(Illustration by Hugo Herrera)
A common theme among this year’s most popular stories on SSIR.org is the notion of building on or refining existing social innovations. This year’s top article, “The Relational Work of Systems Change,” explores how readers can prioritize relationships in collective impact efforts. (SSIR published the seminal article on collective impact more than a decade ago.) Other articles suggest ways to improve the ESG framework, examine the right metrics to measure impact, and urge practitioners to shift power back to communities when collecting and analyzing data. We hope these articles, as well as several on strengthening leadership in the social sector, inform and inspire you as we look forward to the social innovations of 2023.
1. The Relational Work of Systems Change by Katherine Milligan, Juanita Zerda & John Kania
“By calling on our sector to invest its collective energy in more relational and emergent approaches to transforming systems, we are merely naming what many of us already know: The ways we currently collaborate are simply not up to the magnitude of the task given the complexity of the social and environmental problems we are trying to solve. To get to more radical outcomes, we need more radical ways of working together.” Part of the Collective Impact: 10 Years Later series.
2. ESG Is Not Impact Investing and Impact Investing Is Not ESG by Jaclyn Foroughi
Author Jaclyn Foroughi, a lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business, teases out the differences between ESG and impact investing to help clear up confusion, channel funds appropriately, and move the impact sector toward achieving the audacious Sustainable Development Goals.
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3. Fixing the S in ESG by Jason Saul
“Reducing carbon emissions and mitigating the risks of climate change for investors is a major accomplishment. But to achieve true sustainability, we must also improve the quality of life for the people who live on this planet. … It’s time we raise the bar on social impact measurement, create better S data, and give the market something to price into their models. It’s time to go from net zero to net impact.”
4. The Most Critical Ingredient in Leadership by Jacqueline Novogratz & Anne Welsh McNulty
What drives leaders to direct or redirect their lives, to tackle seemingly intractable problems, and to stay true to their values in the face of enormous challenges? After encountering hundreds of remarkable leaders through their own work at the Aspen Institute, Acumen, and the McNulty Foundation, the authors have found a common thread: moral courage. Part of the Pivotal Moments on the Leadership Journey series.
5. Beyond ‘X Number Served’ by Mona Mourshed
“The right way to expand a nonprofit’s impact is to build programs on three pillars: breadth, depth, and durability. Scaling means advancing all three of these dimensions simultaneously. And while the specific metrics an organization uses will vary, some version of each of those elements must be measured and advanced together to stay on track.”
6. The Upside of Nonprofit Burnout by John Hagan
Like a lot of his peers in the nonprofit sector, John Hagan was burned out. This reflection on leaving his CEO position highlights how slowing down may be the first step toward maximizing your impact.
7. Decolonize Data by Nithya Ramanathan, Jim Fruchterman, Amy Fowler & Gabriele Carotti-Sha
Data colonization has harmful consequences. The authors of this viewpoint article from the Spring 2022 issue propose four principles regarding the ownership, privacy, sharing, consent, and appropriate use of data as guideposts for decolonizing data and shifting power back to the communities where data is collected. (Open to nonsubscribers for a limited time. Subscribe here.)
8. The Adoption of Innovation by Benjamin Kumpf & Emma Proud
The authors surface some of the biggest challenges to adopting social innovations and share examples of intrapreneurs who moved innovations into the mainstream at their organizations: “They were cognizant to not oversell the potential of novel approaches and emerging technologies, and to align applications to core business processes.”
9. What Everyone Can Learn From Leaders of Color by Darren Isom, Cora Daniels & Britt Savage
“We entered this research with the hope that by highlighting the assets leaders of color bring, the sector might rethink what it values when it comes to leadership.” The authors of this article examine the motivations, relationships and networks, and skill sets and behaviors of BIPOC leaders and share strengths that are particularly well suited for social change.
10. Protest Movements Could Be More Effective Than the Best Charities by James Ozden
“Given how even woefully underfunded protest movements have had catalytic impacts in bringing about large-scale positive change, supporting young, upcoming protest movements might be one of the most impactful things philanthropists can do.”
Honorable mentions:
11. Plotting Impact Beyond Simple Metrics by Natasha Joshi
12. What Makes Narrative Change So Hard? by Brett Davidson
13. Does Your Nonprofit Board Need a CGO? by Paul Jansen & Helen Hatch
14. Strategy: Go Big or Go… Oh, Just Go Big by Kevin Starr
15. ESG Investing Needs to Expand Its Definition of Materiality by Tom Adams, Lindsay Smalling & Sasha Dichter
16. Web3 and the Trap of ‘For Good’ by Scott Smith & Lina Srivastava
17. Five Accelerators of Equitable Grantmaking and How to Harness Them by Katie Smith Milway, Amy Markham, Chris Cardona & Kathy Reich
18. Putting the Public Interest in Front of Technology (an in-depth series sponsored by the Ford Foundation)
19. Designing Your Circular Business Model by Nancy M.P. Bocken & Thijs H.J. Geradts
20. To End Homelessness, the Energy of Money Must Change by Daniel Heimpel
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