Spring 2024

Current Issue

Articles on social change from the latest edition of SSIR

Spring 2024

Volume 22, Number 2

Read about how the health-care industry is joining the fight against climate change, how social enterprise law around the world balances the cultivation of trust with the promotion of scale, how startup cross-sector collaboratives should set their agendas for success, how Lyme disease patients’ self-advocacy led to the creation of a national vector-borne disease strategy, and other topics in the Spring 2024 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Features

Environment

Health Care Takes on Climate Change

By Josh Karliner

At Health Care Without Harm, we have worked with partners around the world to launch a global movement to get the health-care sector to zero emissions. Our experience provides lessons for forging global change to reverse the climate crisis.

Social Enterprise

Trust and Scale in Global Social Enterprise Law

By Dana Brakman Reiser

Social enterprise law around the world faces a difficult trade-off between cultivating public trust and promoting scale. The sector will benefit by getting clearer on the available options.

Collaboration

Cross-Sector Initiatives Should Start Small

By Vanessa Laird, Kathy Quick & J. Myles Shaver 1

Startup collaboratives often encounter challenges when converting their motivation to do good into action. We have created a minimum viable benefit process for agenda-setting that can help them start up and stay on track. | Open access to this article is made possible by the Center for Integrative Leadership, University of Minnesota.

Health

The Citizen-Led Fight Against Hidden Epidemics

By Bernadette Clavier 1

The scientific and medical communities were divided on the treatment for Lyme disease for decades. Neglected and suffering, Lyme patients learned how to advocate for themselves. Their cause led to the creation of the national vector-borne disease strategy, with lessons about how to address complex chronic conditions more broadly.

What’s Next

Environment

Mutual Trust in Scotland’s Highlands

By Emma Woollacott

An environmental initiative has taken the unusual step of partnering with residents to safeguard affordable housing and jobs.

Arts & Culture

Archiving Black Radio

By Marianne Dhenin

Black Women in Radio and the Radio Preservation Task Force are building a collection to honor Black radio culture.

Nonprofits & NGOs

Saving Local News

By Gustavo Turner

Rebuild Local News seeks to reverse the rapid decline of local journalism with public policy.

Cities

Deregulating Housing for Renters

By Emma Woollacott

A charity and bank are teaming up to ease the rental process for low-income and homeless people in the United Kingdom.

Field Report

Social Enterprise

Dignified Work for Disabled Kenyans

By Charles Wachira

Social enterprise Riziki Source promotes professional development for one of Kenya’s most disadvantaged communities.

Human Rights

Equal Partnership

By Jane Wei-Skillern & Annelie Strath

The international NGO CARE reimagined its traditional approach to humanitarian relief by creating a platform to uplift its local partners and better serve communities.

Environment

Rewilding Portugal

By Prathap Nair

NGO ATN preserves and restores the biodiversity of northern Portugal to counterbalance the effects of climate change.

Case Study

Cities

Metro Rail Comes to Hyderabad

By Ram Nidumolu, Vijaya Sunder M & Pavitra Madhira

One of India’s largest cities launched the world’s biggest public-private partnership metro rail project to construct essential public transit for its bustling metropolis. Its leaders overcame numerous hurdles by cultivating a stakeholder mindset.

Viewpoint

Philanthropy & Funding

Sunsetting in Style

By Alice Hengevoss & Georg von Schnurbein

Foundations can turn the decision to spend down into a long-lasting and impactful legacy.

Health

Restore Community Nursing

By Robert Atkins

Imagine a nurse for every census tract of the United States. We must transform nursing education to make that vision a reality.

Collaboration

Harnessing Academic Expertise for Societal Challenges

By Amber D. Miller

Public Exchange creates streamlined pathways for public and private sector leaders to tap academic expertise. This model accelerates solutions to challenging social and environmental problems and enhances the social impact of academic research.

Research

Business

Protests Matter to Companies

By Chana R. Schoenberger

Women’s March protests convinced companies to select more female board members.

Health

The Divided Hospital

By Chana R. Schoenberger

Incivility between doctors and nurses leads to higher rates of patient death and medical errors.

Social Services

The Trouble With Heroes

By Daniela Blei

Workers labeled “heroes” become vulnerable to exploitation.

Economic Development

How Social Ties Exacerbated a Crisis

By Daniela Blei

Microfinance relies on social networks for repayment, but those same networks can backfire during a financial crisis.

Book Reviews

Review

Health

Capitalizing on Care

Reviewed By Aliya Hamid Rao

Premilla Nadasen’s Care: The Highest Stage of Capitalism demonstrates how the labor of caring is a site of economic extraction.

Review

Water & Sanitation

A Path Forward for Water

Reviewed By Andrew Ayres

Liquid Asset examines how the public and private sectors can better collaborate on our society’s pressing water problems.

Editor’s Note

Leadership

Looking Back to Look Forward

By Nicholas Jackson

SSIR’s new editor-in-chief and publisher invites readers to collaborate as the organization evolves: “SSIR works best when it works for you.”

SSIR Online

Nonprofits & NGOs

SSIR Online, Spring 2024 Issue

By SSIR Editors

A collection of standout pieces published online about DEI, impact investing, learning from failure, and generational conflict in social justice organizations.

Last Look

Human Rights

Prison Cats

By Marcie Bianco

Furry companions are improving the lives of Chilean inmates.

The Future of Philanthropy Is Trust-Based

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- What’s Next
  
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- Case Study
  
  An inside look at one organization
- Viewpoint
  
  Insights from the front lines
- Research
  
  Highlights from scholarly journals
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- Editor’s Note
  
  Perspectives on the print magazine issues from SSIR's editor-in-chief
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- Last Look
  
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