Inside Social Innovation

By Stanford Social Innovation Review

What's Inside Social Innovation about?

Social entrepreneurs and leaders from business, government, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector discuss how they are confronting today’s most pressing challenges. From Stanford Social Innovation Review

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Inside Social Innovation episodes:

03.10.2022
Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders— Navigating the Pandemic
“Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders” is produced in partnership by The Pew Charitable Trusts and Stanford Social Innovation Review. In this final episode of this special series, Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, and Mark Suzman,...
03.03.2022
Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders—Economic Opportunity in America
“Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders” is produced in partnership by The Pew Charitable Trusts and Stanford Social Innovation Review. In this episode, Larry Kramer, president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and La June Montgomery Tabron, president...
02.11.2022
Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders—Climate Solutions
“Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders” is produced in partnership by The Pew Charitable Trusts and Stanford Social Innovation Review. In this episode, Tonya Allen, president of the McKnight Foundation, and John Palfrey, president of the John D. and Catherine...
01.24.2022
Uncharted Ground: Powering Needs, Empowering Lives
Powering Needs, Empowering Lives from Uncharted Ground, a podcast series produced by SSIR and Jonathan Levine. Each episode of Uncharted Ground tells a documentary-style story about one nonprofit or social entrepreneur’s journey to solve a daunting global problem. This episode...
01.18.2022
Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders—Race and Diversity Today
“Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders” is produced in partnership by The Pew Charitable Trusts and Stanford Social Innovation Review. In the series, leaders from across the social sector share insights about how they are innovating during challenging times and...
12.14.2021
Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders—Political Polarization
“Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders” is produced in partnership by The Pew Charitable Trusts and Stanford Social Innovation Review. In the series, leaders from across the social sector share insights about how they contend with challenging times and societal...
12.07.2021
Coming Soon: Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders
Political polarization. Climate change. Racial reckoning. Income inequality. A global pandemic. Since 2020, all five of these immense challenges have emerged or deepened, commanding our attention and prompting major societal and cultural shifts. In this special series produced in partnership...
01.28.2020
Storytelling and Social Change
The entertainment industry has become an important partner to the nonprofit sector, inspiring people to become active around social issues such as climate, poverty, and human rights. What can campaigns for change learn from narrative storytelling experts? How can nonprofit...
01.14.2020
Storytelling and Social Change
The entertainment industry has become an important partner to the nonprofit sector, inspiring people to become active around social issues such as climate, poverty, and human rights. In this recording from SSIR’s 2019 NMI conference, the writer, director, and actor Jessica...
01.14.2020
The Risk and Rewards of Mergers as a Nonprofit Growth Strategy
Even as nonprofits are put on the defensive by political polarization, inequality, climate change, and other threats, many of them still seek out opportunities to expand their impact. For those dissatisfied with small steps forward, mergers present the chance to...
12.17.2019
Scaling and Innovation
Scholars have noted that most new ideas are poor ones that won’t be adopted. So how can organizations integrate innovation productively and prevent it from having unintended consequences? In this recording from SSIR’s 2019 NMI conference, Christian Seelos, coauthor...
12.03.2019
Nonprofit and Government Collaborations Move at the 'Speed of Trust'
What do mayors look for and ask from nonprofit managers? What do they wish leaders in the sector would ask of them, and how can public servants and nonprofit leaders learn to better communicate and collaborate? In this recording from...
07.15.2019
Transforming Programs Through Predictive Analytics
Predictive analytics can help organizations iterate rapidly, become more transparent and precise, and pinpoint opportunities to address inequities in their work. In this recording from our 2019 Data on Purpose conference, Parag Gupta, vice president of the Stupski Foundation, and...
07.01.2019
Building a More Ethical Blockchain
Blockchain can help with a variety of social and economic challenges—from securing identity for refugee or homeless populations to minimizing the presence of conflict diamonds in the industry’s supply chain. But at the end of the day, technology is just...
06.19.2019
Strengthening Data Capacity in the Social Sector
What can help the social sector go big on data in the right ways? For one, organizations should stop underestimating their capabilities. And for another, they should build their data strategy around deeper strategic goals as opposed to funding opportunities....
05.29.2019
A Hippocratic Oath for Our Digital Lives
