What practices make the arts more or less inclusive? At Stanford Social Innovation Review’s 2018 Nonprofit Management Institute conference, leaders from three San Francisco Bay Area arts organizations discuss how they are shaping both their organizations and their performances to make them more diverse and welcoming to all. “That's the next big shift if we are to survive—to go into the community, knock down those norms, and be something that is accessible,” said panelist Tim Seelig,...

When Shannon Revels came home to Oakland after nearly 15 years in prison, he found his criminal record made it difficult to get a job. But through the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), he found a role first as a janitor then resident services counselor in transitional housing for the formerly homeless. In this interview with former NPR host Bill Littlefield, Revels discusses the importance of his being heard by a teacher he met in prison, giving feedback to CEO and seeing it acted...

The nonprofit Color of Change was formed after Hurricane Katrina to use online resources in the fight for the rights of Black communities in America. Since then, Color of Change has grown into the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, with more than 1.4 million members. Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, spoke at our 2018 Nonprofit Management Institute conference about the nature of political and cultural power and the importance of continually assessing the...

Technology can magnify the power of grassroots organizing and social innovation, but it can sometimes bring about societal harm, whether intentionally or not. At SSIR’s 2018 Frontiers of Social Innovation conference, Rob Reich, a Marc and Laura Andreessen faculty co-director of Stanford PACS, explores the implications for the social sector and free speech in conversation with Kelly Born, a program manager at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s Madison Initiative, and Arisha Hatch, a...

Artificial intelligence (AI), once a niche discipline within computer science, has blossomed over the past decade—including in the social sector. In this recording from our 2018 Frontiers of Social Innovation conference, Johanna Mair, academic editor at SSIR, speaks with AI expert Lab Fei-Fei Li about the growing importance of AI to the social sector and the imperative to improve representation within the community of AI technologists. Li is an advocate of “human-centered AI”—an approach...

Emerging technologies like biotech and artificial intelligence have the potential to transform so many of the systems that make up the world around us.         At our 2018 Frontiers of Social Innovation conference, Katherine Milligan, who directs the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship spoke with a few savvy social entrepreneurs who are harnessing these tools for social impact right now. Milligan speaks with Keller Rinaudo, CEO and cofounder of Zipline, which is using drones to...

In the mid-1990s, NGO activists began shining a spotlight on the concentrated use of slave child labor in Pakistan to produce soccer balls for the global market. The attention prompted the industry to make deep changes in its supply chain to eliminate the problem. Today, the campaign is viewed as a model for improving labor standards, with the gains a result of government, NGO, and donor involvement.                 And yet human trafficking, modern slavery, and child labor remain...

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 65 million people around the world have been forced from home—the highest levels of displacement on record. In her recent SSIR article, “Let Refugees Be Their Own Solution,” Emily Arnold-Fernandez, executive director of the nonprofit Asylum Access, and Brian Rawson, the organization’s associate director of advocacy and communication, make the case that better policies in host countries can enable refugees to rebuild...

As director of the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Silicon Valley-based Center for Technology and Society, Brittan Heller oversees efforts to track cyber-hate, and works in partnership with technology companies and law enforcement agencies to reduce bigotry and promote justice and fair treatment in online environments. At a time when tech companies are struggling to respond to the rise of online hate speech and cyber harassment, the ADL is attempting to take a proactive approach. At SSIR’s...

To solve “wicked problems” like deforestation and persistent poverty, we not only need better data but also better indicators to identify problems and patterns in real time. Planet Inc., a geospatial organization that has deployed the largest constellation of Earth-observing satellites in history, is leading the way—using data insights to help solve these complex global problems. At our 2018 Data on Purpose conference, Andrew Zolli, Planet’s vice president of global impact initiatives,...

Good ideas and intentions are not enough to solve the world’s most pressing problems. Many early-stage organizations fail because they lack the tools they need to grow—especially when it comes to collecting data and measuring impact. Data is essential for nonprofit scaling because it not only attracts funders but also allows organizations to prove and improve on their mission. In this recording from our 2018 Data on Purpose conference, Kathleen Kelly Janus, a social entrepreneur, Stanford...

Social sector organizations are increasingly under pressure to better protect the privacy and security of their data. How should they examine their data governance practices to align with the demands of governments, their constituents, and their mission? At our 2018 Data on Purpose conference, Lucy Bernholz, a senior research scholar at Stanford’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society and the director of the Digital Civil Society Lab explored this topic with Alix Dunn, executive director...

Given the largely unaccountable position of power held by philanthropists, what role should they play in democratic societies? In this recording from the 2017 Philanthropy Innovation Summit, hosted by Stanford’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, Rob Reich, a Marc and Laura Andreessen faculty co-director of Stanford PACS, facilitates a conversation with Reed Hastings, cofounder and CEO of Netflix, and Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. They discuss their differing...

