Initiatives
Criterion Institute

OUR APPROACH ... THE SYSTEMS APPROACH ... and a whole lot more

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

http://criterioninstitute.org/about/our-approach/ OUR APPROACH ... THE SYSTEMS APPROACH

There are many examples of social entrepreneurs, philanthropists and non-profits using markets and business practices to create social and environmental impact. Examples range from social enterprises that manufacture and sell products in order to generate triple-bottom line profits, to environmental NGOs that partner with large multinationals to get them to adopt environmentally-friendly sourcing practices. The focus is at the enterprise level, working within an existing market – within existing systems.

Criterion Institute believes, however, that if we work to intentionally shape markets, the cumulative effect of markets geared toward producing positive social and environmental results and enterprises working through those markets will be greater than either working independently.

OUR ROLE IN FIELD-BUILDING

Criterion has unique insights based on our values of grace, hospitality and invitation, our deceptively simple methodology, our history at the intersection of business and social change – and our distinct role.

We work on field-building initiatives sitting in the spaces in between other markets and movements, such as the capital markets, church, and the women’s funding movement. We are useful because we sit at the intersections – and are empowered to imagine differently as a result. We are discoverers – revealing places where this kind of imagination is being lived out and intermediating where we can to shape markets and make new rules.

Background, initiatives and dialogues:

Read more about why Criterion Institute is specially equipped to shape markets for social change, our current initiatives to shape markets for social change, and dialogues we are convening between academics and practitioners on shaping markets for social change.

You are here: Home / About Us / Our Story / Our Values

http://criterioninstitute.org/about/our-story/our-values/

OUR VALUES ... GRACE, HOSPITALITY, AND INVITATION

Criterion’s work has, from the beginning, been driven by three core values: grace, hospitality and the power of invitation.

These touchstones shape our methodology and approach.

Grace

Grace allows us to meet people where they are and to view everyone as someone with value. Our screen is wide and inclusive. Grace means we welcome everyone, including people who walk through doors in many ways, from different places, and view the world through varying filters.

Hospitality

We welcome the stranger, knowing that the stranger will change us.

Hospitality in this ancient definition protects a place for everyone to engage. We think about hospitable places, and ways that we can welcome a diversity of voices and outlooks into our work. While the hospitality industry might make you think this value is about making us look good when you visit, we value deeply the opportunity to be changed by you, to have our outlook changed through conversation, openness, and honesty. Hospitality lets people know they have been invited, and that they are valued.

Invitation

We invite people into relationships, for that is the only way we know how to conduct our business. We believe that the act of invitation begins relationship. Invitation powers Criterion Ventures.

While we often plan and execute events, they are only one way to interact. Through inviting we engage, whether you can attend the event or not.

Criterion welcomes you into real conversation.

And we ask you, in turn, to invite the stranger in to change you.

Trust grace to surprise you.

Criterion has been leading initiatives that shape markets to create good for the past ten years.

Ventures

As one of the founders of Good Capital we had an outsized impact on the social capital markets in relationship to the specific investments in companies through the fund.

As the leaders of Rockefeller-funded Healthcare_Uncovered, an initiative that sought to rationalize the cash market in healthcare, we introduced new mechanisms for financial management.

Other Ventures

Like every serial entrepreneur, we’ve had experiences that taught us – but that were successful only in terms of how much we learned. And again in each of these ventures, what we learned the most was about how to shape market systems.

Consulting

Criterion has enjoyed ten years of consulting, with over 100 clients, including the Packard Foundation and AARP Foundations. We’ll continue this consulting work through our Structure Labs, where we’ve worked with over 600 entrepreneurs through public workshops and private labs.

Today

Our track record in leading innovative initiatives positions us as a leader in the conversation about shaping markets.

To learn more about where this path has taken us, read about our current initiatives.