This post was originally produced for Forbes.
Social innovator Lexi Barrett is helping to lead a non-partisan effort at New Profit, a venture philanthropy fund, called America Forward focused on supporting results-oriented organizations working in education, workforce development and poverty alleviation.
Barrett, who has spent most of her career in government service, says, “Although the impact of our sector, and our New Profit Portfolio and America Forward Coalition Members in particular, is impressive—millions of communities and individuals go unserved each year and the problems we seek to solve are even greater. And while the federal government ought to be learning from and expanding these efforts, in too many cases government is getting in the way by creating unnecessary barriers, stifling innovation, and investing in programs that do not work.”
Barrett hopes to change that. She says, “America Forward is turning the page from an era of unprecedented gridlock to one of unprecedented p…