Social change requires social collaboration, but how do leaders successfully cross the boundaries of stubbornly insular systems?

Two academics with decades of collective experience with boundary spanning—from interdisciplinary training to collaboration with community organizations, finance executives, and video game developers—share practices that embrace connecting across different social systems and suggest ways universities can incorporate bridging these boundaries into their programs. Read more.

Related SSIR articles: Collective Impact Without Borders and The Essential Skills of Cross-Sector Leadership

Cal Lutheran’s public policy and administration master’s program is a catalyst for professional success. Our comprehensive, practical curriculum empowers our graduates to excel in a wide variety of fields in the public and private sector.

We provide our students with direct experience opportunities such as fellowships, internships, faculty-led travel seminars and immersive observation sessions. This is your opportunity to benefit from a myriad of learning experiences that show you how the theory you learn in class is applied in the real world.

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OpenAI’s governance saga might give leaders pause about alternative ways of organizing, but research shows hybrid governance models can be successful—with effective boards to lead them:

“Markets alone do not have conscience, but we human beings do. It is up to us to decide how to get organized to ensure that new technologies, products, and services enhance everyone’s lives for the better while preserving our planet.”

Read more.

Micromanaging, rubber stamp, and Balkanized nonprofit boards are more common than not, and turning them into high-functioning governing bodies requires being on the alert for six warning signs.

How prioritizing technological expertise on the board level can help nonprofits and social service organizations make the most of their resources and improve outcomes for the communities they support.

You work hard—and you know the mission is worth it. But sometimes you need a pick-me-up. That’s where the Nonprofit Hotline comes in.

Call 812-RESILIA to get an on-demand pep talk and hear from people who appreciate you. Or, if it’s one of those days, take the opportunity to scream into the void.

Not a phone person? Get your pep talk online at 812resilia.com.

“The funds on the sidelines that could push transformative change through big bets should not be framed as ‘a new way to fail.’”  

Cecilia Conrad, founder and chief executive officer of Lever for Change and a senior advisor at the MacArthur Foundation, responds to last week’s SSIR article by Kevin Starr on big bet philanthropy and lays out her view of how the movement should expand. Read more.

Related SSIR articles: What Large, Unrestricted Gifts Do for Nonprofit Leaders and Riding the Wave of Abundance

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Union rights organization Jobs With Justice relies on its extensive nationwide network to advocate for economic and social justice for workers.

Big Tech companies are lobbying hard to enshrine new forms of inequality into law. Strengthening labor standards and workers’ rights to join a union can help stop them.

Stanford Social Innovation Review is pleased to announce that Laura Lanzerotti and Preeta Nayak from Bridgespan will be joining us for this year’s Nonprofit Management Institute, “What's Next for the Social Sector? Strategies and Tactics for Today’s Agile Leaders,” September 17-18, 2024.

In their exclusive in-person breakout session, Making Sense of Uncertainty: Nonprofit Scenario Planning in an Election Year, Lanzerotti and Nayak will draw on their experience supporting countless organizations through scenario planning in order to share insights, real-world examples, and a planning tool that can help nonprofit leaders navigate the uncertainty this election season.

Learn more and register