New Orleans Wins Super Bowl, Gets New Social Entrepreneurship-Loving Mayor

by Nathaniel Whittemore · 2010-02-08 07:13:00 UTC
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Sure, sure, the Super Bowl was exciting. Who didn't want the underdog -- particularly from America's beating heart of New Orleans -- to win? (Okay, besides Indiana fans.) Still, though, even more exciting for social entrepreneurs was Saturday's news that Mitch Landrieu, former Lt. Governor of Louisiana, was elected to become the city's mayor.

With 66% of the vote, Landrieu won the election outright, boxing out 10 opponents and closing the door on eight-year mayor Ray Nagin. While Nagin was thrust into the spotlight in the wake of Katrina, New Orleans residents had grown increasingly frustrated with his administration's inability to accelerate the recovery process.

Landrieu ran on a platform that promised to bring together an array of actors to unify the recovery process. The fact that he comes from a well-established political family didn't hurt, either. His father Moon Landrieu was the last white mayor of the city some three decades ago, and was apparently a much-beloved figure. Meanwhile his sister, Mary Landrieu, is one of Louisiana's two Senators.

To me, what's really intriguing about Landrieu's victory is the spirit of social innovation and support for social entrepreneurship he might bring to the office.

During fall 2006, Louisiana launched an Office for Social Entrepreneurship -- the first of its kind in the United States. The initiative was crafted by then-Lt. Governor Landrieu, and included a social venture business plan competition and a series of workshops and capacity-building conferences, as well as a programs to unite private and public sector leaders around accelerating innovation. Such a move would be forward-looking even today -- but three years ago, it was literally one-of-a-kind.

Since Katrina, New Orleans has witnessed an explosion of social entrepreneurship and creativity. I recommend checking out New Orleans 100, put together by All Day Buffet, to get a sense for the full breadth of cool initiatives on the rise. Such innovators deserve a real partner in the government -- and with Mitch Landrieu now sitting in the mayor's office, they just may have gotten it.

Photo Credit: dsb nola

Nathaniel Whittemore is the founder of Assetmap. Previously he was the founding director of the Northwestern University Center for Global Engagement.
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