Beyond our strategic observations of the discussions at the Social Innovation eXchange Summer School in Lisbon in mid-July, we were fortunate to meet many leading social innovators from around the world.

Although SIX was a Euro-centric discussion, it nonetheless attracted a diverse set of leaders with social innovation expertise in government, business, social, and finance sectors.  Each person is inspiring, many organizations are impressive; when we were together, it had the feel of a movement. Here's a list of people, organizations and initiatives are worthy of your attention:

ONLINE INITIATIVES

• Social Innovation eXchange: Plans are underway for the SIX website to continue evolving into an ever-deepening hub for global social innvoation, so keep checking in. Meantime, review the conference wiki to which many participants contributed, and that was maintained primarily by Ben Metz, former head of Ashoka UK and Anton Shelupanov of the Young Foundation.
• Fixing The Future. This web-based campaign supported by the Young Foundation is an effort to raise awareness and leverage social media in pursuit of more and better social innovation. It's worth tracking this project to see if it gains the cultural foothold intended by the organizers.
• Public Innovators. One of the few US-based projects represented at SIX, this website highlights and coordinates social innovation initiatives within state and national governments. Public innovators is an initiative conceived and deployed by RootCause, an organization working on social innovation issues inside the Beltway, founded by Andrew Wolk.

ORGANIZATIONS

• Young Foundation.  Leading the charge on social innovation in the UK and EU.  Organization is helmed by Geoff Mulgan, whose elite intellect was revealed during his tenure as a key advisor to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair on strategy and policy.
• Centers For Social Innovation.  There are several of these centers around the world.  We met Tonya Surman who founded and runs the CSI in Toronto, which appears to be the one of, if not THE, most advanced and impactful of the lot. Her previous work is well worth your attention.  In addition, Centers for Social Innovation in Singapore (host of 2010 SIX) and New Zealand demonstrate the interest in innovation incubation.
• The Lisbon Council. This Brussels-based policy think tank -- fully named The Lisbon Council for Economic Competitiveness and Social Renewal -- is a policy network focused on changing policy at the EU, developing strategies based on inclusion, opportunity and sustainability. The organization is run and was co-founded by Ann Mettler, who gave the most stirring and powerful talk at SIX, passionately making the case that we are running out of time to make fundamental changes in policy.  
• Knowledgeland (Kennisland in native Dutch). An initiative to improve the country's adoption of a knowledge economy, and ultimately to make the country smarter. Run by two amazing people, Chris Sigaloff and Joeri van den Steenhoven.
• Mindlab. This cross-ministerial agency in the Danish government strives to leverage innovation for the better lives of its citizens. Headed by Christian Bason, Mindlab demonstrates the best of government-driven innovation.

PEOPLE

• Won Soon Park. This true revolutionary in South Korea has been a tireless activist for social reform for 35 years. South Korea has a much poorer record on individual freedom and social liberty than their global business and political standing would indicate. His Hope Institute (minimal info in english) leverages participatory online media to inform alternative policy recommendation.
• Robin Murray. This important elder in social innovation holds a firm grasp of the scope of the problem and a genuine commitment to making impact.  A senior advisor to the Young Foundation, Robin impressed us with his intellect, manner and leadership.
• Jon Huggett. This consultant to for-profit and non-profit CEOs brings rigor to the organizations he leads. Jon's background in finance and business indicates an important trend: serious business people crossing over their energy and skills to help direct social entrepreneurs to have a practical impact. His dual citizenship in the US and UK revealsthe global nature of these challenges. 

Please let us know if you'd like more information on any these initiatives, organizations or people, and we are happy to make connections that could lead to potential collaborations.