Nonprofit leaders can’t continue to do the same things and expect different results in their work to help move the United States toward greater equity. In this podcast from our 2017 Nonprofit Management Institute, PolicyLink President Michael McAfee (@mikemcafee06) shares his perspective on being both angry and excited about the changes America needs to make—and using both of those emotions in a productive way. Before taking the helm of PolicyLink, McAfee was the inaugural director of the...

Since its founding in 1913, the ADL has fought against the defamation of Jewish people, and to secure justice and fair treatment for all. That mission has kept Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) very busy over the past two years. His tenure has coincided with the 2016 US election, a rise in hate crimes and hate groups, and an increase in cyber-hate. In this podcast from our 2017 Nonprofit Management Institute, SSIR Senior Editor David Johnson (@contrarianp) interviews Greenblatt about...

Youth, families, and residents are the leaders of their own destinies, and yet public institutions oftentimes don’t reflect the demographics of their communities and are not guided by strategies defined community members. In this podcast from our 2017 Nonprofit Management Institute, Paola Peacock Friedrich, a consultant with Achieve Mission, interviews Dorian Burton (@Dorian_Burton), assistant executive director and chief program officer at the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, and...

Our Winter 2018 cover story, “The Investment Gap that Threatens the Planet,” takes a detailed look at investments in discovering and developing new solutions to address climate change. It finds that such investments are woefully low and have even been falling in recent years. The article concludes that philanthropists are particularly well-suited to bridging this investment gap in the market. On this related podcast, David Johnson (@contrarianp), senior editor of Stanford Social Innovation...

In this session, Valerie Threlfall discusses the Fund for Shared Insight‘s largest grant program, Listen for Good, which provides grants and technical assistance to dozens of nonprofits to build high quality feedback loops with those they serve. Two Listen for Good grantees, Krystle Onibukon of the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula and Brad Dudding of the Center for Employment Opportunities, also talk about their experience with the program. ...

Data has the potential to help fuel social change across the world, yet many relevant datasets remain locked away and siloed across government agencies, nonprofits, and corporations. What kind of collaboration does it take to make this data available to different actors working to create change? In a series of TED-style talks, Melinda Rolfs of the MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth, John Wilbanks of Sage Bionetworks, Greg Bloom of Civic Hall Labs and Open Referral, and ST Mayer of Code...

This panel from our Do Good Data | Data on Purpose conference features conference co-hosts Lucy Bernholz of Stanford PACS and Andrew Means of Uptake, along with Stanford education professor Candace Thille, and Kristian Lum, lead statistician at the Human Rights Data Analysis Group. The discussion focuses on the advantages and drawbacks of using data to analyze social trends in areas including higher education and criminal justice. View the slides from this presentation...

Leading for-profit companies thrive by embracing data insights to drive increased efficiency, effectiveness, and scale. They view information and analytics as core strategic assets in running a modern business. In this talk from our 2017 Do Good Data | Data on Purpose conference, Jim Fruchterman, founder and CEO of the tech nonprofit Benetech, argues that the social sector must follow these companies’ lead. Drawing from his 2016 SSIR article “Using Data for Action and for Impact,” Fruchterman...

Building successful networks isn’t just about pairing organizations with similar missions. It’s also about human relationships. In this talk from our 2016 Nonprofit Management Institute, conservationist Steve McCormick looks at several common barriers to developing strong relationships—and ways to overcome them. Steve McCormick is cofounder and CEO of The Earth Genome, a startup venture to create the first global, open-source information platform on ecosystem services and natural capital....

In this podcast, Ernesto Sirolli, founder of the Sirolli Institute, considers how to decentralize, democratize, and empower local communities. Sirolli has been working in the field of local economic development since 1971 and has developed a philosophy and practice that allows communities to manage their own social and economic growth. Based on his experience, Sirolli argues that NGOs must incorporate local know-how and leadership into their operation, and that a key to successful development...

In his talk from SSIR‘s 2016 Nonprofit Management Institute, Derrick Braziel looks at how connecting people with the right resources and training, and building a culture of opportunity from within communities, can enable unlikely entrepreneurs, revitalize neighborhoods, and break the cycle of poverty. Urban communities across America are experiencing an unprecedented renaissance. But this boom threatens to displace long-time residents, who are typically lower income and people of color....

In this podcast, Jane Wei-Skillern, an adjunct associate professor at the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley, identifies four counterintuitive principles that are essential to effective collaboration: Trust, not control Humility not brand Node, not hub Mission, not organization Based on 15 years of research on a range of successful networks, Wei-Skillern uses detailed case studies to illustrate these principles and offers insights for how nonprofit leaders can...