Jane Wales, co-founder of the Global Philanthropy Forum; president and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Northern California; and vice president at the Aspen Institute, wrote an op-ed in today’s San Francisco Chronicle highlighting how the Obama Administration can partner with philanthropy. She says:

The incoming administration, strapped for resources, yet charged with large responsibilities, has reached out to the social sector in a variety of ways. Obama has advocated the creation of a Social Investment Fund Network to provide seed capital for nonprofits to test new ideas or bring proven programs to scale. He has supported the Serve America Act and its proposed Commission for Cross-Sector Solutions. And he is considering the creation of Presidential Advisory Board on Non-Profits and a White House Office of Social Innovation and Impact, which would identify and seek to eliminate tax, regulatory and other policy barriers to social innovation. Through these and other actions, the president elect has signaled the kind of partner this government hopes to be.

As with all partnerships, it will be essential to have clarity about what each brings to the table, and to strengthen one another in the process. In forging alliances, the new administration will want to preserve the independence of its partners in social change – for their independence provides them the agility to invent.

Preserving that freedom, and the long view it allows, will allow philanthropy and civil society to help meet the challenges that await the new president and the country he will lead.

Exciting to see and a great reminder of the potential outcomes for partnerships formed in this new year!

Read the rest of the article here.