Nancy Rodriguez is a social worker, parent volunteer, and special education advocate who ran for a seat on the Dallas ISD school board in November of 2020 where she received the highest number of votes, but not enough to receive the majority over her two opponents. That led to a runoff election with Dustin Marshall, the incumbent. His campaign spent more than $500,000 resulting in his re-election on December 8, 2020. His endorsements came from a web of political “gatekeepers” in Dallas. They are part of theDallas patronage networkthat includes PACs, chamber organizations, politicians, social impact investors, and non-profit leaders.
A key player in the local social impact scene is Dallas Social Venture Partners. They host luncheons and conferences to engage Dallas leaders wanting to learn more about their for-profit lens applied to solving social issues. Most people see this tidal wave of impact investing as a way to galvanize support around critical issues and a way to bring change. Doing good while making money could be a good thing, right? But are there unintended consequences to tracking people in a for-profit model that commodifies poverty, homelessness, or early childhood?
More information about Nancy Rodriguez can be found at https://nancy4disd.com.
Lynn Davenport is an education researcher and advocate for parental rights regarding education technology, data privacy and predatory impact investing schemes. She can be reached at ldaven@me.com.
Social Venture Partners BigBang Conference
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bigbang-our-buck-dallas-reilience-lynn-davenport/
Collective Impact: Where is the Public in Public-Private Partnerships
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/collective-impact-where-public-public-private-lynn-davenport/
SVP CEO Tony Fleo’s ironic talk after City Square’s Randy Mayeux hosted the Urban Engagement Book Club: Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7moOazQwv4
The Invisible Heart social impact bond trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqpbMAW484w
Gambling On Our Futures: Big Data, Global Finance and Digital Life by Alison McDowell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVr9NBxJj2A&t=7s
Dallas And Tulsa: A Tale of Two Blockchains by Alison McDowell
https://wrenchinthegears.com/2020/02/03/dallas-and-tulsa-a-tale-of-two-blockchains/
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com