Frontiers of Social Innovation: Power at Play in Social Change

About

In recent years, more and more people in the social innovation ecosystem have begun to ask questions about the role of power in creating a more just, sustainable, and equitable society. At our Frontiers of Social Innovation 2022 conference, Stanford Social Innovation Review will use power as a lens to examine the strategies and practices commonly used in the field of social innovation today, as well as those emerging approaches that may be more widely used in the future.

At the conference we will discuss critical questions such as: How is power used responsibly, and what happens when it is abused? How are individuals and organizations in positions of power held accountable? How do we recognize and understand the power structures that may reinforce systems of oppression and inequity? What is the impact of power dynamics on different social issues, such as the environment and health, for example? How will the current examinations of power shape the field of social innovation in the future?

Last year at our Frontiers conference we examined the ways that major technological, political, and economic changes were causing shifts in people, resources, and power around the globe. Those discussions, coupled with many of the events that have transpired since then, led us to focus our 2022 gathering on “Power at Play in Social Change.”

Join Stanford Social Innovation Review—the leading global publication on social change theory and practice—as we bring together leaders from nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, academia and research, business, and government from around the world. Over the course of three half days, we will convene online to discuss, debate, and dissect the intersection of power and social change.

Be part of the exchange of ideas as we examine important topics, such as...

• • Shifts in power: Worker-owned co-ops, indigenous climate activism, and BIPOC-led intermediary organizations are just some of the new approaches that seek to empower those whose wisdom and experience have long been discounted or ignored.
  • Place-based solutions: Ideas like “restorative economics” and the growth of community investment trusts are focusing attention on local areas and empowering the people living there to create lasting change.
  • De-institutionalizing philanthropy: Seismic shifts in the way philanthropy is perceived and operates are bringing about more transparent, more equitable, trust-based approaches to funding social change.
  • Models of citizen/government co-creation: New modes of civic activism and alternative perspectives on the role of government are changing the ways that citizens and government interact and making government more responsive to the needs of the people.
  • Public-interest technology: A growing chorus of voices from inside and outside the technology industry are calling for changes that give individuals and society greater control over the technologies that are reshaping the way we live and work.