Leadership
The Strategic Art of Ambiguity
When the deck is stacked against change, ambiguous actions can change the game.
Civic Engagement
The Critical Role of Questions in Building Resilient Democracies
Asking questions in new and participatory ways can complement advancements in data science and AI while enabling more inclusive and more adaptive democracies.
Business
Civic Engagement at Work
A study of worker-owned cooperatives demonstrates how people see their civic engagement, whether in the workplace or out in the world, as one and the same activity.
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IN-DEPTH SERIES
21st-Century Global Democracy
Defending and strengthening democracy requires local, national, and transnational solutions. This essay series shares strategies and perspectives from democracy champions in Brazil, South Africa, and the United States.
Economic Development
A Rural Revitalization Success Story
How CDFIs can fuel entrepreneurship and growth in rural regions.
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“Our souls are crying out for something right now.”
In a time of deep division, how can organizations reflect the vision and values of a true multiracial democracy and begin to bring people back together?
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Civic Engagement
The Foreign Stain on Protests
Accusations that protest movements are receiving foreign support are effective at reducing their public appeal.
Design Thinking
Design Thinking Misses the Mark
Design thinking has failed to deliver on its promise to solve the world’s thorniest social challenges. Adopting a critical design stance can help designers serve communities, rather than their own methodology.
Advocacy
Building Solidarity for Transformative Social Change
A conversation with Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor about building cohesion across differences and organizing transformative social movements.
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IN-DEPTH SERIES
Communication in a New Era of Social Change
This essay series, presented in partnership with The Communications Network, will share stories, strategies, and lessons from forward-thinking foundations and nonprofits that have begun evolving the way they think and do communications.
Technology
Inclusivity in Generative AI Should Be an Attribute, Not an Add-On
With gen AI support, humanoid robots can help people with disabilities conquer long-standing barriers to inclusivity and independence in the workplace and beyond. If, that is, their design mirrors the inclusivity they are built to provide.
Environment
The Role of Equity in Climate Justice in Brazil
A look at innovations taking root in Brazil that preserve endangered ecosystems while fostering socioeconomic equity.
Philanthropy & Funding
Small Firms Are Still a Big Missed Opportunity in Development Philanthropy
There are many reasons why philanthropists still haven’t supported SMEs at the scale we need. They need to get over it; the opportunity to leverage impact is enormous.
Health
Combining AI Breakthroughs and Better Policy to Defeat Superbugs
Superbugs may have met their match in generative AI, but to fully tackle the crisis of antimicrobial resistance, policy makers need to find new ways to help scientists and researchers overcome long-standing obstacles and revitalize a broken antibiotic market.
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Philanthropy & Funding
Where Strategic Philanthropy Went Wrong
Dramatic advances in the scale and sophistication of strategic philanthropy have not improved societal conditions at a national level. We propose empowerment philanthropy as a new approach to fostering political and economic self-determination by supporting people in finding their own solutions and ensuring an effective multiracial democracy.
Leadership
Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast. So Make Culture Your Focus.
How can organizational leaders create an environment that balances the needs of the individual, the needs of the institution, and the needs of the work?
Education
Graduation Nation
A 20-year campaign to address America’s high school dropout crisis produced unprecedented gains in graduation rates nationwide. Can lessons from this campaign help the nation cross this elusive threshold and inspire action on other social issues? I Open access to this article is made possible by Future Pathways/OAP, a sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
Environment
Plan C for Greening Business
Engaging directly with business was never the environmental movement’s first choice—and for good reason.
