Ebinger speaks on problems of ignorant philanthropy

Colleen Ebinger works for a nonprofit organization, but she is not a fan of the word “charity.”

On Wednesday night, Ebinger spoke in Huntsman Hall as part of the Levy Social Impact Lecture Series and the Penn Social Entrepreneurship Speaker Series. Ebinger is the director of Public Innovators for Root Cause, a nonprofit devoted to supporting efficient, effective and sustainable solutions to social problems.

Ebinger began by describing her time in the Peace Corps working in an isolated city in Honduras. It was there, she said, that she had her first encounter with well-intentioned but ignorant philanthropy. She described how, one day, she helped deliver a wheelchair to a man who lived in a world of dirt roads and steep hills.

Ebinger went on to describe the problems of ignorant philanthropy. She explained how good intentions are not sufficient in the private sector, but are too often all a social project will need to receive funding.

“We don’t think good intentions are sufficient in business. If a business has good intentions but doesn’t make money, it goes out of business,” she elaborated. “We don’t think good intentions are sufficient in government, if we don’t like what elected people are doing we vote them out of office.”

She said she thinks the same rules should apply to social impact projects.

According to Ebinger, Root Cause is dedicated to replicating social impact models that work. As an organization the group brings resources such as government money together with the best solutions to social problems.

Her own efforts have included the establishment of innovative business plans for the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana’s Office of Social Entrepreneurship, initially founded to support sustainable programs created in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Ebinger also explained the role Root Cause plays in the spread of iTN America, a program that provides “dignified transportation for seniors,” according to iTN America’s web site. The service allows the elderly to trade their cars to pay for rides while simultaneously enabling volunteer drivers to store credits for future transportation needs.

The program began as a local program by a mother whose child was hit by an elderly driver. Root Cause helped the program to expand, so that it now exists in a self-sustaining form on a national level.

College senior Chloe Ho, a member of Penn Social Enterprise Mentoring and an event organizer, said she thought the event was a success because of the strong social impact movement at Penn.

Nien-he Hsieh, associate professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, said he thought the talk allowed students interested in social entrepreneurship to look at the bigger picture, particularly where the role of government is concerned.

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