1) Federal Stimulus injection of over $1bn.
This, coupled with private efforts like Khosla’s $1bn+ fund are stimulation innovation across the board.

2) Return to Corporate Values
Industry leaders agree that green is good: for brands, for economies of efficiency, and for shareholders. Jobs in the CSR and environmental fields are blossoming at every level and location across corporate America — and the rest of the world.

3) Labor Markets got Engaged
Best-in-breed corporate citizens realize that going “green” is more than just a marketing proposition. Employees are driving change from the inside of organizations, pushing out new products and services that maximize the value in building lasting brands that invested in environmental sustainability.

The Bottom Line: Green Jobs are back, and poised to explode in a big way.

We see this in San Francisco, where for the first time in nearly 9 months, we see multiple jobs posted, firms calling inbound, and the pace of placement picking up.

We hope you’ll join as we build this movement, and help 2010 be the year of the environmental leader.

Monday Raj and I slipped over to Berkeley for a panel on “Money, Mobs, & Media” with Change.org, Kiva, and Virgance. Great panel–truly deep discussion on how social entrepreneurship is changing the rules of the game globally and virtually.

Especially liked the closing comments by the speakers when they provided advice to their peers (Ben Rattray: “Dont Do Domestic” (lending) to Kiva, and “Focus on one business” to Virgance).

The advice was good all around, particularly when I asked Steve Newcomb how he handles poor performance in his socially-minded business: “I fire them.”

At a time when business is becoming more like the third sector, it’s nice to hear that social entrepreneurs are also sticking to the rules of the corporate game: ” ‘get shit done’ no matter what” was the surprising mantra from all three panelists.

The crass catchphrase was the key takeaway for many social entrepreneurs in the audience (~200), and if I was any indication, it inspired me to act by first remembering that if we are to change the world, we must act decisively.