SSIR Online, Spring 2024 Issue

(Illustration by iStock/filo) 

Anatomy of a Nonprofit Blowup

ARTICLE | Learning From an Intergenerational Blowup Over Social Justice

Many nonprofit organizations have been ripped apart by internal conflict in recent years, often along generational lines. “Thinking and working together across worldviews, intergenerational or otherwise, requires hard work to accommodate what each brings to the table,” write Steve Kaagan and John Hagan. The two share how their own project was riven by a disagreement over social justice and mission and offer some practical lessons of how they might have done things differently.

Impact Investing

ARTICLE | Systemic Investing for Social Change

“Systems” language is being used more and more to describe all sorts of investment. But many instances are what might be called “systems washing” and carry no real indication that things are being done differently, argue Jess Daggers, Alex Hannant, and Jason Jay. What would it take for the impact investing world to truly adopt a systems approach? A whole new investment logic, they argue, “grounded in a thorough and genuine attempt to recognize complexity and harness relationships.”

Learning From Failure

ARTICLE | It’s Time to Share Our Failures

There are a variety of reasons why people might be reluctant to share failures—pride, guilt, fear of losing support, or inability to recognize the failure itself. Yet in fields like global health, where resources are limited and replicating mistakes can be extremely costly, it’s especially critical that practitioners learn from each other. Luckily, some evidence-backed steps are available that projects, organizations, and the field can take right now to reduce barriers and facilitate this type of sharing.

Against The DEI Backlash

ARTICLE | Becoming Advocates for Equity

ARTICLE | DEI Work Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

ARTICLE | Calling Out, Calling In, and Calling Upon One Another

ARTICLE | What Strong Organizations Know About DEI

Recent world events have thrust diversity, equity, and inclusion back on the front pages. Several SSIR contributors address the challenges of sustaining these initiatives for the long haul. Setbacks like the US Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action in higher education “demand not only our attention but also our renewed commitment to publicly advocating for the values that underpin our work,” argues Independent Sector CEO Akilah Watkins. “Every runner knows that you’re going to face some obstacles along the way,” writes Jonathan Njus of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “That’s the moment when you need to find a way to push through, to focus on the little things.”

One effective way to advance anti-racist work is for nonprofit CEOs to engage each other in peer-to-peer learning, writes Stefanie Demong while telling the story of a Silicon Valley-area group with a growing track record of success. “Those of us committed to bringing about lasting change must recognize that diversity, equity, and inclusion are much more than a passing fad,” adds Undraye Howard of the nonprofit organization Social Current. “They are a framework for engaging an organization’s full strength.”

Read more stories by SSIR Editors.