What responsibilities do we have as individuals, organizations, and a society for how we conduct ourselves online? In this recording from our 2019 Data on Purpose conference, Henry Timms, president and CEO of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and...
05.07.2019
Critical Skill for Nonprofits in the Digital Age: Technical Intuition
In a world where the pace of organizational learning is often slower than the pace of technological change, activists and nonprofit leaders must develop their “technical intuition.” Not everyone needs to become a tech expert, explains Alix Dunn, of the...
04.23.2019
MacArthur Foundation Program Leader Reflects on Lessons From 100&Change Grant Competition
In 2016, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, launched 100&Change;—a new grant competition, that would award $100 million to an organization with the best proposal to help solve a critical social problem. The foundation awarded the grant to...
04.09.2019
Sesame Workshop, Winner of 100&Change Grant Competition, Discusses What’s Next
In 2016, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, launched 100&Change;—a new grant competition, to award $100 million to an organization with the best proposal to help solve a critical social problem. In 2018, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit that...
03.26.2019
Building a Communication Strategy for Diversity and Inclusion
Communication strategy can’t be an afterthought for organizations that want to fully embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion. It requires a careful examination of words, images, ideas, and narrative framing. Where should you start? Using insight from systems thinking and social,...
03.12.2019
Getting Local: Collaborating With Communities of Color
“Community-centered” approaches to social change are nothing new. But the term has become a buzzword in the professionalized social impact world, and strategies intended to elevate the needs of grassroots movements often miss the mark. How can nonprofits do better...
02.26.2019
Dismantling Invisible Barriers to Capital
Research shows that when talented social innovators lack “invisible capital”—the so-called right pedigree, right passport, right skin color, right gender—they may fail to get the attention and investment they need to succeed. How can leaders in philanthropy improve access to...
02.11.2019
Navigating Double Jeopardy in the Social Sector
Black women face racial and gender stereotypes and biases that often keep success in the hands of the few—and their experiences working in the social sector are no exception. To understand the unique set of racial and gender barriers—coined “double...
01.29.2019
How Client Feedback Helped Transform a Houston Health Agency
Due to her father’s work as an engineer, Paula John moved around a lot in her youth. She often felt seen but not heard in the relationship with her dad. With her own family, she tried hard to listen, and...
12.20.2018
Increasing Equity and Inclusion in the Arts
What practices make the arts more or less inclusive? At Stanford Social Innovation Review’s 2018 Nonprofit Management Institute conference, leaders from three San Francisco Bay Area arts organizations discuss how they are shaping both their organizations and their performances to...
11.27.2018
Former Prisoner Pays Forward the Gift of Being Heard
When Shannon Revels came home to Oakland after nearly 15 years in prison, he found his criminal record made it difficult to get a job. But through the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), he found a role first as a...
11.06.2018
Rewriting Our Cultural Narrative for a More Just Society
The nonprofit Color of Change was formed after Hurricane Katrina to use online resources in the fight for the rights of Black communities in America. Since then, Color of Change has grown into the nation’s largest online racial justice organization,...
08.28.2018
The Tenuous Relationship Between Technology and Social Innovation
Technology can magnify the power of grassroots organizing and social innovation, but it can sometimes bring about societal harm, whether intentionally or not. At SSIR’s 2018 Frontiers of Social Innovation conference, Rob Reich, a Marc and Laura Andreessen faculty...
07.31.2018
Fostering a Human-Centered Approach to Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI), once a niche discipline within computer science, has blossomed over the past decade—including in the social sector. In this recording from our 2018 Frontiers of Social Innovation conference, Johanna Mair, academic editor at SSIR and a...
07.17.2018
Embracing Emerging Technology for Social Change
Emerging technologies like biotech and artificial intelligence have the potential to transform so many of the systems that make up the world around us. At our 2018 Frontiers of Social Innovation conference, Katherine Milligan,...
07.03.2018
Ending Slavery and Child Labor in Global Supply Chains
In the mid-1990s, NGO activists began shining a spotlight on the concentrated use of slave child labor in Pakistan to produce soccer balls for the global market. The attention prompted the industry to make deep changes in its supply chain...
06.19.2018
Creating Enabling Environments for Refugees
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 65 million people around the world have been forced from home—the highest levels of displacement on record. In her recent SSIR article, “Let Refugees Be Their Own Solution,” Emily...
04.19.2018
Tackling Cyber-hate in Silicon Valley
As director of the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Silicon Valley-based Center for Technology and Society, Brittan Heller oversees efforts to track cyber-hate, and works in partnership with technology companies and law enforcement agencies to reduce bigotry and promote justice and...
