Anne White, who is on assignment from the Harvard Kennedy School to Gov. Snyder’s office, will discuss social impact bonds on Tuesday, March 11, at Lawrence Technological University, 21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield.
Coffee and networking begin at 8 a.m. in the lobby of the Mary E. Marburger Engineering and Science Auditorium in LTU’s Science Building. The program, which runs from 8:30-10 a.m., is sponsored by Plante Moran and costs $30. Go to www.ltu.edu/management/executivetoexecutive.asp for online registration or register in person at the event.
White has been assigned to the Office of Strategic Policy in the governor’s office. She is a Harvard Government Innovation Fellow at the Social Impact Bond Technical Assistance Lab (SIB Lab), which is currently assisting nine states and Chicago in the implementation of social impact bonds.
Social impact bonds are also known as pay-for success contracts. A private investor such as a bank or philanthropic foundation signs a contract with a government entity to provide funding and management of a program with a specific goal such as reducing homelessness. If the goal is achieved, the government pays back the investor with a profit; if the goal is not achieved, the government pays nothing.
“We believe it makes government delivery of services more accountable. If it’s successful, we benefit. If for whatever reason the targets aren’t met, taxpayers aren’t on the hook for those dollars,” Joe Pavona of the governor’s office told the Associated Press when Michigan was chosen to participate in the Harvard program last September.
The SIB Lab of the Harvard Kennedy School conducts research on how governments can foster social innovation and improve the results they obtain with their social spending. Its research model involves providing pro bono technical assistance to state and local governments implementing pay-for-success contracts using social impact bonds.
White previously led Ontario’s exploration project on social impact bonds as advisor on government innovation and outcomes-based approaches with the Mowat Centre at the University of Toronto. She earned a master’s degree in public policy from the London School of Economics and Sciences, and her undergraduate degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business in London, Ont.
Her presentation at LTU is part of the four-part Executive to Executive speaker series for leaders in the nonprofit sector sponsored by Plante Moran and hosted by the Center for Nonprofit Management at Lawrence Tech. The series is offered in partnership with the Blender Consulting Group, the United Way of Southeastern Michigan and the Michigan Nonprofit Association.
For more information, visit www.ltu.edu/nonprofit or contact the Blender Consulting Group at (248) 245-7900 or dblender@comcast.net.
Lawrence Technological University, www.ltu.edu, is a private university founded in 1932 that offers more than 100 programs through the doctoral level in its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Management. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 7 percent of universities for return on undergraduate tuition investment, and highest in the Detroit metropolitan area. Lawrence Tech is also listed in the top tier of Midwestern universities by U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review. Students benefit from small class sizes and experienced faculty who provide a real-world, hands-on, “theory and practice” education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 102-acre campus include over 60 student clubs and organizations and a growing roster of NAIA varsity sports.