Philanthropy & Funding

China’s New Model of Blockchain-Driven Philanthropy

By Xiaofeng Wang & Kevin C. Desouza 1

Blockchain has done more than simply enable Chinese social entrepreneurs to improve the transparency, trustworthiness, and fundraising of the country’s charitable causes. It has helped launch a more decentralized and autonomous philanthropic sector.

Economic Development

Paying It Forward in International Development

By Rodrigo Canales, Tony Sheldon, Tory Grieves & Brendan Lehan

Development practitioners must build a culture of learning, negotiation, and collaboration, so that the generation and use of evidence are integrated into program design and implementation.

Business

Cocreating With the Base of the Pyramid

By Ted London & Urs Jäger

Companies seeking to do business in low-income markets often make the mistake of transferring assets from higher-income markets to fill perceived gaps. They should instead look to partner with those who live in these markets and to identify the assets already available there.

Organizational Development

A Trauma Lens for Systems Change

By Patsy Carter & Andrea Blanch 2

The Missouri Model lays out a framework, based on the science of trauma, that organizations can use to shift culture and policies and improve outcomes. A feature article from the Summer 2019 issue.

Civic Engagement

When Aid Fails

By Abigail Higgins 2

The citizen journalism effort What Went Wrong? examines international development projects with the help of reports from people the project was supposed to benefit. A What's Next article from the Summer 2019 issue.

Environment

A Moonshot to Restore Artic Ice

By Eden Stiffman

The nonprofit is developing a solution to restore and preserve Arctic sea ice by spreading sandlike silica microspheres in strategic locations to reflect sunlight and heat. From the Summer 2019 issue.

Human Rights

New Alliances for Human Rights

By Pablo Medina Uribe

PROVEA is spreading the word about Venezuela’s political and economic crisis while building alliances in neighboring countries. From the What's Next department of the Summer 2019 issue.

Technology

Fail-Safe Keeping of Personal Records

By Sarah Baird

The MyPass Austin project aims to help people experiencing homelessness by using blockchain technology to secure their personal documents. From the What's Next department of the Summer 2019 issue.

Technology

A Click-to-Print Solution to Housing

By Corey Binns

New Story’s 3-D printing software builds houses cheaply and efficiently, demonstrating how technology can leapfrog traditional limitations in local economies and infrastructure. A Field Report from the Summer 2019 issue.

Technology

Queer Activism Goes Online

By Kenrya Rankin

Astraea’s CommsLabs program combines indigenous knowledge, technology, and healing practices to power the next wave of LGBTQI organizing. From the Summer 2019 issue.

Technology

Streamlining Emergency Access

By Julie Zeilinger 1

Safe Shelter Collaborative dramatically reduces the time that survivors of domestic violence and sex trafficking have to wait to secure safe accommodation. A Field Report from the Summer 2019 issue. 

Nonprofits & NGOs

The Invention of Digital Civil Society

By Lucy Bernholz 1

For nearly three decades, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has led the fight to protect people’s digital rights, incubating allied organizations and offering free security tools to nonprofits. Can it continue to uphold its mission? From the Summer 2019 issue.

Economic Development

Creating New Pathways to Capital

By Robin Brulé & Alvin Warren 2

Inequity continues to plague the lending industry, but a microlending program in New Mexico has created a solution that is providing underserved communities the capital they need. A Viewpoint article from the Summer 2019 issue.

Impact Investing

Pay for Success Faces a Funding Gap

By Mary Margaret Frank & Stefano Rumi

Efforts to increase funding for Pay for Success must embrace how risk affects the expectation of returns to attract capital from the appropriate investors.

Organizational Development

Eight Practices for Strategic Agility

By Dave Algoso

Rather than a glossy brochure that no one reads, your strategy should be an ongoing practice that informs your decisions and adapts as circumstances change. A Viewpoint from the Summer 2019 issue.

