Jeffrey Liebman (Harvard Kennedy School): Government's Role in Social Impact Bonds

Monday, June 9, 2014, 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.

Is there a way for governments to foster innovation and increase their capacity to address social problems while also improving the results they obtain from social service spending?

The answer may lie in a promising new social finance model called Social Impact Bonds (SIBs).

Professor Jeffrey Liebman, director of the Harvard Kennedy School Social Impact Bond Technical Assistance Lab (SIB Lab) and one of the world’s leading experts on SIBs, will present this innovative new tool. He will cover a wide range of issues related to SIBs, including:

  • How the SIB model is helping governments overcome barriers to social innovation.
  • What is involved in setting up a SIB project.
  • What the Harvard SIB Lab has learned from working with 10 state and city governments to develop some of the first SIBs in the United States.
  • What questions still remain about the model.

The discussion will be moderated by Tim Draimin, director of Social Innovation Generation.

Event Details:
Cost: $20.00
Register here
Location: MaRS Centre Auditorium
101 College Street
Toronto, ON

About the Speakers:
Jeffrey Liebman is the Malcolm Wiener Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he teaches courses in social policy, public sector economics and American economic policy. In his research, he studies tax and budget policy, social insurance, poverty and income inequality. During the first two years of the Obama administration, Liebman served at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), first as executive associate director and chief economist, and then as acting deputy director. From 1998 to 1999, Liebman served as special assistant to the president for economic policy and coordinated the Clinton administration’s Social Security reform technical working group. For the past two years, he has been providing pro bono assistance to state and local governments that are interested in implementing pay-for-success contracts using social impact bonds.

Tim Draimin is executive director of Social Innovation Generation (SiG), a partnership founded by The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, MaRS Discovery District, the University of Waterloo and PLAN Institute. SiG works to engage the creativity and resources of all sectors to collaborate on social innovations capable of solving Canada’s complex social and environmental challenges. SiG convened the Canadian Task Force on Social Finance, which proposed a seven-point agenda for mobilizing private capital for public good. As executive director, Draimin supports SiG’s growing network of academics, practitioners, social entrepreneurs, allied institutions and partnerships in expanding Canada’s social innovation ecosystem.

Draimin is the author of Canada’s first national study of social entrepreneurship and is a frequent advisor to government, non-profit associations and business. He brings to SiG over 30 years of international career experience. He has worked for or consulted in Canada and abroad with the Canadian Council for International Co-operation, the International Development Research Centre, Synergos and Ford Foundation. Draimin serves on various boards, including TRICO Charitable Foundation (Calgary), Grand Challenges Canada, Social Innovation Exchange (UK) and Partnership Brokers Association (UK), and is an advisor to the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing.

Further Information:
See the MaRS event listing for more event details.