How Visual Storytelling Can Drive Social Impact Innovation

• November 21, 2023
• 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:

Are you a Miami-based Substack writer? Don’t miss our first meetup on Dec 8th at The Biltmore, a historic Miami landmark. Reserve your spot today!

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: