Jim Sorenson, the business entrepreneur turned philanthropist who founded the Sorenson Impact Center at the Eccles School, testified about the center’s work this week to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.
During his testimony, Sorenson highlighted the work and mission of the applied academic center to accelerate sustainable social change through the use of capital, innovation, data, and cross-sector collaboration.
In the four years since its inception, the Center has helped facilitate more than $100 million in investments into scalable, sustainable solutions to social problems such as unsafe drinking water in places like Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, and chronic unemployment and criminal recidivism here in the U.S.
He also highlighted the Center’s work in structuring nearly a dozen “pay for success” projects around the country with a variety of stakeholders. These projects are aimed at addressing society’s most complex and challenging social issues, including intergenerational poverty, homelessness, foster care, mass incarceration, chronic unemployment, educational achievement gaps, mental illness, and substance use disorders, to name a few. But most importantly, they do it in a way that is more effective by employing evidence based best practices and measured outcomes.
“I would also note the tremendous power of the model to bring together stakeholders from across the government, nonprofit, academic, philanthropic, and for-profit sectors to collectively problem-solve and serve individuals and families in need,” Sorenson told the committee.
You can watch the entire hearing by clicking here. Sorenson’s testimony begins at the 48:00 mark.