Social Innovation Forum
SIF Coworking organization, Boston Explorers, brings their summer camp students in to the SIF office for a popsicle break.
In just a few weeks, the Social Innovation Forum (SIF) will be moving about a half mile south, into a new headquarters at 2 Oliver Street. Some of you have already asked us, “Didn’t you just move?” The answer, of course, is yes, and what a great journey it has been so far. We look forward to sharing our story with you, and to the incredible opportunity that lies ahead of us.
In late 2016, we were a one-year-old organization working on Avenue de Lafayette and sharing space with the our good friends at Root Cause (our former parent organization). As they sought to define their next steps for work and space, we soon learned we would need to make a move in just three months’ time. Securing a long-term space as a brand new organization was a daunting task and we knew we had a double move ahead. Our nonprofit colleagues Vilas Dhar and Margery Blume graciously suggested that we move in with them over at One Congress Street. In the process, we acquired the operations of the nonprofit coworking space there called the Next Mile Project.
There was just one hitch: the space was in a building owned and operated by HYM and was slated to be demolished, and so we knew it would be a short-term opportunity. As innovators in our own right, we assessed the cost-benefits of the space, the new pieces of work, what we could learn, and we went forward. With almost 24 months of this experience and with 13 nonprofits working alongside us over these many months, our coworking space has become an established community with a focused lens. It lends itself to partnership, friendship, collaboration, and learning. It has proven to be a great part of SIF’s work, a benefit to the nonprofit community, and a sincere gathering space for people focused on social impact and social justice. Connections have been made in so many ways that it’s hard to quantify, but we know that it carries the essence of the marketplace for social change that we continue to build – helping both nonprofits and supporters make new connections.
We are delighted that so many of our coworkers will join us on the next phase of our journey over at 2 Oliver Street. Our new, larger office space will give us the room to bring in additional small organizations who want to spread their wings, have a thoughtful set of work colleagues, and hang out in a space that focuses on the sector and the work. SIF will move to our new headquarters on October 22, 2018. We hope to see you there soon!