One common image that often represents social innovation is a light bulb. It symbolizes a good idea, but light also guides us through dark times. It’s a bright spot in the midst of bleak circumstances. Light represents hope and the practice of hope that’s exemplified in the stories on this list. They offer us promising signs that a more just world is possible. May they offer you inspiration and encouragement in your work for social change.

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1. The Impact Collaborative by Soren Kaplan

Five nonprofit organizations in Contra Costa County, California, developed a new model for aligning their complementary efforts to address food insecurity. Their approach to working together is an inspirational blueprint for other leaders who aim to scale collective solutions.

2. Preventing Identity-Based Violence From the Ground Upby Susan Appe, David A. Campbell, and Kerry Whigham*

Violent conflicts rooted in identity are an enduring part of the global landscape. This cover story shares examples of community-based organizations around the world that are addressing the social fragmentation at the root of those conflicts. These organizations are creatively laying the groundwork for a more peaceful future.

3. Scaling Community-Grown Solutions by Aisha Rahamatali, Vidhya Sriram, and Maria Liu

Facing shrinking global aid budgets, NGOs and civil society organizations are drawing valuable lessons from the trajectory of village savings and loan associations (VSLAs), or savings groups. The authors write that VSLAs are “a useful, real-world example of how organizations can make strategic investments to scale community-led models through public systems while keeping communities in the driver’s seat.”

4. Preserving America’s Full History by Marianne Dhenin*

With immigrant communities under attack, Latinos in Heritage Conservation, the nation’s foremost Latinx historic preservation nonprofit, is showing the power in lifting up and preserving the voices and experiences of the marginalized.

Read the full article about stories of nonprofit innovation and impact at Stanford Social Innovation Review.