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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 02/09/2026

Our educational system should support learning for all people at any stage of their lives. Isabelle Hau speaks with SSIR’s Mitchell Stevens and João Souto-Maior about their new SSIR cover story, “Building a Learning Society.” Wednesday, Sept. 16. Register here: stanford.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Event promotional graphic with headline and author photos:

Building a Learning Society: An SSIR Author Conversation

João Souto-Maior, Mitchell Stevens, Isabelle Hau

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 26/05/2026

How can today's mega-rich philanthropists build a new generation of civic institutions and infrastructure? Join us tomorrow for an SSIR author conversation with Sarah Cone, author of our latest cover story "Why Don't Philanthropists Build Anymore?" stanford.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Magazine illustration from SSIR cover story shows a figure in a black suit and top hat carrying a large pillar

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 11/05/2026

Ashesi faced a series of practical and strategic questions from its early years. For instance, how could a new institution establish legitimacy and trust among regulators, students, their families, and employers?

Borrowing Legitimacy
In its early years, Ashesi University’s institutional model of ethical leadership, social impact, and entrepreneurship challenged the established higher-education system that allowed limited room for deviation. With little established legitimacy and a nascent institutional track record, Ashesi prioritized securing the approvals and trust necessary to survive. Awuah described these early years as a period of fitting in enough to earn the “right to experiment.”

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 28/04/2026

Tomorrow, SSIR speaks w/ Mark Dobosz about his article, “Beyond the Mega-Gift.” Sign up to join us live tomorrow Apr 29 at 10am PT: stanford.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Beyond the Mega-Gift: An SSIR Author Conversation

Mark Dobosz and David Johnson

Wednesday, April 29, 2026
10 AM Pacific/1 PM Eastern

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 16/04/2026

What will it take to reverse the recent increasing concentration of charitable giving? SSIR’s David Johnson speaks w/ Mark Dobosz about his SSIR feature, “Beyond the Mega-Gift.” Wednesday, April 29 Register here: stanford.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Beyond the Mega-Gift: An SSIR Author Conversation

Mark Dobosz, Vice President of Philanthropy, Mozaic Senior Life

Wednesday, April 29, 2026
10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 09/03/2026

Live today at 12 PT/3pm ET: We talk w/ Isabelle Hau about her new cover story on human flourishing in the AI age, designing for human connection, and relational intelligence (RQ). Registration and article links in thread.

The Era of Relational Intelligence: An SSIR Author Conversation
Isabelle Hau, Executive Director, Stanford Accelerator for Learning
Mitchell Stevens, SSIR Academic Editor
Monday, March 9, 2026
12 PM Pacific/3 PM Eastern

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 27/02/2026

Building relational infrastructure is a requirement for human flourishing in the age of AI. SSIR’s new academic editor Mitchell Stevens speaks with Isabelle Hau about her forthcoming SSIR story, “Welcome to the Era of Relational Intelligence.” Monday, March 9: stanford.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 29/01/2026

This week's SSIR newsletter includes an interview with Joe McCannon, an expert on social change movements and campaigns, about what's happening in Minneapolis:

Screenshot with text: What is most striking to you about the massive actions we’ve seen in Minneapolis and elsewhere in response to ICE?

With the caveat that I haven’t been on the ground in Minneapolis—and there’s no replacement for that perspective—I’ve been most struck by the activists’ courage and persistence. Despite these appalling killings and increasing intimidation, this movement is growing, not retreating. This shows real conviction because they’re up against something truly scary; these are armed forces that have been told by White House officials that they’re above the law. Standing up to that peacefully inspires others to do the same, and we need as much of that as possible across the country right now. Courage builds courage.

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 20/01/2026

What one commenter says about this article:

This really put words to what so many nonprofits are feeling right now. The uncertainty is just as challenging as the funding itself. I appreciate the reminder that survival can’t come from cutting alone—it has to come from innovation, collaboration, and building real financial resilience. The SDA examples show that when strategy and mission stay aligned, it’s possible to adapt without losing purpose. SDA is helping more biz, the reason I’m following this on all socials as it inspires me!

