Connecting to Change the World: Harnessing the Power of Networks for Social Impact

Connecting to Change the World builds on an earlier resource that Madeleine Taylor and Pete Plastrik developed called Net Gains. This collaboration with John Cleveland includes examples and lessons that emerged from the author’s work with social impact networks over a more than a decade.

Examples in the book include RE AMP –165 nonprofit organizations and foundations in eight Midwestern states working together on climate change and energy policies, Reboot- a network of young Jewish American “cultural creatives” who are exploring and redefining Jewish identity and community in the U.S. and the U.K., ten regional networks of state agencies and nonprofit providers that have organized to end homelessness in Massachusetts, and five regional and two national networks of rural-based organizations that are promoting public policies that benefit rural communities in the U.S. In all of these networks, members are deliberate about creating, strengthening and maintaining network ties so they can be activated again and again. As discussed in the book, this is the key to building “generative” networks.

Find a sample chapter and more on the Stanford Social Innovation Review site. You can find the book on Amazon or other online book sellers.