04.05.2018
How Big Indicators Can Help Solve Global Problems
To solve “wicked problems” like deforestation and persistent poverty, we not only need better data but also better indicators to identify problems and patterns in real time. Planet Inc., a geospatial organization that has deployed the largest constellation of Earth-observing...
03.22.2018
How Nonprofits Can Find Data-driven Success
Good ideas and intentions are not enough to solve the world’s most pressing problems. Many early-stage organizations fail because they lack the tools they need to grow—especially when it comes to collecting data and measuring impact. Data is essential for...
03.08.2018
Data Privacy and Security: From Mandate to Mission
Social sector organizations are increasingly under pressure to better protect the privacy and security of their data. How should they examine their data governance practices to align with the demands of governments, their constituents, and their mission? At our 2018...
01.25.2018
Debating the Role of Philanthropy in Democracy
Given the largely unaccountable position of power held by philanthropists, what role should they play in democratic societies? In this recording from the 2017 Philanthropy Innovation Summit, hosted by Stanford’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, Rob Reich, a Marc...
12.28.2017
Reigniting Leaders’ Passion to Advance Equity
Nonprofit leaders can’t continue to do the same things and expect different results in their work to help move the United States toward greater equity. In this podcast from our 2017 Nonprofit Management Institute, PolicyLink President Michael McAfee (@mikemcafee06)...
12.14.2017
Leading Through Turbulent Times
Since its founding in 1913, the ADL has fought against the defamation of Jewish people, and to secure justice and fair treatment for all. That mission has kept Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) very busy over the past two years. His tenure...
12.01.2017
Shifting Philanthropy to a Justice-Minded Approach
Youth, families, and residents are the leaders of their own destinies, and yet public institutions oftentimes don’t reflect the demographics of their communities and are not guided by strategies defined community members. In this podcast from our 2017 Nonprofit...
11.15.2017
Bridging the Climate Change Investment Gap
Our Winter 2018 cover story, “The Investment Gap that Threatens the Planet,” takes a detailed look at investments in discovering and developing new solutions to address climate change. It finds that such investments are woefully low and have even been...
06.26.2017
Learning How to Listen to Beneficiaries
In this session, Valerie Threlfall discusses the Fund for Shared Insight‘s largest grant program, Listen for Good, which provides grants and technical assistance to dozens of nonprofits to build high quality feedback loops with those they serve. Two Listen for...
06.05.2017
Unlocking Data and Unleashing Its Potential
Data has the potential to help fuel social change across the world, yet many relevant datasets remain locked away and siloed across government agencies, nonprofits, and corporations. What kind of collaboration does it take to make this data available to...
05.29.2017
Prediction vs. Bias in Data: A Debate
This panel from our Do Good Data | Data on Purpose conference features conference co-hosts Lucy Bernholz of Stanford PACS and Andrew Means of Uptake, along with Stanford education professor Candace Thille, and Kristian Lum, lead statistician at the Human...
05.15.2017
Software for Good: Empowering the Social Sector Data Revolution
Leading for-profit companies thrive by embracing data insights to drive increased efficiency, effectiveness, and scale. They view information and analytics as core strategic assets in running a modern business. In this talk from our 2017 Do Good Data | Data...
05.01.2017
Get Out of Your Own Way: Challenging Your Mindsets and Behaviors
Building successful networks isn’t just about pairing organizations with similar missions. It’s also about human relationships. In this talk from our 2016 Nonprofit Management Institute, conservationist Steve McCormick looks at several common barriers to developing strong relationships—and ways to...
04.18.2017
There Is No Geography to Intelligence and Passion
In this podcast, Ernesto Sirolli, founder of the Sirolli Institute, considers how to decentralize, democratize, and empower local communities. Sirolli has been working in the field of local economic development since 1971 and has developed a philosophy and practice that...
04.10.2017
Building a Culture of Opportunity Within Disadvantaged Communities
In his talk from SSIR‘s 2016 Nonprofit Management Institute, Derrick Braziel looks at how connecting people with the right resources and training, and building a culture of opportunity from within communities, can enable unlikely entrepreneurs, revitalize neighborhoods, and break the...
03.27.2017
Cultivating a Network Leader Mindset
In this podcast, Jane Wei-Skillern, an adjunct associate professor at the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley, identifies four counterintuitive principles that are essential to effective collaboration: Trust, not control Humility not brand Node, not hub...
03.13.2017
Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio: Successful Tech Projects and Social Networks in the Trump Era
Smita Vadakekalam of Heller Consulting and Sandy Reinardy of the University of Wisconsin Foundation discuss ways to avoid some all-too-common pitfalls of nonprofit technology. And Amy Sample Ward of the Nonprofit Technology Network suggests strategies to organize for success in...

