Re: March 2010

Most Innovative Companies

I enjoyed the issue devoted to the World's Most Innovative Companies. I get that Fast Company is focused on business, design, the for-profit world, but then you had PatientsLikeMe as No. 23 on the list. Which got me to wonder, Where are the rest of the not-for-profits? From not-for-profits, I ended up noticing the absence of my own industry: education. Education -- primary, secondary, and postsecondary -- makes up something like 7% of U.S. GDP. Where are the true innovators who are actually delivering innovative education? (And I don't mean which schools have the best standardized test scores, the number of students taking AP, or the whole U.S. News and World Report set.) I take hope, inspiration, and courage from the cool and innovative companies and individuals that show up in Fast Company. I get some of my best ideas from your pages. These companies are the places I want my students to work, the kinds of new companies I hope for some of them to form. What would it look like if we were to do the education equivalent of a Grey New York or even a Frito-Lay remake?

Margaret Haviland
Westtown, Pennsylvania

Facebook has revolutionized how my one-red-light hometown of Cambridge, New York, communicates. On February 4, my husband purchased the former Mary McClellan Hospital. From 1919 to 2003, it helped and healed Washington County but was closed due to financial reasons and has sat abandoned. On February 6, a Facebook fan page was created, and in just four weeks, more than 815 fans from all over the country shared their stories and offered their help to revitalize a piece of their history. It's old-fashioned storytelling with a new technological twist. This is just one reason why Facebook is No. 1.

Nicole M. Klebieko
Winchester, Virginia

The Facebook PR machine did a great number on you in the last issue. I'm thrilled it doubled its user base, I'm envious it provides free gourmet food for its employees, I'm jealous of the 21st-century working environment, not to mention all the other (apparently) amazing achievements Facebook has brought to its staff, technology, and the rest of the world. All created with countless millions of dollars of other people's money. So let's quit this fawning at the altar that is Facebook and stop making comparisons to Google and Microsoft, for they have achieved one thing Facebook has yet to do: make a profit. Time for Fast Company to reconnect with the real business world?

Paul Rowney
Sarasota, Florida

Climate and Corruption

At a time when international leaders seek strategies to reduce carbon emissions and help developing countries adapt to a warmer world, I was pleased to see Fast Company recently highlight a darker corner of the climate-change debate. "In the Sand" (February) brought to light one of the most underreported concerns with international environmental policies -- corruption. Your focus on good governance addresses a serious concern -- one that is precisely why I authored legislation in the Senate to increase transparency in both the energy sector and in carbon-offset programs.

The Senate's Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act would send billions of taxpayer dollars to countries that agree to spare their forests. Like the proposed trans-African forest Stephan Faris wrote about, this payments-for-protecting-forestry idea is a good one, but it will only work if we transform governments along with the environment. That's why I inserted language into the bill that requires countries receiving offset payments to have their forestry programs monitored by a multi-stakeholder body that includes nongovernmental organizations. Transparency in offset programs is critical to ensuring the people, not just the powerful, benefit from these payments.

Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD)
CHAIRMAN, U.S. -- HELSINKI COMMISSION
Washington, D.C.