“GreenHouse’s expertise is that of the most unusual sort and lies in their ability to engage people at the highest possible level in analysis of their concerns and their dreams for the improvement in the human condition.”
— Fmr Dean, USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
Increasingly, organizations tackling society’s most pressing problems are run by executives trained in business schools, where they receive no education related to social challenges, social dynamics or the social sector, generally.
In response, GreenHouse helped design, develop and launch the nation’s first doctorate in management, leadership and social innovation – at USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.
The professional doctorate requires students to complete coursework in social and public sector leadership, social sector finance, public discourse, program design and evaluation and social innovation – predicated on GreenHouse’s ordinal work in this area. Students are required to substantively address one of 12 grand challenges facing society, ranging from the human cost of climate change to the impact of stigma.
In his capacity as the first innovator in residence at USC, GreenHouse founder Howell J. Malham and his colleagues also developed curricula and content, including casebooks and videos, which are used by faculty and students throughout the program.
As part of our efforts, GreenHouse developed the first-ever casebook for social innovation practitioners – leveraging the pedagogy currently used by universities to train professionals in law, medicine and business. We’re drawing on the best aspects of this tradition but making a crucial change: the problems we’re tackling will not be closed cases, but open questions facing society.
The casebook is predicated on the social norms approach to social innovation, and will include in-depth exploration of innovation related to 15 social challenges, including mental health, childhood obesity, sexual assault, animal maltreatment, decarceration, foster care, refugees, disaster preparedness, homelessness, social isolation, and access to the legal system.