What's Inside Social Innovation about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Inside Social Innovation episodes:

Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders— Navigating the Pandemic

Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders—Economic Opportunity in America

Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders—Climate Solutions

Uncharted Ground: Powering Needs, Empowering Lives

Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders—Race and Diversity Today

Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders—Political Polarization

Coming Soon: Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders

Storytelling and Social Change

Storytelling and Social Change

The Risk and Rewards of Mergers as a Nonprofit Growth Strategy

Scaling and Innovation

Nonprofit and Government Collaborations Move at the 'Speed of Trust'

Transforming Programs Through Predictive Analytics

Building a More Ethical Blockchain

Strengthening Data Capacity in the Social Sector

A Hippocratic Oath for Our Digital Lives

Critical Skill for Nonprofits in the Digital Age: Technical Intuition

MacArthur Foundation Program Leader Reflects on Lessons From 100&Change Grant Competition

Sesame Workshop, Winner of 100&Change Grant Competition, Discusses What’s Next

Building a Communication Strategy for Diversity and Inclusion

Getting Local: Collaborating With Communities of Color

Dismantling Invisible Barriers to Capital

Navigating Double Jeopardy in the Social Sector

How Client Feedback Helped Transform a Houston Health Agency

Increasing Equity and Inclusion in the Arts

Former Prisoner Pays Forward the Gift of Being Heard

Rewriting Our Cultural Narrative for a More Just Society

The Tenuous Relationship Between Technology and Social Innovation

Fostering a Human-Centered Approach to Artificial Intelligence

Embracing Emerging Technology for Social Change

Ending Slavery and Child Labor in Global Supply Chains

Creating Enabling Environments for Refugees

Tackling Cyber-hate in Silicon Valley

How Big Indicators Can Help Solve Global Problems

How Nonprofits Can Find Data-driven Success

Data Privacy and Security: From Mandate to Mission

Debating the Role of Philanthropy in Democracy

Reigniting Leaders’ Passion to Advance Equity

Leading Through Turbulent Times

Shifting Philanthropy to a Justice-Minded Approach

Bridging the Climate Change Investment Gap

Learning How to Listen to Beneficiaries

Unlocking Data and Unleashing Its Potential

Prediction vs. Bias in Data: A Debate

Software for Good: Empowering the Social Sector Data Revolution

Get Out of Your Own Way: Challenging Your Mindsets and Behaviors

There Is No Geography to Intelligence and Passion

Building a Culture of Opportunity Within Disadvantaged Communities

Cultivating a Network Leader Mindset

Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio: Successful Tech Projects and Social Networks in the Trump Era