If there’s one criticism that I often hear about the non-profit world, it’s that they’re plagued by inefficiency. It’s certainly not true across the board, but taking the profit motives out of an organization can certainly create efficiency issues. Additionally, things like organizational structure, egos, and political agendas can disrupt for-profits and non-profits alike. Root Cause is a Cambridge, MA based non-profit strategy consulting service that “envisions a world in which the public, private, and nonprofit sectors work together to invest and re-invest in the most efficient, effective, and sustainable solutions to social problems.” In other words, they want to find the absolute best way to solve the world’s social problems, and then work with social innovators and social impact investors to make things happen.

The Root to Success

Beyond consulting, Root Cause has 5 other initiatives: Knowledge Sharing, Social Impact Research, InnerCity Entrepreneurs, Social Innovation Forum, and Public Innovators. Each of these initiatives is focused on achieving Root Cause’s values:

1. Focus above all else on the social problem being addressed, regardless of organizational structure (government, for-profit, nonprofit), ego, or political agenda.
2. Take a rigorous, thoughtful, and creative approach to work that integrates a broad range of perspectives.
3. Strive to integrate practice, applied research, and public policy.
4. Take an entrepreneurial, goal-oriented approach to work, with a commitment to integrity, diversity in all forms, and learning by listening, acting, and on-going self improvement.
5. Collaborate to support new and existing systems, institutions, and infrastructures in order to provide all types of organizations with access to the information, capital, and tools they need to develop enduring solutions to social problems.

It’s a refreshing approach that sounds like it has the potential to truly change the way non-profit work is done. If you agree, you’ll probably want to check out Root Cause’s Jobs page as well as their job postings on Idealist. Right now they have an opening posted on Idealist (but not on their Jobs page) for for a Consulting Research Associate. It looks like a fantastic opportunity for a new or recent college grad. If you’re interested, send a cover letter and resume to Abby Fung at afung@rootcause.org by June 19, 2009.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• RootCause.org
• Jobs at Root Cause
• About Root Cause
• Root Cause’s Team
• Root Cause in the News
• Root Cause’s Vision and Values

What do you think about Root Cause’s philosophy?

We've identified Root Cause as having career opportunities in the following categories:

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• consulting
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• Massachusetts
• non-profit
• research

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