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 04/12/2025

Among “Free” countries, lower levels of economic opportunity appear to be the biggest predictor of backsliding. You might be wondering about the United States. The United States scores lower on economic opportunity than “Free” countries that did not backslide since 2013.

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 04/12/2025

Which of the factors was most important to countries that backslid? In the right graph, the yellow shading shows countries that started off “Free” in 2013 and remained so in '24, while the red line shows those that backslid to being “Partly Free” by '24.

The same three pentagonal charts as above with an additional layer showing the five indicators for countries in the "free" and "partly free" categories that backslid to the next category down. For those that slid from "free" to "partly free" the gap is largest for Economic Opportunity and Rule of Law.

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 04/12/2025

The authors used V-Dem’s detailed dataset of over 400 country-level indicators to produce a quantitative measure for each element of democratic health. Unsurprisingly, the calculations showed a strong connection between these five elements and Freedom House’s freedom classifications:

Three pentagonal charts show a strong connection between the five elements of democratic health and Freedom House’s freedom classifications: “Free” countries had higher average scores on each of the five elements than “Partly Free” countries, which had higher scores on each than “Not Free” countries.

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 21/11/2025

Low voter registration is a design choice. @thecivicscenter.bsky.social founder and CEO Laura W. Brill joins SSIR for a live conversation about her forthcoming cover story, “Getting Youth Engaged in Democracy.” Wednesday, December 3. ssir.org/youth-voters...

Title: Youth Voters and the Future of Democracy: An SSIR Author Conversation

Wednesday, December 3, 2025
10 AM Pacific/1 PM Eastern

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 02/10/2025

The harmful health effects of these pollutants are on full display in Houston, the so-called energy capital of the world. The zip codes where life expectancies are lowest are those with the most of oil and gas sources. Houstonians have a name for this: The Houston Arrow. ssir.org/articles/ent...

A series of maps showing how the locations of oil and gas infrastructure in Houston aligns with related health impacts

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 02/10/2025

"Funders and advocates must rally around creative and robust community-led solutions that prioritize health protection over corporate gain." ssir.org/articles/ent... New article from @mtejada24.bsky.social of @nrdc.org and Jen Hadayia of @airalliancehou.bsky.social

Illustration of a giant dark robot figure that represents the oil and gas industry looming over a small town landscape

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 16/09/2025

Should RCTs be the gold standard of impact measurement? SSIR’s Aaron Bady speaks w/ Nicole P. Marwell and Jennifer E. Mosley about their new article, “The Nonprofit Sector Has an RCT Problem.” Join us tomorrow at 10 a.m. PT! ssir.org/live-rct-conversation

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 10/09/2025

What does it do to social change organizations when RCTs aren’t just the best option, but the only option? SSIR speaks w/ Nicole Marwell and @jenmosley.bsky.social about their article, “The Nonprofit Sector Has an RCT Problem.” Join us Wed., Sept. 17 at 10 am PT: ssir.org/live-rct-conversation

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 14/07/2025

What's the path forward for the global development sector? Philosopher Peter Singer argues the answer lies in consequentialism: ssir.org/articles/ent...

Red button on instrument panel with label: "IN EMERGENCY PUSH"

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 03/06/2025

🌟 Online now! SSIR’s Summer 2025 Issue The Future of Innovation Is Collective • Nursing Education Reimagined • Getting Underperforming Cross-Sector Partnerships Back on Track ssir.org/issue/summer...

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 30/04/2025

Next week! Join us for Data on Purpose, a two-day online convening of some of the world's leading thinkers around technology and social good. www.ssirdata.org

Data on Purpose, a Stanford Social Innovation Review virtual summit. "Reimagining the Digital Future: Harnessing AI for Social Good" May 6-7, 2025. ssirdata.org Free admission

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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 26/02/2025

Join a conversation w/ David Campbell & Kerry Whigham, researchers at the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention, Binghamton University about their new cover story “Preventing Identity-Based Violence From the Ground Up” www.linkedin.com/events/civil... 🗓️ Tues, March 4, noon PST/3 EST

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