Tri-Sector Innovation: Join Us
By Jens Molbak, NewImpact Founder and CEO
As the founder and former CEO of Coinstar, the bulk of my background is in the private sector. As an entrepreneur and business leader, I believe in the power of businesses to do both “well” and “good,” and for many years I have been advising and investing in organizations committed to uniting profit and purpose.
What these organizations, including Coinstar, have in common is that their businesses embed impact into their core models. They seek to make the world a better place, while also driving positive financial returns.
One way these companies achieve success is by employing a unique problem-solving approach that I’ve coined “Tri-Sector Innovation” (TSI).
TSI refers to the power of the three sectors—public, private, and social—to transform people’s lives and build stonger, better companies. By repurposing existing resources and aligning self-interests, all three sectors contribute to—and benefit from—these tri-sector business models.
I’ve witnessed, first hand, the power of TSI in fueling early-stage startups toward tremendous funding and growth opportunities.
With a tri-sector mindset, entrepreneurs and innovators across all three sectors can build stronger business models and solve complex problems by breaking down sector silos, leveraging assets, and creating impactful solutions with common benefit.
Solving Complex 21st Century Problems Requires a New Approach
Over the past 18 months, NewImpact has led several consulting and advisory projects, applying Tri-Sector Innovation frameworks to address challenges ranging from emergency cash assistance and veteran support to food insecurity and expanding job opportunities for BIPOC young adults—each project illustrating how TSI tools and processes can be used to create viable tri-sector strategies.
The power of Tri-Sector Innovation is that it is a pragmatic and scalable approach to problem solving and opportunity-finding. It’s widely applicable—we've found it useful in our work innovating across impact areas and, importantly, as a method for creating stronger, more profitable business models.
By repurposing existing resources and aligning self-interests from each sector, tri-sector organizations can discover new opportunities to scale efforts and create more impact. And stronger, more sustainable models are likely, in return, to attract more funding.
Introducing New Tri-Sector Tools and Processes: Including a Business Model Canvas
We are also actively developing a free, open and collaborative ecosystem of tools and shared data that fuel innovation in business models. We are excited to share new developments with innovators and entrepreneurs across all three sectors:
Tri-Sector Mindset and Tools: This online guide describes the tri-sector mindset, the strength of tri-sector business models, and the tech tools we’re cooperatively developing to share with innovators worldwide. I invite you to read the guide and explore our vision, which we hope to achieve through collaboration with other leaders, innovators, engineers, and people like you, who care as deeply about these issues as I do.
Tri-Sector Innovation Canvas: Our Tri-Sector Innovation Canvas is a one-page silo-busting ideation tool designed for innovators from all sectors. The canvas helps you solve problems, find opportunities, and develop strategy using the tri-sector innovation approach. It’s launching at the end of September — I hope it will be a valuable tool for you to use and share. Try the TSI Canvas
Spreading the Word About Tri-Sector Innovation
In April 2022, I spoke with Geekwire journalist Lisa Stiffler about the value and benefits of repurposing resources and harnessing self-interests across sectors. I appeared on the Startups For Good podcast in May, where I discussed with Purpose Built CEO Miles Lasater the benefits of folding mission and purpose into business models. And in June, I had the opportunity to promote the financial benefits of Tri-Sector Innovation as part of the Nordic Innovation Summit’s “Financing for our Common Future” panel. And in July, I dove deeply into tri-sector topics with Corrina Bellizzi on her Care More Be Better podcast, and then again on her “Nutrition Without Compromise” podcast, where we focused on the transformative possibilities of our tri-sector Universal Basic Food concept, which is now entering its pilot stages in Denver. Most recently, I was on the We Are For Good podcast with hosts Jon McCoy and Becky Endicott.
The focus in these conversations was on how TSI might—and begs to be —be adopted as a new and innovative approach to problem-solving.
An Invitation to Learn with Us: Workshops, Webinars, and Advisory Opportunities
In the coming months, we are expanding our reach through a series of interactive workshops and webinars, in which we invite attendees to:
Get Inspired: Hear stories of how impact-focused organizations improved their business models with Tri-Sector Innovation, enabling them to increase value, obtain more funding, and better meet their missions.
Get Engaged: Join us for hands-on activities to understand the breadth of resources that could be leveraged by your organization, and how Tri-Sector Innovation can uncover new opportunities for sustainable growth.
Get Connected: Meet and learn from workshop advisors, including myself, NewImpact Chief of Staff Kim Davies Lohman, and NewImpact Senior Product Manager Beth Roberts.
Ways You Can Support Tri-Sector Innovation: Join Us
We can’t do this alone. Join us.
Sign up for our newsletter to receive news, updates, and product release information. Our fist issue launches in late September!
Connect with us on LinkedIn to share our tri-sector stories. Please do comment in LinkedIn with blog topic requests.
Recommend organizations or leaders that we should be talking to. Or better yet, we’d love an intro.
Become an advisor or donor for NewImpact. Building publicly available tools in a nonprofit organization isn’t easy —your guidance would be immensely helpful.
I’m enthusiastic about driving societal progress, at scale, faster than we currently are. We need to speed up our rate of innovation ASAP. I hope you’ll join us for the journey.
~Jens
