This course introduces students to the work of changemaking and the field of social innovation. Students will explore principles of social innovation and social change, while developing the skills to analyze social issues, generate solutions to those issues, and become an effective social change agent. (3 hr. lecture)
The Systems Work of Social Change by
The issues of poverty, inequality, racial injustice, and climate change have never been more pressing or paralyzing. Current approaches to social change, which rely on linear thinking and traditional power dynamics to 'solve' social problems, are not helping. In fact, they may only beentrenching the status quo.Systemic social challenges produce bewildering results when we try to solve them due to their complexity, scale, and depth. While strategies to tackle complexity and scale have received significant attention and investment, challenges that arise from deeply-held beliefs, values, and assumptions thatno longer serve us well have been largely overlooked. This book draws on stories of committed social changemakers to uncover a set of principles and practices for social change that dramatically depart from the industrial approach. Rather than delivering solutions or being lured by grander visionsof 'systems change', these principles and practices focus on the process of change itself. Simple yet profound, these stories distil a timely set of lessons for leaders, scholars, and policymakers on how connection, context, and power sit at the heart of the change process, ensuring broader agencyfor people and communities while building social systems that are responsive in a rapidly-changing world.
The Alchemist by
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho continues to change the lives of its readers forever. With more than two million copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has established itself as a modern classic, universally admired. Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories can, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, above all, following our dreams.
The Hill We Climb by
Amanda Gorman's powerful and historic poem "The Hill We Climb," read at President Joe Biden's inauguration "Stunning." --CNN "Dynamic." --NPR "Deeply rousing and uplifting." --Vogue On January 20, 2021, Amanda Gorman became the sixth and youngest poet to deliver a poetry reading at a presidential inauguration. Taking the stage after the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden, Gorman captivated the nation and brought hope to viewers around the globe. Her poem "The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country" can now be cherished in this special audiobook. Including an enduring foreword by Oprah Winfrey, this keepsake celebrates the promise of America and affirms the power of poetry.
I Am Malala by
The bestselling memoir by Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. I Am Malala. This is my story. Malala Yousafzai was only ten years old when the Taliban took control of her region. They said music was a crime. They said women weren't allowed to go to the market. They said girls couldn't go to school. Raised in a once-peaceful area of Pakistan transformed by terrorism, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes. So she fought for her right to be educated. And on October 9, 2012, she nearly lost her life for the cause: She was shot point-blank while riding the bus on her way home from school. No one expected her to survive. Now Malala is an international symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner. In this Young Readers Edition of her bestselling memoir, which has been reimagined specifically for a younger audience and includes exclusive photos and material, we hear firsthand the remarkable story of a girl who knew from a young age that she wanted to change the world -- and did. Malala's powerful story will open your eyes to another world and will make you believe in hope, truth, miracles and the possibility that one person -- one young person -- can inspire change in her community and beyond.
The Moment of Lift by
How can we summon a moment of lift for human beings—and especially for women? Because when you lift up women, you lift up humanity.
For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift society up, you need to stop keeping women down.
In this moving and compelling book, Melinda shares lessons she's learned from the inspiring people she's met during her work and travels around the world. As she writes in the introduction, "That is why I had to write this book—to share the stories of people who have given focus and urgency to my life. I want all of us to see ways we can lift women up where we live."
Melinda's unforgettable narrative is backed by startling data as she presents the issues that most need our attention—from child marriage to lack of access to contraceptives to gender inequity in the workplace. And, for the first time, she writes about her personal life and the road to equality in her own marriage. Throughout, she shows how there has never been more opportunity to change the world—and ourselves.
Writing with emotion, candor, and grace, she introduces us to remarkable women and shows the power of connecting with one another.
When we lift others up, they lift us up, too.
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by
Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides. These topics have only become more urgent as the national conversation about race is increasingly acrimonious. This fully revised edition is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of race in America.
Why We Can't Wait by
Martin Luther King's classic exploration of the events and forces behind the Civil Rights Movement--including his Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963. "There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair." In 1963, Birmingham, Alabama, was perhaps the most racially segregated city in the United States. The campaign launched by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights movement on the segregated streets of Birmingham demonstrated to the world the power of nonviolent direct action. In this remarkable book--winner of the Nobel Peace Prize--Dr. King recounts the story of Birmingham in vivid detail, tracing the history of the struggle for civil rights back to its beginnings three centuries ago and looking to the future, assessing the work to be done beyond Birmingham to bring about full equality for African Americans. Above all, Dr. King offers an eloquent and penetrating analysis of the events and pressures that propelled the Civil Rights movement from lunch counter sit-ins and prayer marches to the forefront of American consciousness. Since its publication in the 1960s, Why We Can't Wait has become an indisputable classic. Now, more than ever, it is an enduring testament to the wise and courageous vision of Martin Luther King, Jr. Includes photographs and an Afterword by Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
CliftonStrengths for Students by
CliftonStrengths for Students -- which includes a unique access code to take the CliftonStrengths assessment -- helps students discover and develop their strengths and reach their potential. Discover and Develop Your Strengths -- in College and Beyond College is a chance for you to start fresh. You get to learn and grow in ways that will amaze you. You get to write your own story. So what do you want your college story to be? As a student, you have the opportunity every day to search for patterns in your actions, learn from them and use them to make the most of your life experiences, now and in the future. To do that, you need a solid understanding of where and when you're at your best: your strengths. CliftonStrengths for Students will help you discover and develop your strengths -- and reach your full potential. This book includes an access code to take the CliftonStrengths assessment. After you take the assessment, you'll get a list of your top five themes of talent, which are the themes you lead with. Once you know what your leading themes are, you can begin to turn them into strengths. CliftonStrengths for Students will also give you suggestions for developing and using your strengths in college and in the real world. If you understand and apply your strengths, your college journey -- and the rest of your life -- will be happier, more fulfilling and more successful. That's the point of developing your strengths. When you do more of what you do best, you build your life around your areas of greatness. So let's get started. Your strengths journey begins here!
