Stanford Social Innovation Review

Excellent piece in the Stanford Social Innovation Review by Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink and Kevin Barenblat on how nonprofits are leveraging AI with the help of social entrepreneurs and funders -- called "AI-Powered Nonprofits" AI-powered nonprofits (APNs) are advancing solutions to many social problems, including driving progress towards all 17 SDGs. Three goals that stand out with potential to be transformed by AI are SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 4 (Quality Education), and SDG 13 (Climate Action). Good visual of the landscape analysis that look at 100 use cases in the tech-for-good ecosystem, and interviewed dozens of builders. Keep in mind: * Focuses on AI to advance impact and outcomes for external stakeholders. It does not focus on internal use (for individual tasks or organizational efficiency). (Big AI versus little ai) * This is just the beginning and there will be new and different use cases. * Use-cases can be applied across different issues https://lnkd.in/gbNMjFDG

“The most effective nonprofits start and end with a focus on change—and understanding this is key to understanding nonprofit leadership.”   Read an excerpt from How to Lead Nonprofits by Nick Grono, CEO of The Freedom Fund, for insights into how leaders can build and sustain successful nonprofits: “The role of the leader is to harness the power of purpose and use it to shape everything the organization does­—internally with its people and externally with its partners—to deliver the greatest possible change.” Read the excerpt: https://lnkd.in/eMM_HqGX

“The most effective nonprofits start and end with a focus on change—and understanding this is key to understanding nonprofit leadership.”   Read an excerpt from How to Lead Nonprofits by Nick Grono, CEO of The Freedom Fund, for insights into how leaders can build and sustain successful nonprofits: “The role of the leader is to harness the power of purpose and use it to shape everything the organization does­—internally with its people and externally with its partners—to deliver the greatest possible change.” Read the excerpt: https://lnkd.in/eMM_HqGX

Government adoption is the holy grail of scale for nonprofits, so how can nonprofit, philanthropic, and government leaders—who often operate in silos—harness the strengths of all sectors to achieve exponential impact? On September 26, join #SSIRLive! and Kathleen Kelly Janus for a 90-minute LIVE session: A Guide to Government Partnership: Learn to Master Scaling. Learn how to build a network of collaborators to ensure maximum impact and bring those partnerships to fruition through live exercises, worksheets, and illustrative case studies. Registration now open: https://lnkd.in/gF4g83Gq 

In South Korea, innovative social enterprises are reimagining the role people with developmental disabilities play in society and the workforce. Hyun Shin, Hyunjoong Kim, and Haeun Kim of SSIR Korea share how businesses like Testworks Inc., Donggubat, Autistar, and others are fostering self-determination and fulfillment among disabled workers: “They are changing how Korean society thinks about people with developmental disabilities and hopefully offer insights into how innovators in other countries, especially Asian countries with similar contexts and development trajectories, can do the same.” Read more about efforts to challenge old, discriminatory mental models: https://lnkd.in/ezftXmMQ 🌏 This article is part of SSIR’s first-ever global series with contributions from SSIR local language editions around the world. Explore the series on the global pursuit of equity: https://lnkd.in/esVDr7JB

“The World Bank has much to offer as a partner for the philanthropic sector: Not only is it unparalleled in its potential to achieve impact at scale, but the $39 billion it provides annually in aid to countries around the world has helped it win unmatched access to and influence with government officials.” Leslie Tsai of the Chandler Foundation walks through a successful World Bank #collaboration that supported historic anticorruption efforts in Malawi and shares best partnership practices for #foundations that work in areas that overlap with The World Bank’s development priorities: “Empowered with resources, funders can more easily access the World Bank and governments than NGOs, opening doors for grantees that otherwise might be closed. Serving as the connective tissue between the World Bank, governments, and global and local NGOs, philanthropy can bring the various stakeholders together and leverage each group’s strengths.”

The rent is too darn high for artists. In San Francisco, the arts community was hit particularly hard after the 2010s tech boom sent rent prices soaring: A 2015 civic survey reported that 70% of the city’s artists had been displaced from their homes, workplaces, or both because of higher costs. Enter San Francisco-based Community Vision CA and their Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST) to protect local arts organizations from being priced out of the area. CAST offered local arts organizations like the experimental arts nonprofit CounterPulse an opportunity to stay in the community and eventually purchase the building they were leasing. Kyle Coward writes about this community-centered approach to real estate, which serves as a model for cities around the world. 🏙

At NMI, engage in peer-to-peer learning opportunities and build deeper connections with a diverse group of practitioners from around the world as we learn to better support our people, strengthen our programs, and have a positive impact on society at large. This year we’ll provide you with the tools and tips necessary to navigate some of the biggest emerging challenges in the field, including a tumultuous US election cycle, the rapid proliferation of AI technology, and the evolving needs of our workforce. The future is uncertain. But that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare for it, or help to shape it. Register now: https://bit.ly/NMI_24

Call for submissions! 🚨 🚨 🚨 SSIR is looking for stories from people or groups doing innovative or inspiring work related to elections and policy issues that really matter in people’s lives. 🗳 Topics might include research or initiatives focused on voter engagement or polarization, analysis of the implications of elections on the social sector, or commentary related to top ballot issues or direct democracy. Check our our submission guidelines and be in touch with your ideas >> https://lnkd.in/erVFDPK3

“When economies push for 100% digital transactions, they take away people’s right and freedom to control and use their money independently.” This warning about the dangers of a fully cashless economy come from an interesting source: the CEO and cofounder of a social impact fintech. Seema Prem of FIA Global, which serves the rural poor in South Asia, advocates that cash must not be eratdicated completely: “It gives people liquidity, control, resilience, privacy, and protection from authoritarian regimes. These benefits are too vital to ignore. Governments and central banks need to advocate for less cash, rather than aim for a fully cashless society. Otherwise, they threaten to put vulnerable people in desperate circumstances.” Read Seema’s viewpoint in the latest issue of SSIR: https://lnkd.in/eXjPisDV