for its next phase, including an effort to involve other Boston College schools, departments, and programs.

Nearly three years ago, GSSW Associate Professors Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes and Stephanie Berzin launched the initiative, establishing a center to coordinate activities that promote social innovation — a growing field that blends entrepreneurship and practices from business/management and other disciplines to address social needs.Read more from the Boston College Chronicle »

Social Innovation Day

March 20, 2012

Eight teams of Social Innovation and Leadership students at the Graduate School of Social Work gathered for a daylong series of guided activities to develop innovative responses to social problems.  Using strategies of scenario building, open innovation, and rapid prototyping, each team developed and presented their innovative solution to a panel of experts.

Social Innovation Symposium

FEBRUARY 2012

The Social Innovation Symposium, hosted at Boston College by the Graduate School of Social Work and Capstone Program (an undergraduate seminar series in which students reflect on their college experience and preview life beyond the University), was sponsored by the Institute for Liberal Arts. It brought together more than 250 students and faculty at Boston College to stimulate thinking about social innovation and social change. The symposium and follow-up classroom discussions encourage students to consider opportunities in the social sector and help build a sense of community among the next generation of social innovators. The event featured a panel of social innovators: Earl Phalen, CEO of Reach Out and Read; Jim Laughlin, director of communications of Life is Good; and Eric Scharwz, co-founder and CEO of Citizen Schools.

2012 Social Innovation Lab Launch

JANUARY 2012

The Boston College Social Innovation Center launched the 2012 Social Innovation Lab.  In its second year of operation, the Lab will be working with four social service agencies from Massachusetts.   Innovation Teams from each agency will engage in a series of face-paced activities, beginning with identifying a social problem, working to develop a prototype, and ending with the pilot testing of at least one of the prototype components.  
 

New Students for the Social Innovation and Leadership Program

SEPTEMBER 2011

The Boston College Graduate School of Social Work welcomed the first cohort of students to the Social Innovation and Leadership Program. Co-chaired by Professor Stephanie Berzin and Sloan Center on Aging and Work Director Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, this new program engages macro social work students in training and experiential learning about social innovation and paradigms of sustainable social change.
Read more in GSSW Magazine