(Photo by Unsplash/Yosuke Ota)
One common image that often represents social innovation is a light bulb. It symbolizes a good idea, but light also guides us through dark times. It’s a bright spot in the midst of bleak circumstances. Light represents hope and the practice of hope that’s exemplified in the stories on this list. They offer us promising signs that a more just world is possible. May they offer you inspiration and encouragement in your work for social change.
*A few of the stories on this list are only available to subscribers. SSIR is a nonprofit publication that is entirely funded from subscriptions, events, webinars, and donations. Subscribing to SSIR ensures that we can continue to inspire and inform the leaders of social change with articles like these. Subscribe today to help us fulfill that mission.
1. The Impact Collaborative by Soren Kaplan
Five nonprofit organizations in Contra Costa County, California, developed a new model for aligning their complementary efforts to address food insecurity. Their approach to working together is an inspirational blueprint for other leaders who aim to scale collective solutions.
2. Preventing Identity-Based Violence From the Ground Up by Susan Appe, David A. Campbell, and Kerry Whigham*
Violent conflicts rooted in identity are an enduring part of the global landscape. This cover story shares examples of community-based organizations around the world that are addressing the social fragmentation at the root of those conflicts. These organizations are creatively laying the groundwork for a more peaceful future.
3. Scaling Community-Grown Solutions by Aisha Rahamatali, Vidhya Sriram, and Maria Liu
Facing shrinking global aid budgets, NGOs and civil society organizations are drawing valuable lessons from the trajectory of village savings and loan associations (VSLAs), or savings groups. The authors write that VSLAs are “a useful, real-world example of how organizations can make strategic investments to scale community-led models through public systems while keeping communities in the driver’s seat.”
4. Preserving America’s Full History by Marianne Dhenin*
With immigrant communities under attack, Latinos in Heritage Conservation, the nation’s foremost Latinx historic preservation nonprofit, is showing the power in lifting up and preserving the voices and experiences of the marginalized.
5. Powerful, Not Powerless: Emerging Approaches to Massive Action by Joe McCannon
“There is both power and courage in numbers.” Examples of massive collaboration, from protests and crowdfunding to group buys and pooled debt relief, have given Americans and people around the world a way to mobilize and fight back against authoritarianism and growing wealth inequality.
6. Growing Community Together by Seth Kaplan*
This story chronicles the journey of Bonton Farms in Dallas, Texas, a thriving institution that catalyzed the development of other institutions and activities benefitting the Bonton neighborhood and its residents. This is a must-read article for anyone interested in place-based social change.
7. Educating the Nonprofit Leaders of the Future by David Finegold and Ben Marshall
The future of nonprofits lies in the strength of both staff and board leadership. One solution to strengthening that pipeline is nonprofit board fellows programs that enable graduate students from prestigious business schools to serve on nonprofit boards. In addition to governance training, these opportunities connect future private sector leaders with the vital work of nonprofits.
8. The Next Generation of Mutualism by Sara Horowitz
“The new mutualists will play a critical role of learning from the robust past models created by mutualist bankers, community builders, cooperative housing developers, insurance executives, union organizers, gardeners, and utopians. From that learning, they will iterate and experiment and ultimately build the mutualist ecosystems of tomorrow that we need today.”
9. President Carter’s Inspiring Model of Civic Leadership by Michelle Nunn
A moving reflection on the life of a man whose example inspired many of today’s leaders in nonprofits and civil society, including the author of this essay: “President Jimmy Carter reached the highest pinnacle of political leadership, but he arguably did more good for more people during his encore career in the nonprofit sector.”
10. Protecting Heritage in Wartime by Paul Hockenos*
The Ark for Ukraine project is on a groundbreaking mission to preserve Ukrainian culture using mobile technology. So far, the project has restored 150 manuscripts and trained dozens of librarians in the country on cutting-edge cultural restoration technology.
11. Democratizing Data to Hold Polluters Accountable by Mitchelle De Leon
A burgeoning movement of data and technology providers is turbocharging climate action to hold polluters accountable. Unlike the fossil fuel industry’s proprietary data, this information—from oil spills to methane emissions—is freely available, offered with assistance on how to use it for maximum impact.
12. How One Innovative Energy Company Committed to Green an Entire Country by Marco Clemente, Fredrik Hacklin, Brayden King, and Amy Klopfenstein*
An in-depth case study details how an Italian energy company successfully turned away from fossil fuels and sparked the nation’s green energy transition. At a time when many stories about climate change feel dire, this one offers hope.
13. Mobilizing Youth in the Philippines by Marianne Dhenin*
The artist-activist collective DAKILA in the Philippines is organizing young people to push for their own political agenda. “The DAKILA campaign is focused on organizing around local elections that are more competitive than federal contests to reengage disillusioned young voters who are desperate for wins. The strategy will also allow the movement to make some difference in the short term and develop momentum that will grow into the 2028 presidential election.”
14. Crash Into Housing by Christine Mahoney
The Bama Works Fund, established by the Dave Matthews Band in 1991, is one of the many organizations working to address the housing crisis in Charlottesville, Virginia, having mobilized unprecedented levels of catalytic capital and cross-sector collaboration to fill one-third of the city’s affordable housing gap.
Read more stories by SSIR Editors.