(Illustration by Raffi Marhaba, The Dream Collective)
Global Solutions
SERIES | The Global Pursuit of Equity
SSIR is proud to present our first-ever global series of articles created in collaboration with our six local language partners—SSIR China, SSIR en Español, SSIR Japan, SSIR Korea, SSIR Brazil, and SSIR Arabia. The stories, written in contributors’ native languages and then translated into all seven partner languages, feature ways that local innovators from around the world are addressing equity issues, from gender inequity in Mexico to social isolation in Korea to the legacy of colonialism in Okinawa.
Trauma and Systems Change
ARTICLE | Healing Systems
Trauma is a near-universal part of the human experience and an invisible force contributing to the “stuckness” of virtually all social systems—including child welfare, criminal justice, education, health care, housing, and climate. Yet the impact of trauma remains all but absent from discussions about systems change. In one of the most-read and -discussed articles on ssir.org in the last year, Laura Calderon de la Barca, Katherine Milligan, and John Kania unpack how moving discussions about trauma from the margins to the mainstream can help the social sector discern new and effective approaches to systems change.
Migration Potential
ARTICLE | Betting on Migration for Impact
When the issue of migration makes headlines, it’s portrayed as a burden, threat, or tragedy, and almost always politically intractable. In reality, contributor Jason Wendle argues, migration represents an opportunity waiting to be unlocked by thoughtful investment. Wendle responds to a few common objections—for example, concerns about “brain drain”—and then outlines how philanthropists, impact investors, and other social innovators can help this emerging field take flight.
Trust-Based Philanthropy
ARTICLE | In Numbers We Trust
The trust-based philanthropy movement is a justified reaction to oppressive and unproductive reporting requirements, writes Mulago Foundation director Kevin Starr. Yet this reaction often morphs into a general hostility to numbers. If we’re serious about creating a new generation of effective leaders who do not come from rich countries, Starr argues, numbers are critical, because they are the closest thing we have to a universal language. Moreover, numbers help build trust by creating a shared reality between doers and funders.
Rethinking Offsets
ARTICLE | Instead of Carbon Offsets, We Need ‘Contributions’ to Forests
Low-quality carbon offsets have failed to deliver meaningful emissions reductions, according to a growing body of research and a number of lawsuits against companies. This is a good thing to expose, write researchers Libby Blanchard, William Anderegg, and Barbara Haya, but it doesn’t erase the need for private-sector funding for forests. One way to channel forest finance away from bad offsets toward more productive outcomes is to stop claiming that forests offset fossil fuel emissions. Companies could, instead, make “contributions” to global climate mitigation through investments in forests. This change in terminology may seem small, but it represents a fundamentally different approach with different incentives.
Read more stories by SSIR Editors.