Last week, our newsletter asked the question, "What is President Obama’s Social Innovation Agenda and what does it mean for nonprofits and the social sector?"

Yesterday, the answer to that question became clearer as the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that the White House Web site now lists an Office of Social Innovation (without a formal public annoucnement).  The article quotes several members of Mr. Obama's transition team (including Echoing Green President Cheryl Dorsey) about the details of this office.  According the article:

A White House office "would leverage the president's platform to highlight the importance of relying on social entrepreneurs and nonprofits to solve social problems where both the private sector and government have failed," Ms. Jolin wrote in the journal Stanford Social Innovation Review last spring.

The office, she added, would oversee efforts to direct government money to help nonprofit leaders experiment, expand approaches that work, and help charities collect data and evaluate whether they are making a difference. While President Obama proposed during the campaign the creation of a Social Entrepreneurship Agency in the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal national-service agency, Ms. Jolin argues that putting an office in the White House "elevates it as a priority."

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