OpenKollab is developing infrastructure and processes to support its larger mission of Connecting Projects To Solve Massive Social Problems. In service of this larger end, we are developing the Ecosystem Pooled Fund initiative, the objective of which is to develop a model to provide financing to early stage social entrepreneurs (those that are developing projects that delivery both social value and financial return). As you likely know, there is a gap in the funding landscape that makes it very hard for social entrepreneurs to raise seed funds. The gap exists due to the fact that social ventures typically carry high risk but don't necessarily carry high enough financial return to offset this risk since they are not solely focused on financial return.

I recently had the opportunity to connect with Scott Anderson from ClientTrack, a software solution aimed at increasing the impact of social benefit organizations and their work by “integrating people, processes, and technology.”  You can learn more about Scott and the work ClientTrack is doing in the interview below.

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Scott Anderson is the Director of Communications for DSI, the developer of ClientTrack. He earned his PhD in Communications from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to his PhD, he worked as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in community health, adolescent residential treatment, and a faith-based organization.

I recently watched "Us Now", a one hour feature about how collaborative tools can help us make better decisions.

Interesting examples, many of them new

As [we hope] you all know, here at NetSquared we love our Community and want to deliver for you: whether it's creating spaces for the Community members to share ideas and updates (the Community Blog) or for collaborating on innovative Projects to some of the biggest social issues around the world (the Project Gallery).  We are always looking to engage you in our work with feedback and ideas, like the recent Redesign series where we opened up our plans for redesigning the website so you could contribute to the conversation

Web of Change is an upcoming gathering (Sep 23rd - 27th) that brings together the social change and technology community - on an intimate Island retreat in British Columbia - to share their world-class work, ideas, and inspiration with a powerful community of deeply committed peers.

The Web of Change team also just offered 10 Scholarship opportunities!

You can fill out the scholarship form for your chance to receive free tuition. Scholarship Applications are due by midnight PST, Thursday August 20th.

Within the next month or two, events are being hosted in British Columbia, Paris, and San Francisco – helping to bring together and foster collaboration for those working within the environmental & social change space.

I wonder if there may be a unifying force striving through all of these gatherings - as if around the globe we are seeing that a renewed sense of collaboration is a major key to addressing our world's challenges. Take a look at the events and see for yourself!

Josh Catone (@Catone) recently shared a post on Mashable entitled, How To Use the Web for Socially Responsible Shopping. In the post, Josh profiled nine sites that “offer information for the conscious consumer about the companies and products we buy every day.”

Josh did an excellent job highlighting and bringing together an array of awesome tools: Knowmore, GoodGuide, Crocodyl, ClimateCounts, Transnationale, Corporate Critic, Citizens Market, Do the Right Thing, and Source Map.

And then in the comments, the Mashable community shared more great resources: Tuggly, MadeinNations, Business & Human Rights, EthiScore, Vanno, GreenLighted, and Zumer.

As well, there are even more useful sites which feature green & sustainability ratings – like 3rdWhale & GenGreen (who announced a partnership last night) GreenAmerica, Bilumi, BadBuster, & SustainLane. The list definitely goes on!

The thing is, after you read the post – you're left wondering: “Who is bringing all this data together?”

Who's making it easy to search across these sites? Who's working on making sense of the data – to potentially create aggregate profiles or scores. Who's working on open standards and formats so sites can talk to each other? Who's facilitating an Open API (like the Social Actions API & WiserEarth API) – to spread this information where it can be most relevant online? Who's figuring out the business & collaboration models so open sharing can be more likely to happen?

Catone's post changes the game because it forces us to look at the green shopping sector as a whole and wonder how we can help take it to the next level.

What do you think? How can we support and leverage this exploding sector to ultimately empower millions of people to shop in ways that create a better environmental & social impact?

Excited for your thoughts!

The N2Y4 Conference brought together innovators and entrepreneurs, nonprofit organizations and funders, all to connect with each other and help selected winners in the N2Y4 Mobile Challenge from the cast of 14 Featured Projects.  There were sessions, pitches, how-tos and open space connections.  It was a packed couple days, filled with a-ha moments, new ideas, and open questions to continue exploring after the event had finished.

This month's Net2 Think Tank question is: How do real-world (offline) events fit into social media conversations and campaigns?

My thinking: Social media conversations and online campaigns create whole new models for bringing together & powering the progressive movement. Although at core: People coming together in the real-world are key to fueling how we organize for change. We need real world events to be a central part of our online organizing. We need offline events to meet each other, bond eye-to-eye, and forge the collaborations that will make our social networks stronger, better connected, and ultimately transformative.

So - a major question is: How can your online community also support events in the real world? What kind of offline events are the best fit for your community? And what real world event models can you learn from or partner with? Well, let's look at five different event types and see if one or more of 'em sparks some ideas for your community!

Google 'launched' Google Wave about two weeks ago at the I/O Conference. It's continued to create quite a stir on the blogosphere, Twitter, and YouTube (2 million+ views!). Check out the 80 minute intro. video or read this TechCrunch article for an overview. 

Through Google Wave, Google seeks to change the way we communicate and collaborate online. I think it's worth pausing, though, to reflect on the Google Wave team's process around how they communicated and collaborated with the community to get us to this point. How might the Google Wave team have done things differently to better position themselves for world-changing success? And what are lessons we could learn for our world-changing projects?