New National Community of Philanthropic Funders, Practitioners to Promote Expansion of Effective Social Programs

Duke will serve as a founding member of The Exchange and act as strategic partner and primary academic adviser on making The Exchange a central component of a social sector capital marketplace and the hub for related research, publishing, education and training. The work will be undertaken in concert with GPN by the Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society (CSPCS) at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy and the university’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at The Fuqua School of Business.??

“Given the magnitude and urgency of the social problems we face both globally and in the U.S., nothing is more important than helping those with innovative solutions scale their impact,” said professor J. Gregory Dees, founding faculty director at CASE.

??“This new initiative holds great promise for doing just that,” said Dees, a widely recognized pioneer in researching and teaching social entrepreneurship.

??Alex Rossides, president and co-founder of GPN, said despite the energy and interest in growing effective programs, “we lack a common forum where we can work together, across sectors, and improve our ability to expand initiatives that work.”??

GPN’s focus is on establishing a capital marketplace to support scaling of social solutions.??

“Solutions to our social problems exist, but we have had great difficulty disseminating them broadly—in part because expansion requires collaborative funding and implementation,” Rossides said. “Having a common place where we can interact, share knowledge and learn together from the many efforts to grow effective programs that are being undertaken around the country will help accelerate our understanding and practice and improve outcomes.”??

The launch of The Exchange following several years of development comes at the same time Congress is providing money for a “social innovation fund,” to be managed by the newly created White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, which focuses on supporting growth of effective social programs and innovations.