Business

The Roots of Workplace Gender Inequality

By Marilyn Harris

Executives who cite work-family conflict to explain lack of female advancement in firms embrace a myth to preserve the status quo. A research report from the Summer 2019 issue.

Civic Engagement

Coming Together Amid Difference

By Marilyn Harris

Racial and economic segregation hampers local civic action, but public schools can serve as a facilitator. A research report from the Summer 2019 issue.

Health

Pay, Productivity, and Depression

By

Performance-based pay forces many employees to choose between leaving or suffering mental illness. A research report from the Summer 2019 issue.

Education

The Persistence of Black College Students

By Chana R. Schoenberger 1

Black students attend college at greater rates than expected, given their socioeconomic disadvantages, and thereby attain more degrees than expected.

Economic Development

Not Just Copycats

Review By Danqing Wang

A new book on Chinese entrepreneurs breaks through stereotypes and offers a more comprehensive view of innovation in China.

Technology

The Complicated Revolution

Review By Mary Joyce

Sociologist Jen Schradie reveals how digital activism empowers defenders of the status quo.

Government

Three Cheers for Regulation

By Eric Nee

During the Industrial Revolution, labor organizations, social movements, the media, and government came together to rein in big business, providing lessons on how to regulate firms of today like Facebook, Amazon, and Google, writes SSIR's editor-in-chief in an introduction to the Summer 2019 issue.

Human Rights

The Pathology of Tradition

By Marcie Bianco 1

Women’s rights and human rights organizations take aim at the tradition of "menstrual exile" through creating broad access to scientific knowledge that destigmatizes menstruation.

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Healthy Eating, Active Living: Reflections, Insights, and Considerations for the Road Ahead

By Faith Mitchell 1

Grantmakers In Health presents a snapshot of the latest thinking from health funders, researchers, and advocates on healthy eating and active living (HEAL) and healthy communities.

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Healthy Eating and Active Living Through an Equity Lens

By Laura Gerald

To ensure equitable health outcomes, we need to be explicit about goals, build transparent relationships with local communities, address underlying issues that drive health disparities, and measure and adjust outcomes accordingly.

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Connecting Health and Education So Children Can Learn and Thrive

By Rochelle Davis & Sarah Weisz 1

Building effective policy advocacy campaigns, creating programs that support sustainable systemic changes, and engaging parents to identify and advocate for critical issues are all key to supporting healthy schools and communities.

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The Future of Healthy Eating Research

By Megan Lott & Mary Story 2

Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change (PSE) strategies are critical tools in the battle for good health in adults and children.

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How to Improve Physical Activity and Health for All Children and Families

By M. Renée Umstattd Meyer, J. Aaron Hipp, Nisha Botchwey, Myron F. Floyd, Anna J. Kim, Keshia M. Pollack Porter & James F. Sallis

Physical Activity Research Center (PARC) investigators examine physical activity across built environments, parks and recreation, schools, and rural areas—all through an equity lens.

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The Colorado Health Foundation’s HEAL Evolution

By Dara Hessee, Khanh Nguyen, & Alexis Weightman

Learning to listen to community members was a critical step on the road to food security and good health for all Coloradans. Part of the Summer 2019 issue's Healthy Eating, Active Living supplement.

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How Market Forces Could Improve How We Eat

By Harold Goldstein

Health advocates and the food and beverage industries have traditionally clashed over issues of public policy. Warning labels might help the two find common ground.

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The Power of Business to Change Food Culture for the Better

By Nancy E. Roman 1

The key to getting people to adopt healthier eating habits may lie in leveraging the power of the private sector. Part of a sponsored supplement from the Summer 2019 issue. 

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Political Power as a Tool to Improve the Health of All Americans

By Jake Williams 1

Healthier Colorado is that state’s largest health-advocacy organization. By supporting fundamental policy shifts and engaging actors at all levels of policymaking, they are helping create lasting change for Coloradans.

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Evaluate, Invest in Advocacy, and Shrink the Change

By Glenn E. Schneider & Nikki Highsmith Vernick