1. Explaining the historical trajectory of social and environmental issues.
2. Describing social and environmental issues that currently affect society.
3. Utilizing different tools and mechanism to analyze social and environmental issues.
4. Evaluating different pathways to resolve social issues.
Stanford Social Innovation ReviewMaking toast doesn’t sound very complicated -- until someone asks you to draw the process, step by step. Tom Wujec loves asking people and teams to draw how they make toast, because the process reveals unexpected truths about how we can solve our biggest, most complicated problems at work. Learn how to run this exercise yourself, and hear Wujec’s surprising insights from watching thousands of people draw toast.
1. Identifying local and global changemakers/social innovators and understanding their motivation and pathways.
2. Exploring components of transformative leadership.
3. Applying conflict resolution to social problems.
4. Developing resilience and optimism.
5. Applying story-telling techniques.
6. Building relationships.
Profit and Purpose: How Social Innovation Is Transforming Business for Good by
Why has Warby Parker been able to make such dramatic inroads against the behemoths in the long established eyeglass market? How has Method revolutionized the soap aisle? Amid the cacophony of online retailers, why has Etsy seen such explosive growth, with 2013 annual sales north of $1 billion? These companies all have been disruptive because they are operating from a strong social/environmental purpose. They are proving a counterintuitive truth – purpose can drive profits. But it's not just innovative startups that are getting in on the action. Blue chip companies such as Nike, Coca-Cola and IBM are innovating within their organization to create a positive social and environmental impact globally. This is not a trend. It's the future of business. Based on in-depth interviews with founders, Profit & Purpose profiles a number of the most successful pioneers of this new way forward, telling the stories of thirteen social enterprises ranging from non-profits like Charity:Water and DonorsChoose.org, to for-profits, like Method and Burts Bees; from startups like Etsy and Warby Parker, to multinational corporations with market capitalizations in the hundreds of billions, like Coca-Cola, IBM and Nike. Kyle Westaway digs beneath the public stories of these organizations' success to reveal how they have harness the power of purpose.
Theories of Social Innovation by
As we grapple with how to respond to some of the world's most pressing problems, such as inequality, poverty and climate change, there is growing global interest in ‘social innovation'as a potential solution. But what exactly is ‘social innovation'? This book describes three ways to theorise social innovation when seeking to manage and organize for both social and economic progress.
The Mission-Driven Venture by
Practical guidance to maximize financial results while driving positive social change The Mission-Driven Venture provides actionable guidance for leveraging the power of the marketplace to solve the world's most vexing social problems.
Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership -- starting with a golden circle and the question: "Why?" His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Wright brothers.
1. Identifying characteristics he/she exemplifies that align with changemaking.
2. Exploring his or her own social passions, motivations, and aspirations.
3. Explaining how to integrate changemaking into his or her personal and professional life.
1. Explaining the role that empathy plays in creating social change.
2. Describing the different types of changemaking such as social entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, philanthropy, volunteerism, advocacy, and political activism.
3. Explaining the importance of cross-sector collaborations in driving social change.
4. Explaining the methodology of design thinking and its role in change making.
5. Describing the importance of impact assessment for social change initiatives.
Good to Great and the Social Sectors by
Proposes applying the author's business strategies for transforming companies to nonprofit and public organizations to help them increase efficiency and most benefit the clients they serve.
1. Analyzing the environment to identify and understand both problems and opportunities.
2. Generating ideas to create solutions.
3. Assessing the benefits of the solutions.
Field Guide to Human-Centered Design by
The Field Guide has everything you need to understand the people you're designing for, to have more effective brainstorms, to prototype your ideas, and to ultimately arrive at more creative solutions.
Design Thinking at Work : How Innovative Organizations Are Embracing Design by
The result of extensive international research with multinationals, governments, and non-profits, Design Thinking at Work explores the challenges organizations face when developing creative strategies to innovate and solve problems.
As a principal designer for GE Healthcare, Doug had been designing diagnostic imaging equipment for more than 20 years when he realized that young patients' actual experience of this cutting -- edge technology was, well, awful. Children were often so terrified by the prospect of lying alone inside the huge, noisy machine that they often had to be sedated just to get through the experience. Doug put together a team of experts to solve this problem, including staff from a local children's museum, kids and hospital staff. The result was an innovative, design-driven solution that utterly transformed the experience for children. In addition to holding 6 utility patents and over 16 design patents, Doug teaches creative innovation as a part of the GE "innovation at work" initiative and is Lead Design Architect for two key design incubators.
