Strategic Philanthropy for a Complex World, a recent article from the summer issue of Stanford’s Social Innovation Review, highlights the Foundation’s practice of embracing emergent strategy in developing initiatives and programs. Quoting the Foundation’s Director of Programs and Operations, John Cawley:
“The first thing is not to assume that we alone are going to have a plan. It’s going to be co-created by the people we’re bringing around the table. It is much more nerve-racking but ultimately more interesting when you co-create strategy.”
The article emphasizes that to solve today’s complex social problems, foundations need to shift from the prevailing model of strategic philanthropy that attempts to predict outcomes, to an emergent model that better fits the realities of creating social change in a complex world.
Read the full article here.
30 May 2014