Social Innovation from the Ground Up


credit: JOHN MCCARRON

The UN's Sustainable Development Goals (ODS) are a universal call for action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

To gain perspective on approaches that might be used to achieve those objectives three organizations came together to meet with Edwin Maria John, recognized international activist for the rights of children and promoter of Sociocracy, to reflect on the current state of social innovation.

The three organizations, Colunga Foundation, Colab UC, Corfo Y About Networks, are developing the project Innovation 2030, whose mission is to boost the impact of innovation and social entrepreneurship initiatives in Latin America, aligning them with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

They learned about John's work in Kerala, a state in the extreme south of India, where the neighborhood organization generated the empowerment of women and in turn accommodated those voices that were silenced.

John further explained that the best way to solve the problems of the neighborhood is through the organization, where the decision-making process is permanent and effective, from its bases.

He also expounded upon the 5 principles that governed this work which organized 100,000 neighborhood parliaments and engaged 200,000 boys and girls for real political impact.

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Federal Programs Related to - Social Innovation

Non-NPC category for MTurk implementation

    Federal Programs Related to - Youth Development, General/Other

    Programs that provide opportunities for children and youth to participate in recreational, cultural, social and civic activities through membership in clubs and other youth groups with a special focus on programs whose purpose is to help youngsters develop their potential and grow into healthy, educated, responsible and productive adults.

    Federal Programs Related to - Civil Rights, Social Action & Advocacy, General/Other

    Programs that focus on protecting and promoting the broad civil rights and civil liberties of individuals and work to change public policy and opinion in a variety of areas.

    See also: +COMMON CODE Advocacy (**B); Hate Crimes Prevention (I02.07); Housing Discrimination (I05.08); Voter Services (W08.05)

    Federal Programs Related to - Community Development, General/Other

    Programs that focus broadly on strengthening, unifying and building the economic, cultural, educational and social services of a community or neighborhood and improving the quality of life for all. Community Building; Community Capacity Building; Community Development and Improvement; Community Development Block Grants; Healthy Communities Community Economic Development Programs that provide technical assistance and funds to help communities retain and recycle income within the community by investing in the development of local institutions and businesses. Business Growth; Business Loans; Economic Growth; Economic Transformation; Real Estate Organizations; Socioeconomic Development; Technology Transfer; Transfer of Technology; Urban Enterprise Zones


    Ganesh Natarajan is the Founder and Chairman of 5FWorld, a new platform for funding and developing start-ups, social enterprises and the skills eco-system in India. In the past two decades, he has built two of India’s high-growth software services companies – Aptech and Zensar – almost from scratch to global success.




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