be applied to meet pressing social and environmental challenges. Ibucks are introduced into circulation on a fractional reserve basis by certified “Social Equity Banks,” many of which are created as offshoots of existing foundations, universities, non profits and other social enterprises. Some will be entirely new groups that are formed for specific social, economic or environmental purposes. Unlike loans, iBucks do not have to be repaid to the issuer.    Rather iBucks are simply passed on, like goodwill circulating in monetary form, creating positive incentives for social and sustainable behaviors. iBucks will flow through the existing banking, credit card, Internet and ATM infrastructure, complementing official government currencies and corporate rewards programs. Ibucks can be exchanged for rewards, points or dollars on a secondary exchange, enabling shoppers to use them them to obtain discounts from participating retailers. Since iBucks are entirely digital, all exchanges in iBucks can be easily tracked.  A nominal transactional commission will assessed, putting the entire system on a sustainable financial footing and enabling the sharing of resources with a broad network of non profit groups.  iBucks can be used to: • Promote environmentally friendly products and lifestyle changes.  • Support the ongoing activities of non profit groups • Facilitate barter or commercial exchange at an online marketplace. • Pay rent or buy essentials for low income families • Help qualifying low income people reduce their interest payments to banks The net impact of this innovation is to help restore balance, stability and sustainability to our economic and ecological systems. It will also introduce the power of financial leverage to the DNA of the social economy, greatly increasing the pool of funding available to those who are acting in the public interest.

Describe the critical need your solution addresses.

This initiative is poised for takeoff. I have completed presentation materials including 5 Whitepapers and a 30 minute video are posted on the project Website (www.I-INSPIRE.com) and begun presenting them to potential funders and partners. Modest seed capital has been secured. An advisory board of almost 30 community leaders has been formed. I am in the process of interviewing candidates for key executive positions and recruiting board members. I-INSPIRE is being organized as a hybrid social enterprise with a for profit and non profit working in symbiosis. The non profit has been approved by the IRS for tax exempt status. Trademark applications have been filed. I have tested the ideas out with several officials at major banks and with the CEO of a major credit card company. All agree that the idea is both technologically feasible and of potentially profound impact on society.

Once additional levels of funding have been secured, I will aggressively seek equity partnerships with major banks and foundations. Simultaneously I have established an online support network, with over 200 members representing banks, foundations, venture capital firms and angel investors. (www.SocialEquityNetwork.com)

The next step is to develop a prototype program. Towards this end, I have been in touch with the President of the Marin Community Foundation and the former President of the Community Foundation of Silicon Valley, to implement a pilot program that can be tested, scaled and replicated in other communities and regions.

If selected for this award, the money will be used to push ahead on all these avenues, simultaneously hiring staff, mounting aggressive fundraising campaigns, building out the boards, and courting potential partners including banks, foundations and retailers.

Explain your initiative in more depth and its stage of development.

Money is a trim tab. It is arguably the most powerful motivational tool ever created by humans. If we are to create systemic solutions, we must address the comprehensive needs of social enterprises for funding and create financial incentives for positive change.

Today we have we invested the power to create money in the hands of those whose intention is focused on their own self interest through the fractional reserve banking system? When we develop systems to invest the power to create money in the hands of non profits and those whose intention is focused on the common good, we will introduce a powerful positive force into the overall economy.

The convergence of the Internet, green marketing, social enterprise and social capital with advances electronic banking and the spreading awareness of the our current financial and ecological crises, has created a window of opportunity to radically re-think the way money is created and used.

In effect the iBucks social currency is like a carbon credits system on steroids – extended to the whole realm of human and corporate behavior.

How does your strategy and approach respond creatively and comprehensively to key issues?

My qualifications are rooted in my unshakable commitment to this vision, the audacity to believe it is possible, the knowledge and contacts to make that happen. Over 35 years, I have worked in five major networks of power:
• the financial world (Chase Manhattan Bank),
• the academic community. (Harvard Business School)
• the media (Fortune Magazine)
• the startup world (Upside Magazine)
• The environmental community (The Earth Pledge Campaign)

These diverse experiences enable me to:
1) speak the language of diverse disciplines,
2) understand the motivations of people who work in them,
3) appreciate of the gap in magnitude between the problems we face and the scarce financial resources available to solve them.

My entrepreneurial experience includes:
1) Founding and managing a renewable energy startup (REDCO) that developed “Third Party Financing” Programs that assisted solar and wind companies in raising over $100 million 2) Organizing an environmental education program that resulted in millions of people taking “The Earth Pledge" on the 25 anniversary of Earth Day, 3) Creating a network of video blogs and podcasts where I have interviewed over 300 investors, social entrepreneurs and CEOs of Internet startups, green and clean tech firms. (www.podventurezone.com) (www.green-and-clean.org) (www.socialcapitalnetwork.com)

Several high net worth individuals have understood the significance of this initiative and provided modest seed capital in the form of tax deductible contributions to I-INSPIRE.org Inc. Their names and affiliations are listed on the I-INSPIRE Website. (www.I-INSPIRE.com)