Winter 2018

Issue

Winter 2018

Volume 16, Number 1

The only way that climate change will be reversed is by continuing to develop new technologies and turning them into products and services. Philanthropists play an important role in that process, particularly by investing in risky, early-stage, science-based startups that traditional investors shy away from. Read more about this in “The Investment Gap That Threatens the Planet,” the cover story in the Winter 2018 issue.

Features

Environment

The Investment Gap that Threatens the Planet

By Scott P. Burger, Fiona Murray, Sarah Kearney & Liqian Ma 2

To prevent drastic climate change, philanthropists must invest more in nascent solutions ignored by traditional capital markets.

Education

Design Thinking for Higher Education

By Clark G. Gilbert, Michael M. Crow & Derrick Anderson 8

To meet the challenges of a new era, universities should redesign their core functions while also creating capacities to reach emerging and underserved markets. Open access to this article is made possible by BYU-Pathway Worldwide & ASU's Center for Organization Research and Design.

Measurement & Evaluation

Can Measures Change the World?

By Christopher Nelson, Anita Chandra & Carolyn Miller 1

Our ability to track and report is accelerating, resulting in a proliferation of measures. It’s time to focus more effort on understanding how those measures can be used to change complex social systems.

Leadership

How Field Catalysts Galvanize Social Change

By Taz Hussein, Matt Plummer & Bill Breen 1

Surmounting daunting social challenges such as ending malaria or achieving marriage equality can require the help of an intermediary organization—a field catalyst—that amplifies the efforts of others. Open access to this article is made possible by The Bridgespan Group.

What’s Next

Health

Health Insurance for Migrants

By Kristine Wong

The M-FUND offers affordable health insurance to the vulnerable Burmese migrant population on Thailand's western border.

Education

From Prison Back to School

By Adrienne Day

Boston Uncornered gives gang-involved individuals a stipend and social support to attend college.

Human Rights

Desegregating the Home-Sharing Economy

By Noël Duan

A collaboration between the NAACP and Airbnb is one of several new efforts to reduce racial discrimination on home-sharing platforms.

Civic Engagement

Bringing Together Research and Action

By Stephanie Wykstra 2

Two new programs aim to help academics to engage more directly with nonprofits and social change initiatives.

Field Report

Foundations

Unconventional Wisdom

By Sarah Murray

The Rockefeller Foundation’s “scan and search” approach casts a wide net to identify the issues it’s best suited to tackle.

Economic Development

360-Degree Development

By Esha Chhabra 2

Swades Foundation is working to break nonprofit community development efforts out of their silos in India.

Cities

Saving the Neighborhood

By Paul Hockenos

In the face of Berlin’s rising rents and gentrification, tenants are asserting their rights through Kotti & Co.

Case Study

Social Services

A Tax-Funded Nonprofit to Create Happy Families

By Pablo Medina Uribe

Colombia’s Comfama has brought critical economic and social services to Medellín. Can this public-private hybrid continue to bolster the country’s growing middle class?

Viewpoint

Business

Caring for Working Caregivers

By David Grayson 1

Employers must do more to help employees who combine their jobs with taking care of family members and friends.

Government

Mobilize Communities for Homeless Vets

By Nadim Matta, Keith W. Harris, Ann Marie Oliva & Lisa M. Pape

The departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development turbocharged community efforts to end homelessness among veterans and provided a model for better government.

Economic Development

The Art of the Development Deal

By Richard Crespin 3

The Trump administration can use foreign aid to further American interests and improve the lives of people around the world.

Research

Cities

The Right Soil for Innovation

By Chana R. Schoenberger

The idea for a New York City botanical garden needed a suitable milieu to flourish.

Nonprofits & NGOs

A Limited Right of Association

By Chana R. Schoenberger

Not every group could gain corporate rights in de Tocqueville’s America.

