How Visual Storytelling Can Drive Social Impact Innovation
How Visual Storytelling Can Drive Social Impact Innovation https://www.visualstorytell.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/social-impact-innovation-thumb-1024x621.png 1024 621 Shlomi Ron Shlomi Ron https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/906bcce31d9695cb030087534b5f0f6e?s=96&d=mm&r=g- Shlomi Ron
- no comments
Since it’s Thanksgiving week, and we’re all in the spirit of giving and serving others, today I’d like to talk about social impact innovation.
You’ll likely come across this term as simply “Social Innovation.”
Social innovation refers to the design and implementation of new solutions that imply conceptual, process, product, or organizational change, which ultimately aim to improve the welfare and well-being of individuals and communities.
-OECD
Speaking about tech, have you noticed how Miami has transformed into this amazing tech hub in the past decade?
Miami is the fourth-largest startup hub in the United States, preceded only by San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles, with a valuation of $36 billion.
-Mana Tech
Several benefits have allowed Miami’s tech ecosystem to flourish over the years. Especially right after the pandemic when many startups relocated to the city.
First off, you find here rich diversity; out of the 2.7 million folks living here, over half are from different countries!
Including yours truly 🙂
We’ve got everything from accelerators, incubators, public sector support, appealing, and capital-raising opportunities, to universities and mentor networks. I belong to several.
And lastly, let’s not forget the high quality of life and awesome weather that encourages people to get together with a ton of events.
Here’s one I host in December:
What’s more, Miami’s strategic location puts it as an important gateway to Latin America’s markets.
No doubt – incredible gifts!
All these benefits help not only the tech sector at large but also social impact players in town.
To dig deeper into social innovation in Miami, I had a wonderful conversation with Leigh-Ann Buchanan, a good friend and one of Miami’s leading change agents. She is currently serving as the President and CEO of Miami-Dade Innovation Authority.
Prior, she served as the president of aīre ventures, where she led strategy and innovation efforts for social impact. Through her work, she helped more than 55,000 innovators and facilitated over 4000 hours of entrepreneurial support in partnership with over 1000 organizations and partners.
She also founded the Nyah Project where she helped underrepresented students unlock over $26 million in scholarships, 100% of her fellows matriculate to college, and more than 98% win scholarships.
We discussed her incredible journey, her role in driving innovation in Miami, her visual storytelling strategy, successful examples, her take about the future of Miami Tech, her top 3 tips for leveraging visual storytelling for driving social impact, and much more.
It’s all in the latest episode of the Visual Storytelling Today podcast.
Watch the full video recording of this interview with lots of illustrative examples:
Need a screen break?
You can also listen to the audio recording of this episode. Subscribe to the Visual Storytelling Today podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts, and all other podcast networks.
Until next time, consider enriching your strategy by spreading stories that not only matter but drive meaningful change in your community. It will strengthen your brand equity and loyalty.
Shlomi Ron
Shlomi Ron is the founder and CEO of the Visual Storytelling Institute, a Miami-based think tank with a mission to bring the gospel of visual storytelling from the world of art to more human-centric and purpose-driven marketing. A digital marketing veteran with over 20 years of experience working both on the agency and brand sides for Fortune 100/500 brands such as Nokia, IBM, and American Express. He started VSI to combine his marketing expertise with his passion for visual stories stemming from his interests in classic Italian cinema and managing the estate of video art pioneer, Buky Schwartz. At VSI, he helps brands rise above the communication noise through visual storytelling consulting, training, and thought leadership. Select clients include Estée Lauder, Microsoft, and Cable & Wireless – to name a few. He currently teaches Brand Storytelling at the University of Miami’s Business School. Thought leader and speaker at key marketing conferences. He is also the host of the Visual Storytelling Today podcast, which ranks in the top 10 best business storytelling podcasts on the Web. His book: Total Acuity: Tales with Marketing Morals to Help You Create Richer Visual Brand Stories. Outside work, he is a nascent bread baker, The Moth fan, and longtime fedora wearer likely to jive with his classic Italian cinema interest.
All stories by: Shlomi RonYou might also like
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Leave a Reply