Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas

It’s hard to do full justice to Giridharadas’s 270-page argument in a quick summary, but here’s a try: Most social-change efforts led and supported by elite American business leaders and philanthropists aren’t resulting in real social change. In fact, they’re undermining social change, because they’re sustaining, rather than addressing, our country’s radically unequal status quo. Giridharadas has produced a provocative picture that will generate many uncomfortable, unquestionably important conversations in our sector and beyond.

- Mario Morino and Lowell Weiss
Excerpted from Leap Update, September 2018

21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

This book, by a brilliant Israeli historian and philosopher, won’t generate much buzz in our sector (boring title!), but it should. The book raises fundamental questions prompted by rapid advances in AI, machine learning, blockchain, and biotech—questions that touch every single issue we address in the social sector. The book makes clear that maximizing the upside of technology isn’t enough. We also have to summon the courage to challenge basic assumptions about how our society assesses the ethical and moral implications of new technologies. We can’t leave these questions only to the private sector. As Mario learned during his career as a software entrepreneur, the right decision for customers and investors can be directly at odds with what’s best for society at large. And we can’t leave those fundamental questions to politicians. As Lowell learned during his time in government, even the most visionary elected officials have shockingly little leeway to address long-term challenges. This is why the Third Sector (and Fourth Estate) are so important!

- Mario Morino and Lowell Weiss
Excerpted from Leap Update, October 2018

In the spirit of community, we reached out to other Leap Ambassadors to find out what people are reading. Here are their recommendations:

Love, Africa by Jeffrey Gettleman

The Speed of Trust by Stephen M. R. Covey

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut

The Elusive Quest for Growth by William R. Easterly

The Purpose of Capital by Jed Emerson

Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor by Virginia Eubanks

Start Here: A Road Map to Reducing Mass Incarceration by Greg Berman and Julian Adler

Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America by Eliza Griswold