Social Innovation

Traditional policy approaches have failed to catalyze significant and lasting change for many complex social problems, such as homelessness, justice involvement and reentry, and educational achievement. Social innovation, which is an iterative, inclusive process that intends to generate more effective and just solutions to solve complex social problems, provides an alternative to traditional problem solving approaches. The Price Center conducts research on all aspects of social innovation, which offers both new processes and new models for solving society’s most persistent social challenges.

What Is Collective Impact

Year: 2018

A concise introduction to the concept of “collective impact” with two examples of significant initiatives in Los Angeles.


A Patchwork of Identities: Emergence of Charter Schools as a New Organizational Form

Emergence: Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Volume 50

Year: 2017

This paper examines the emergence of an organizational form, charter schools, in Oakland, California. It links field-level logics to organizational founding identities using topic modeling. It finds corporate and community founding actors create distinct and consistent identities, whereas more peripheral … Continue reading


Evaluating Teachers in the Big Easy: How Organizational Context Shapes Policy Responses in New Orleans

Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis

Year: 2017

Although multiple-measure teacher evaluation systems have gained popularity in the United States, few studies have examined their implementation or how they are shaped by organizational context. New Orleans provides a strategic case to examine the enactment of a state teacher … Continue reading


Stepping Up: An empirical analysis of the use of social innovation in response to an economic recession

Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy & Society

Year: 2015

Categorising organisations as either for-profit or nonprofit is a false dichotomy as existing for-profit firms are becoming more socially conscience while nonprofits are adopting profit-making activities to ensure their viability. This paper conceptualises the array of social practices as a … Continue reading


Place Based Initiatives in the Context of Public Policy and the Market: Moving to Higher Ground

The Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy, Sol Price Center for Social Innovation

Year: 2015

This monograph represents the culmination of a year long inquiry into the state of place-based initiatives. It draws upon the contributions of a cross-section of the foremost thought leaders in this field, many of whom have spent their entire careers … Continue reading


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