Showing the Way Forward
by James Higa, Executive Director

SOCAP is the world's leading conference for impact investing and philanthropy. In its tenth year now, SOCAP brings together more than 3,000 investors, social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and business leaders from around the world -- and it happens right in our backyard, in San Francisco's beautiful Fort Mason.
This year, I was asked to deliver a keynote for the Impact Accelerator scholarship entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs come from over 35 countries on six continents. 35% are women founders. They are building everything from construction companies for innovative housing on Native American Indian reservations, to edtech ventures in Africa, to a mobile food stamp application app in the US.
I spoke about the biggest and lasting lessons I've learned over a career in tech in the hope that it can provide inspiration, courage, and the nitty gritty how to's for a new generation of change makers embarking to tackle the world's biggest problems. Lessons like  'Simplicity = clarity' ,  'No Bozos' , and  'There is no such thing as a small project' struck a chord. Some of the gracious words and comments from the audience you see here were overwhelming and recharged my energy reserves to do even more.
 
Showing the way forward towards a new type of philanthropy is deep in the DNA of PVF. Bill Somerville has spoken to over 400 foundations to seed them with the ideas of grassroots philanthropy and immediate response. We will continue to reach out to the next generation of leaders about the principals of radical collaboration. We firmly believe that giving back to the next generation is one of the ways we can impact the trajectory of good in this world.
SOCAP17: A Recap
By Aiko Hayashi, Development Associate

This year's SOCAP conference was held on Oct. 10-13 at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, and it attracted participants from all over, including Austin, TX, Denver, CO, Detroit, MI, and Tennessee.

Aiko Hayashi, PVF's Development Associate, participated in Thursday's sessions to learn more about impact investing and how that is changing philanthropy. The topics varied widely, and participants were hard-pressed to pick just a few to fit in a day that was jam-packed with many interesting discussions led by brilliant industry thought leaders.

In the end, Aiko chose sessions that seemed most relevant to PVF's work: affordable housing ("Investing in Affordable Housing for Return and Impact Across the Capital Stack"), education ("Powerful Cross-Sector Synergies: Early Childhood Development, Workforce, and Health"), and the formerly incarcerated ("Connecting Talent to Opportunity"), as well as a session on NGOs that are using accelerator models for global development.
About the Editors
James Higa
James Higa, Executive Director, brings 28 years of executive experience from Silicon Valley, working with Steve Jobs to change the face of technology. He was at the birth of the personal computer revolution as a member of the original Macintosh team and was deeply involved in the creation of many products and services at Apple over 3 decades. He has a long history of public service as a board member of Stanford's Haas Center and in grassroots relief efforts.
Bill Somerville, Founder, has been in non-profit and philanthropic work for over 50 years. He was the director of a community foundation for 17 years, and in 1991 founded Philanthropic Ventures Foundation where he serves as President. Bill has consulted at over 400 community foundations, on creative grantmaking and foundation operations. Bill is the author of  Grassroots Philanthropy: Field Notes of a Maverick Grantmaker. 
About PVF
PVF is a demonstration foundation practicing unique forms of grantmaking and innovative philanthropy. Our primary interest is in the creative and significant use of the philanthropic dollar.
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