Everywhere I turn I see people working on socially minded technology projects. 

I first saw the energy lifting in New Haven last year when Matt Kelley(Change.org blogger), Ben Berkowitz (SeeClickFix.com Founder), Jarad Duval (Author of Next Generation Democracy: What the Open Source Revolution Means for Power, Politics, and Change), and myself got together for beers to talk about how we could get more people to embrace the public benefits of changing technology. We hoped that by pooling the brains of the nerds of New Haven we would discover oportunties to work together for positive social change. We decieded that the place to start would be just providing a place for those with the technical skills and interest to explore ideas and innovation without focusing directly tasking out action. We called our group "Social Change and Technology". Our gatherings where and still are informal conversations over pizza and beer. 

While working with others to organize this group, I have been introduced to a surprising number of people working on ideas that will create a positive change in our community. 

Hello New Haven!! As way of introduction, my name is Jenna Cluver, new Leadership Giving Manager for United Way of Greater New Haven. I am thrilled to be a part of this United Way team and the New Haven community! I join UWGNH having recently completed my Masters of Public Affairs in nonprofit management and policy analysis at Indiana University. During graduate school, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to intern at United Way of Monroe County and to receive a certificate in Fundraising Management from The Center on Philanthropy.

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Sometimes you learn the most when you are taught something you already know. As a 30 year old working for a United Way in new media, I often find myself projecting lessons I have learned in the online world back into my local United Way. I think that technology has accelerated a shift in public expectations of what individual interactions with institutions should look like. More than ever, I see the need for organizations to recognize and retool in order to become more user-friendly, open and adaptive institutions.

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Let's do more of what works.

And in health care, three years ago the CT legislature asked HUSKY (Connecticut's Medicaid program to provide health care coverage to low-income children and adults) to pilot a program called Primary Care Case Management (PCCM) that has demonstrated significant cost savings in other parts of the county.  The idea is simple: remove private insurance companies and instead people on HUSKY covered by PCCM receive care coordination through their primary care physicians.  The state pays providers $7.50/month to cover the cost of coordinating care, and patients get the benefit of working closely with their doctors and not facing limits on care based on health insurance providers trying to manage their costs.

We want it all when it comes to health care: patient satisfaction, provider satisfaction, better health outcomes, and lower costs. 

With recent policy changes at the state (Sustinet) and national level (health care reform and SCHIP reauthorization), we are in a historically advantageous position to achieve these four wins.  Yet, despite the push for innovation at state and local levels, despite new options for financing, and despite the political will driven by the uneasiness as to what a status quo health care system could mean for everyone's economic and physical health, achieving a win-win-win-win remains extremely daunting.

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United Way of Greater New Haven has focused for the last three years on education, income and health because we know that these areas are most important to individuals and families achieving success in life. While the three are inter-related, education is at the heart of our societal challenges. The nature of our economy today requires increasingly sophisticated skills for people to command a sustainable income. The future economic development of our region will depend on the available talent living here. 

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It's been years since the New Haven Boys & Girls Club has been able to update their space on Columbus Avenue in New Haven. Thanks to Comcast Cares Day, the wait was over.

On Saturday, April 24, 2010, more than 55,000 Comcast employees, family members and friends nationwide kicked off their 9th Annual Comcast Cares Day. Comcast employees partnered with more than 550 local organizations on projects benefiting neighborhoods all across the country.