While putting together our online platform, we are also moving full steam ahead with the planning for our next event. While we know we want an annual flagship event in San Francisco each year, we are also looking to one to two smaller and more dedicated events. A question that arose out of this year’s conference was how to bring government into the conversation. We had them at the table (UNDP, the Federal Reserve, OPIC etc), but it was clear more conversation was needed on how public and private organizations need to work together in the social capital space. We have been talking with some of our early collaborators, Rob Katz of Nextbillion.net and Francisco Noguera of Nextbillion.net and the World Resources Institute, on their thoughts on how to collaborate with the goverment to advance the sector. While on the WRI website, I came across this video which was produced for their 25th anniversary. I thought it perfectly summed up some of the major focus points at hand. We’re proud to have the opportunity to work with such great organizations as we move SoCap Media forward.

It’s official - David Erickson of the Federal Reserve Office of San Francisco will be speaking on a panel at the conference. Panelists will discuss how the willingness to break down silos is the keystone of the new social capital movement.

Panel attendees will learn how big, established players (from the UN Development Program to the Federal Reserve to a coalition of the largest US foundations) are coming together to make sense of the emerging social capital market and create a new kind of impact, from urban America to the developing world.

We look forward to seeing you there!

David Erickson, at the Federal Reserve Bank office in SF emailed to suggest a topic his group would like to talk about at Socap08. “We have a small group at the Federal Reserve called the Center for Community Development Investments .  “We’re basically interested in almost any public policy, product, or practice that increases the flow of capital into low-income communities.  Among other things, we publish a journal.  The issue after next will be dedicated to the idea of blurring the lines between market and philanthropy/charity.  For that issue, we want to find authors who are writing social enterprises, socially-responsible investing, and any other strategy that tries to blend market returns with social/environmental goals. … It would be great background for our audience — mostly banks and other financial institutions, foundations, and government — to get a better sense of what is the cutting edge on this topic.

“It is particularly interesting to us to find ways to partner with multiple groups so they can take a more comprehensive approach to revitalizing poor neighborhoods–e.g., banks making loans for affordable housing, local or state governments using bond authority for charter schools, and community development venture capital firms making equity investments in promising new businesses.

“Your conference seems like a great chance to bring some of our people to meet some of your people.  We’d like to explore how we can use our mailing list and contacts to try to build more understanding and maybe some partnerships”

And of course, I said yes we’re greatly intersted and we’re meeting to talk further. The theme at the heart of Socap08 is making connections and finding new partners across boundaries you never thought of crossing before who, like you, want to accelerate the flow of capital to good. It’s amazing the commonality across an amazingly diverse number of groups, like this cutting portion of the Fed, who are responding to a new wave of investing and funding that’s going on, and who want to be bring a new message to a wider group of people than they regularly talk to, who are signing up to come to the conference October 13-15th.