The 2015 Axiom Business Book winners have been announced, and two Wharton Digital Press books on social impact have earned medals:
- Gold Winner in Entrepreneurship: The Social Entrepreneur’s Playbook, by Ian MacMillan and James Thompson
- Silver Winner in Philanthropy: The Power of Impact Investing, by Judith Rodin and Margot Brandenburg
The Social Entrepreneur’s Playbook first gained notice by the global business community when it was published using the authors’ proven method for testing, launching, and scaling a social enterprise, which systematically reduces uncertainty ahead of major resource commitments. They initially published a free edition of the ebook to crowdsource feedback before releasing a complete edition just weeks later. The Social Entrepreneur’s Playbook has been adopted as a recommended reading for the authors’ popular Coursera course on Social Entrepreneurship.
The Power of Impact Investing has been called “a welcoming invitation to join a global movement that uses investment dollars—as opposed to relying on government or philanthropic grant funding—to solve intractable social and environmental problems,” by Cathy Clark of Stanford Social Innovation Review, and a “definitive resource” on impact investing by Jem Hudson, Founder and CEO, of the Caldy Group.
According to the Jenkins Group, which launched the awards, “The Axiom Business Book Awards are intended to bring increased recognition to exemplary business books and their creators, with the understanding that business people are an information-hungry segment of the population, eager to learn about great new books that will inspire them and help them improve their careers and businesses.” This year, more than 400 entries were received.
An award ceremony recognizing the winners will be held in New York City on May 27, 2015, during the BookExpo America convention.