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Inside Social Innovation

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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Episodes

  1. 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, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates...

  2. 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 and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg...

  3. 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 T. MacArthur Foundation,...

  4. 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 travels to India...

  5. 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 societal division. In this...

  6. 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 division. In this episode,...

  7. 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 by…

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  8. 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 leaders successfully...

  9. 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 leap ahead. But it won't be easy....

  10. 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 of the best-selling book...

  11. 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 SSIR's 2019 NMI conference, Mayors Libby Schaaf of Oakland and...

  12. 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 Jeff Gold,...

  13. 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 a tool serving an end, and one that must be...

  14. 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. In this recording from our 2019 Data…

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  15. 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 former president of 92Y, offers a pledge—a...

  16. 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 consulting firm Computer Says Maybe, but…

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  17. 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 Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit that…

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  18. 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 produces Sesame Street and other…

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  19. 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, behavioral, and...

  20. 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 at treating the people they're...

  21. 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 capital? What tools…

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  22. 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 jeopardy"— that stymie black women, listen to…

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  23. 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 she expected the same consideration from her local Houston health agency, she told former NPR...

  24. 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 make them more...

  25. 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 janitor then resident services counselor in transitional housing for the...

  26. 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, with more than 1.4 million members. Rashad...

  27. 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 co-director of Stanford PACS,...

  28. 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 professor at the Hertie School…

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  29. 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, who directs the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship spoke…

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  30. 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 to eliminate the problem. Today, the campaign is viewed as…

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  31. 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 Arnold-Fernandez, executive director of the...

  32. 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 fair treatment…

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  33. 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 satellites in…

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  34. 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 nonprofit scaling because it not only...

  35. 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 Data on Purpose conference…

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  36. 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 and Laura Andreessen...

  37. 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) shares his perspective on being...

  38. 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 has coincided with the 2016 US election, a rise in…

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  39. 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 Management Institute, Paola Peacock...

  40. 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 falling in recent years. The article…

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  41. 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 Good grantees, Krystle Onibukon of…

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  42. 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 different actors working to create change?…

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  43. 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 Rights Data Analysis Group. The discussion...

  44. 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 on Purpose conference, Jim Fruchterman,...

  45. 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…

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  46. 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 allows communities to…

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  47. 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 cycle of...

  48. 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 Mission, not...

  49. 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 a new political...

  50. Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio: Digital Inclusion and Creating an Annual Grants Plan

    How can we reach people who don't have home access to the internet? In this podcast, part of a partnership with Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio, three women who have each made digital inclusion a priority share their thoughts: Kami Griffiths of the Community Technology Network, Karen Lincoln of...

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

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

HOSTED BY

Produced by Stanford Social Innovation Review

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How many episodes does Inside Social Innovation have?

Inside Social Innovation currently has 554 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

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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 releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 554 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.

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