Thursday, September 04, 2008

More blur

I write about the blurring of the sectors often. And I appreciate it when others send me a 'heads up' on an example of this at work. Sean Stannard Stockton pointed me to zoosa.org - a new website where job seekers can find "social enterprise" opportunities in the public, private, independent and elected spheres. In the site's own words:

"Zoosa.org is an environment where professionals can quickly find social enterprise opportunities which match their interests, skill sets, and time. We make it easier for you to do well while doing good.

Zoosa.org includes all positions with a positive social impact (for-profit & non-profit, paid & unpaid)."
JustMeans is a similar idea (without the elected official angle). Zoosa's site doesn't give much information on who is behind this (they're based in Cambridge, MA), but the site looks a lot like sites such as socialactions.com, though that may be nothing more than site design. Site says "they're not looking for funding now." They will be negotiating sponsorships, advertising, and partnerships. Found nothing useful about them at the WhoIs domain registration site.

By the way, Sean has been posting some great thought pieces on the "business of philanthropy," - a topic so near and dear to my heart it is the subtitle of this blog.

P.S. Thanks to all who have been sending in good wishes - I hope to be back to work and blogging with some regularity as family health situation stabilizes (and assuming Hanna, Ike and Josephine don't prevent me from getting home)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lucy -- Thank you for the mentioning Zoosa in your blog! I'd like to provide some additional background for your readers.

Zoosa was founded during my first year at Harvard Business School and continued to grow this past summer thanks to a grant by Harvard’s Social Enterprise Initiative. We currently have the equivalent of 2 full time employees and 6 interns and we’re looking to hire additional interns during the fall 2008/spring 2009 academic calendar.

Zoosa is different from existing sites in that we integrate working, volunteering, and getting elected into the same system with plans to add legislation in the future. These sections are all linked by an “issue of social responsibility” (ISR) with each posting mapped to up to 5 ISRs. By including social enterprise jobs & high impact volunteer positions in the same location, professionals can quickly find opportunities which match their socially conscious area of interest, even if those opportunities were not part of their original plan (work vs. intern vs. volunteer & non‐profit vs. for‐profit).

As a courtesy to organizations which utilize our service while in the beta stage, Zoosa is extending discounted access for all employment & volunteer postings (events are free). I am working individually with organizations to provide the discount code and can be reached at mmcglade@zoosa.org.

Thank you!

Mike McGlade
Zoosa, CEO

Anonymous said...

Hi Lucy,

I just wanted to thank you for this post about "blur" between the sectors. I checked out zoosa.org for social enterprise work/volunteer opportunities and found out about an awesome volunteer opportunity in SF with a startup social enterprise founded by two recent Harvard Business School grads. I applied for the position and am in contact with them now to see how I can help. This is exactly the kind of more meaningful/intellectual volunteering opportunity I have been seeking!

Thanks!
Leslie

Anonymous said...

Hi Lucy,

I just wanted to thank you for this post about "blur" between the sectors. I checked out zoosa.org for social enterprise work/volunteer opportunities and found out about an awesome volunteer opportunity in SF with a startup social enterprise founded by two recent Harvard Business School grads. I applied for the position and am in contact with them now to see how I can help. This is exactly the kind of more meaningful/intellectual volunteering opportunity I have been seeking!

Thanks!
Leslie