Method, cited in an NPR story on legal efforts to protect double-bottom line companies, has built a thriving business on home-care products and social responsibility.

This morning NPR flashed a spotlight on an interesting, potentially powerful path ahead for social entrepreneurs – legal protections for double-bottom-line companies. Corporate law currently protects the interests of shareholders and holds companies accountable for maximizing shareholder value – i.e. making money. In this environment, companies that also value social good – environmentally friendly production practices, returning a portion of profits to communities, etc. – often see those values compromised as business success puts pressure on their legal obligations to shareholders. (The NPR story highlights Ben & Jerry’s and Method as case studies.)

Now a working group of California lawyers that includes attorney and blogger Todd Johnson is working to change that. Johnson and colleagues are asking, What if companies could truly mix profitability and mission? Johnson and his colleagues are rewriting laws to recognize “for-benefit corporations” that bridge the gap between the money-generating focus of for-profit entities and the social missions of non-profit organizations. It’s a space we’re watching closely at HopeLab. As Pat mentioned in an earlier blog post, we’re exploring ways to maximize the impact of gDitty as both a commercial product and a mission-driven project to fight childhood obesity.

Read or listen to the full story at NPR.org: Protecting Companies That Mix Profitability, Values

Listen closely – watch it twice if you have to! – and this 1-minute video will explain how we’ve gone from Ruckus Nation ideas to research to plans for product launch. (And it just might tide you over till the new Glee season begins.)

Enjoy – and let us know what you think!

We watched a youtube video of a mouse, a mousetrap and a loud SNAP! (Yes, really.)

Then, we watched another one of a wacky lone dancer who we gleaned leadership lessons from.

And finally, we listened to a chef talk about his one wish to start a movement to fight obesity.

All of these unexpected, funny, and delightful clips were presented at the recent TED2010 conference, a capital of provocative ideas and inspiring changemakers.  Pat attended on February 9-13 in Long Beach, CA and brought these memorable TED snippets back to share with the HopeLab team.

Personally, I was most struck by the wacky lone dancer. He embodies the courage needed to experiment with something new and to hold strong to one’s belief, amid the temptation to shrink away in embarrassment. I loved watching how the lone dancer welcomes and teaches the follower his funky dance moves and how powerful it was to then see how the first follower (or any early adopter, for that matter) made it his own.

These two guys started a small dance movement one sunny afternoon on a hilltop filled with laughter. They invited others into their joy and taught me – a complete stranger – about leadership, all because of a few bold moves. It’s inspiring (and I totally wish I had been there)!

I’m curious to hear your reactions to the clips. Which one of these strikes you most?

Today First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) Michelle Obama announced details of the Let’s Move campaign, with the goal of solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation. The campaign aims to coordinate partnerships across all sectors of society to give schools, families and communities access to the tools that will help kids’ live healthier, more active lives. A key part of the initiative is the establishment of the Partnership for a Healthier America, a new independent foundation to help facilitate new collaborations and accelerate new efforts targeting obesity. It’s ambitious, it’s bold – and it’s an opportunity for all of us to engage.

Our president and CEO Pat Christen was in the audience at the White House event to launch the initiative, along with a host of nonprofit colleagues and collaborators that included KaBOOM!, Playworks, Save the Children, Fitness Forward and others.

Following the event, Pat had this to say:

“The First Lady’s plan to fight child obesity is ambitious, multifaceted, and offers a new approach to an urgent problem. The challenge of obesity and sedentary behavior in our kids is of national importance, and Mrs. Obama’s personal engagement and commitment were clearly felt in the room. 

“I applaud Mrs. Obama’s call to action to philanthropies, industry and government to work together on innovative solutions to this intractable problem. I also appreciate her compassion for the challenges families face. Mrs. Obama’s pragmatism in the face of such a complex challenge is inspiring. My hope is that what we’ve heard today inspires each of us to roll up our sleeves and contribute our time, energy and insights to finding solutions that really work.“

To effectively fight obesity, we’ll need new ideas and a collective commitment from all parts of society – public institutions, private businesses, philanthropic organizations and grassroots movements. We’re looking to leverage all of these sectors in our work with gDitty, and we’re looking forward to seeing how the Let’s Move campaign might bring together new partners to help solve the obesity problem in America.

As Mrs. Obama said in her remarks today, “We know what we need to do to solve [the obesity problem]. We just have to make the commitment to do it.”

Let’s move, people!

Read the news from the White House on today’s event here, or view the event video below.

The year past was a roller-coaster ride, full of stomach-jolting ups and downs for many of us. For me, there were a number of special, positive moments at HopeLab that stand out: passing the milestone of 150,000 copies of Re-Mission distributed, the exciting progress in our research and development of gDitty, and an unexpected and moving visit to the White House and Oval Office to speak with President Obama about HopeLab as an innovative social enterprise at the launch of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation.

