The Foundation for Social Inventions of the USSR was founded in 1986 by Gennady Alferenko, a social innovator and entrepreneur, to launch initiatives for turning Russia into an open civil society. In 1986,

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

contacted Gennady Alferenko after reading his article on a national campaign to facilitate innovators and change-makers, and asked him to set up a national fund promoting social innovations. Alferenko established the Foundation for Social Inventions at the

Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (; ) is a daily Russian tabloid newspaper that was founded in 1925. Its name is in reference to the official Soviet newspaper '' Pravda'' (English: 'Truth'). History and profile During the Soviet era, ''Komsomolskaya ...

newspaper, as a readers' voluntary association. The Foundation invited the newspaper's 20 million readers to send their proposals for social inventions. In the first year, more than 30,000 innovative ideas were received, for which a computerized idea bank was created. Some promoted

citizen diplomacy Citizen diplomacy (people's diplomacy) is the political concept of average citizens engaging as representatives of a country or cause either inadvertently or by design. Citizen diplomacy may take place when official channels are not reliable or des ...

, others focused on domestic social problems. Alferenko then invited people to donate money in support of the best ideas. An easy to remember all-Union bank account number 708 was established to enable financial and material contributions. Response was enthusiastic. For example, 9.7 million rubles were collected for the "Duty" (Dolg) project to build a center for physical and social rehabilitation for veterans of the

Afghanistan war War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

Foundation for Social Innovations, USA

In 1989, Alferenko established the Foundation for Social Innovations, a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

not-for-profit in USA. Henry Dakin, chairman of the Dakin Company and philanthropist, and Peter Goldmark, then President of the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

, supported the idea and provided organizational support. Initial funding was provided by the

Rockefeller Brothers Fund The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) is a philanthropic foundation created and run by members of the Rockefeller family. It was founded in New York City in 1940 as the primary philanthropic vehicle for the five third-generation Rockefeller brothe ...

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, and

Charles Stewart Mott Charles Stewart Mott (June 2, 1875 – February 18, 1973) was an American industrialist and businessman, philanthropist, a co-owner of General Motors, and the 50th and 55th mayor of Flint, Michigan. Mott is the figure most responsible for foun ...

foundations. FSI had offices in

Juneau Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of wha ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Notable projects

Space Flight Europe-America 500

The

Space Flight Europe-America 500 Space Flight Europe-America 500 was a goodwill mission conceived in 1992 as the first private spaceflight, private, commercial spaceflight by the Russian Foundation for Social Inventions and Progress State Research and Production Rocket Space Cent ...

was a

private spaceflight Private spaceflight is any spaceflight development that is not conducted by a government agency, such as NASA or ESA. During the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pionee ...

conceived in 1992 with the aim of increasing trade between Russia and USA. The flight was followed by a Russian-American

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

exchange program promoting development of small and medium-sized businesses in Russia. During the course of the program, over 10.000 young unemployed people had been sent for 4–6-week internships in the United States for developing entrepreneurial skills and gaining experience.

Friendship Flight '89

In 1989, The Foundation sponsored 11-year-old Tony Aliengena's flight across the Soviet Union with stops in towns, normally closed to foreigners. That was one of the many projects FSI sponsored in an effort to open closed Soviet societies through people-to-people diplomacy.

Soviets Meet Middle America

In 1988,

Sharon Tennison Sharon ( 'plain'), also spelled Saron, is a given name as well as a Hebrew name. In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name, but historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In Israel, it is used as ...

Center for Citizen Initiatives Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

partnered with FSI in a first-ever, non-governmental citizen exchange program, Soviets Meet Middle America. Over a two-year period, 400 Soviet citizens in small groups of four persons traveled to 265 American cities where they stayed in some 800 private homes, and were interviewed by thousands of American newspapers, radio and TV programs.

Umbrella function

In the U.S.S.R., people had difficulties in forming private associations because there was no law that would allow for the creation of a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

. FSI, with a structure designed to create self-propagating communities of support for entrepreneurs and innovators, had a unique mandate to launch new organizations under its auspices, and used it to establish and provide organizational and financial support to over 300 non-governmental organizations, including the Union of

Chernobyl Liquidators Chernobyl liquidators were the civil and military personnel who were called upon to deal with the consequences of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union on the site of the event. The liquidators are widely credited with limiti ...

, the Folk Warriors Association of Social Programmes, which focused on helping miners and their families, the Russian Union of Afghanistan Veterans, the Flight Safety Foundation International,''Flight Safety Foundation International is 20''
p 2.

Stas Namin Anastas Alekseevich Mikoyan (born November 8, 1951, known professionally as Stas Namin) is a rock musician known as the leader of the popular Soviet music group Tsvety (). He is also a composer, actor, record producer, and director, and len ...

Centre, and

Interfax Interfax () is a Russian news agency. The agency is owned by Interfax News Agency joint-stock company and is headquartered in Moscow. History As the first non-governmental channel of political and economic information about the USSR, Interfax ...

References

Specific references: General references:
"Fortune in Toys Helps to Put Americans and Russians in Touch"
''New York Times'', November 16, 1988. {{DEFAULTSORT:Foundation For Social Inventions Foreign charities operating in Russia 501(c)(3) organizations Foundations based in the United States Soviet Union–United States relations 1986 establishments in the Soviet Union 1989 establishments in the United States