Organizational Development

Hacking the Hierarchy

By Marilyn Harris

Securing commitment from managers is crucial for organizational change.

Philanthropy & Funding

Passion is Infectious

By Marilyn Harris

Showing enthusiasm is essential for securing crowdfunding dollars.

Book Reviews

Review

Design Thinking

Social Impact by Design

Review By Nadia Roumani 2

This book offers useful ideas for integrating design thinking into a work environment but could provide more specific guidelines for the design process itself.

Review

Human Rights

Finding a Place for Refugees

Review By Ben Mason

The refugee crisis demands bold responses that treat migrants not as drains on host societies but rather as assets to them.

Review

Water & Sanitation

A Cultural View of Sanitation

Review By Abhay Rao 1

Ending open defecation isn't just about building more toilets—it's also about making sure the culture is receptive to new sanitation practices.

Review

Impact Investing

Keeping it Real

Review By Kesha Cash & Melissa Plotsky

Simon's book warns against short-sighted impact investing that brings more benefit to investors than to the communities it supposedly supports.

Last Look

Environment

Innovative Infrastructure

By Eric Nee

Many cities are adapting in the face of climate change.

Canadian Innovation in an Age of Acceleration

The Critical Role of Traditional Knowledge in Social Innovation

By Melissa Herman 3

To build a brighter future for Canada, we need to learn from Indigenous communities and develop a new language of mutual understanding.

A New Model for CSR

By Valerie Chort & Hamoon Ekhtiari 1

How Canada’s largest bank is reimagining the role of corporations in society.

The Digital Future of Canadian Philanthropy

By Anil Patel 1

Why philanthropists should embrace digital innovation with a focus on social research and development.

A Path to Community Driven Food Innovation

By Annie Aningmiuq & Tracy Sarazin

Community-driven solutions are helping both to improve food security and to pass down Inuit knowledge to younger generations.

Fighting Social Exclusion, One Encounter at a Time

By Nadia Duguay & Agnès Lorgueilleux 1

Exeko seeks to better understand social, cultural, and intellectual exclusion and work to eliminate it.

Supporting Women’s Rights in Troubled Times

By Wariri Muhungi & Erin Edwards 1

How women’s movements are holding ground and breaking ground.

An Invitation to Explore Indigenous Innovation

By Kris Archie & Jessica Bolduc

Indigenous traditions are key to building the relationships, reciprocity, and reconciliation that Canada needs for a strong future.

Out of the Lab and into the Frontline

By Alex Ryan, Sarah Schulman & Vinod Rajasekaran

How embracing uncertainty can help cultivate Canada’s social R&D ecosystem.

Crowdsourcing Refugee Resettlement

By Mustafa Alio & Ratna Omidvar 2

Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees program offers an effective model for how to engage entire communities in welcoming newcomers.

Building a Canadian Social Finance Fund

By Stephen Huddart & Tim Draimin

Government and its partners can achieve transformative change by taking a big leap.

Canada and the Sustainable Development Goals

By Andrew Chunilall & Ajmal Sataar 1

What is the role of community-based innovation in a rapidly changing world?

NeighborWorks America Leading Innovation in Nonprofit Sustainability

Embracing Innovation

By Marietta Rodriguez

NeighborWorks America, a 40-year-old congressionally chartered nonprofit, redefined its relationship with its grantees to build a learning lab for innovation.

The Strength of Social Enterprise

By Rachel Mosher-Williams

As government and philanthropic funding becomes unpredictable and markets evolve, some nonprofits can succeed with social enterprise. An innovative NeighborWorks America program shows them how to do it.

From Clients to Customers

By William H. Woodwell Jr.

Changing the paradigm for marketing and service delivery.

Realizing the Dream of Homeownership

By NeighborWorks America

NeighborWorks’ courses on homeownership and support services empowered these people to buy their own homes and transform their lives.

Cross Sector Leadership: Approaches to Solve Problems at the Scale at Which They Exist

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