Looking forward, 2010 promises to be another year of courageous experimentation at HopeLab.  I recently came across this delightful quote from chemist and former Harvard University president James Bryant Conant:

“Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.”

In that spirit, we have a number of exciting plans for 2010 harnessing the power and appeal of technology to improve kids’ health as a way to further our mission.

For those of you who follow HopeLab, I’d like to offer a preview of the year ahead and invite you to watch our progress, ask us questions, and share your insights and expertise along the way!  Here’s some of what we have in store:

• Re-Mission: Our work in cancer continues with the development of Re-Mission 2. We will continue working closely with young cancer patients to gather their feedback on game design. In addition, we’re exploring innovative game development models that will maximize HopeLab’s iterative, evidence-based approach and the creative expertise of the gaming industry. Ultimately, we believe that our work will lead us to a “new and improved” version of Re-Mission that’s even more fun and engaging and that amplifies its positive health impact for young people with cancer. We hope to begin impact research on a new Re-Mission as early as 2011.

• gDitty:  Results from our 2009 pilot studies on our gDitty prototype showed that a combined activity meter and online incentives program can boost physical activity in middle-school aged kids by as much as 30%. These are exciting results, as all of us interested in health and health care continue to look for effective new approaches to altering sedentary behavior.  We see that products like DirectLife , Fitbit and Nike Plus are beginning to capture the attention of adults, but we think a device that measurably increases physical activity in tweens could be a game changer for kids and their parents. In 2010, we will be moving from prototype to impact research on an improved gDitty device and online experience.We’re also developing a new brand and visual identity for the product that we think will capture the fun and appeal of the experience for kids. All of these changes are deeply informed by feedback we hear directly from kids and their parents as we source their expertise at each stage of our development process.

In light of the very promising pilot study data, we’re also giving a lot of thought to how we effectively scale up and support distribution of the product. In the coming year we’ll also be looking at new corporate structures and partnerships that will allow us to deliver on our bottom-line interest — maximizing impact.

• Our team:  I’m proud of the innovative and authentic culture the interdisciplinary HopeLab team has built over the last several years. We intend to continue cultivating an environment where we can do our best work and live by our values. In particular, we’ll focus on enhancing engagement, productivity and innovation. We’ll also spend a lot of time listening to and learning from kids, learning from our mistakes and having fun! We laugh a lot at a HopeLab.

As we throw ourselves into the work ahead, Richard Branson’s perspectives on starting new ventures ring true for us as well:

“We look for opportunities where we can offer something better, fresher and more valuable and we seize them. We often move into areas where the customer has received a poor deal…When we start a new venture, we base it on hard research and analysis. We put ourselves into the customer’s shoes to see what could make it better…We’ve got an engaging, edgy, vibrant, fun product. It may or may not work, but we’re going to give it our best shot.”

Only time (and quality research!) will tell if our innovative solutions will work.  But we too are going to give it our best shot!

To learn more about Pat, read her bio.

The question for those of us interested in improving kids health isn’t necessarily “How do we stop this trend?” but “How can we use this new reality to help kids live better lives?”  

Youth Radio: The No Texting Challenge / Photo: Mo Riza

Inside the mailing!

That distribution milestone was made possible in large part by our Marketing and Events Manager, Robin Avant.  One recent example of her efforts:  In November Robin and other HopeLabbers wrapped up a mailing campaign targeting 225 clinicians at Children’s Oncology Group hospitals throughout the United States. Clinicians – nurses, child life specialists, social workers, doctors – continue to be a key audience for our work, given their close work with young cancer patients undergoing treatment. We’ve spoken with thousands of clinicians in the past four years, and introduced the game to thousands more through conference attendance, special events and ongoing outreach efforts. This most recent mailing project was designed in many ways to reintroduce Re-Mission to folks who may be familiar with the game and to remind them that we’re committed to providing free copies to their patients.

The package included a 5×7 flyer, a tri-fold clinician’s guide, and a personalized letter.

After the mailing, Robin and her team sat down for follow-up phone calls and received some positive and constructive feedback.  One East Coast hospital said, “[We] love the game and  even more excited about the possibility of giving it to all patients.” A Florida hospital thanked us for the package, and let us know, “the kids really enjoy playing the game.” In addition to great comments, we also found that some groups are using the game as part of their latest patient package. A west coast children’s hospital is excited about the game and distributes it in their new patient orientation.

Along with comments and new ideas, some concerns were brought to our attention. Difficulty downloading the game from our website seemed to be a problem for some. If you experience problems downloading Re-Mission, please let us know. You can also fill out our online order form to receive CD or DVD copies of the game.

All in all, Robin was pleased with the outcome and feedback, saying “We had a good response rate, and I think people enjoyed the personal touch we put into each box.”  Each year, more than 70,000 young people are diagnosed with cancer in the United States. Because of this, we’re looking forward to 2010 and will be making our best effort to be sure young cancer patients have access to their very own free copy of Re-Mission.