This post is part of a series profiling the 2014 #SoGood Award winners announced at June’s State of Innovation Forum. These worthy winners are companies and individuals who are heavily contributing to social good in Boston and beyond. Read their stories to discover how you can give back this summer.
Rarely do you find venture capital and social good together in the same sentence, but John Simon, venture capitalist and activist, is an exception to the rule. The Managing Director at Sigma Prime Ventures and former Managing Director and Co-Founder of General Catalyst Partners, Simon has had an illustrious career in venture capital only matched by his enduring commitment to social good.
In 1990, Simon and co-founder Michael P.Danziger created The Steppingstone Foundation to give underserved Boston schoolchildren educational opportunities that lead to college success. The program began with The Scholars Program which prepared sixth-grade students for competitive college-preparatory schools and has since evolved into three programs here in Boston: The Steppingstone Academy, The College Success Academy, and the National Partnership for Educational Access. Over 1,800 students have been served by the Steppingstone Foundation, 92 percent of which graduate high school and enroll in a four-year college.
Simon continued to make an impact in the lives of urban youth by founding The GreenLight Fund. He recognized that social entrepreneurship is a powerful tool capable of transforming the lives of those in need. The GreenLight Fund leverages that power by “greenlighting” and providing critical support to programs helping to solve critical needs of low-income children and families. The GreenLight Fund now operates in Boston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco and has supported a vast portfolio of exceptional organizations including the Blueprint Schools Network and the National College Advising Corps.
Despite being a key figure impacting the lives of thousands in Boston and beyond, Simon gives credit to the community before himself
“Nothing we have done at GreenLight would have been possible without such an engaged, involved, and passionate community…” Simon said. “Boston is such an amazing place to be trying to do good things. The people in the ecosystem are passionate about making a difference and you never feel lonely trying to do things.”
While he may not be quick to admit it, Simon himself is one of those passionate people he praises, more than deserving of the Individual Mission Award. Check out why Simon believes in social entrepreneurship and what he loves about the social good scene here in the Hub.
BostInno: Where did your passion for social good originate? Do you have any mentors who inspired you to give back?
John Simon: My passion to try to make a difference really came from my parents and from seeing what they did to help others (especially my Dad with all he did as a doctor, caring for patients). That really inspired me to do all I could do.
What do you love most about being involved in social causes here in the Boston area?
Boston is such an amazing place to be trying to do good things. The people in the ecosystem are passionate about making a difference and you never feel lonely trying to do things. The community really comes together to make things happen. Nothing we have done at GreenLight would have been possible without such an engaged, involved, and passionate community.
Any advice for those looking for ways to give back?
If you want to get involved, my best advice is to seek out others that are involved and just commit to making one little step to do something and get started. That one little step can lead to others. Resources to look at include the GreenLight Fund (www.greenlightfund.org) and volunteering/helping any of the 9 organizations we have helped bring to Boston (which now serve 35,000+ children and families in Boston annually in life-changing ways) and the Boston Foundation and some of the cause-related information they provide as a community resource.
What’s next on your social good agenda?
Next on the agenda for us at GreenLight are 1) solidifying all around the 9th organization we are helping expand into Boston, the phenomenal Blueprint Schools, 2) starting to implement the initial stages of the next five year plan we have developed at GreenLight to eventually reach over 100,000 children and families annually, and 3) building up our capacity to be even more helpful to the incredible social entrepreneurs we are so lucky to be able to work with.
Many of your charitable activities focus on students and disadvantaged youths. Why is it important to invest in the younger generation?
The reason why we focus so much on disadvantaged youths at GreenLight is that we feel like we have a responsibility to do it and we can make a difference. Social entrepreneurs have developed proven models that work and that transform outcomes. It would be a shame not to make these programs available here in Boston to the best of our ability.
