Chandler Foundation’s Post

Yes to this! We need more system orchestrators (or "field catalysts", "system catalysts,” “system stewards,” and “network entrepreneurs.”) "linear problem-solving is not enough.... We need more system orchestrators to meet the moment. System orchestrators play a critical role in bringing about transformational social change by knitting together actors and institutions, providing backbone infrastructure, and mobilizing collective change efforts across ecosystems, sectors, and geographies. Along the way, they shape new paradigms, leverage system-wide resources, and navigate complexity, all to create forward momentum and progress at societal scale." https://lnkd.in/egnHxquj

This article makes a great case for something we all know but may let slide- we benefit and our organizations benefit when we reach out beyond the circle of our usual advisors. That is where new ideas and serendipity live!

We heard — loud and clear — speakers in every session call us to look deeper and take action: • “We needed to pull away from hip hop being a money-making thing, to it having an educational aspect that shares information to enhance our health, to grow trees that inform our public for generations to come.” Chuck D, Public Enemy and Hip Hop Public Health | Systemic Change: Addressing Racism, Intergenerational Trauma, and Mental Health in Impact Investing • “We’re going to activate the energy the Earth needs in these times. These energies will also help us heal. As we heal, the Earth can heal.” Manari Ushigua, Naku Center | Land Connection Ceremonies • “Let’s double down on due diligence when it comes to showing up with benevolence. Here is to going deeper, closing the deal on making the world a better place.” Hanae Bezad, Beehane LLC | Opening Plenary • “Sustainability is a journey, there is no end destination.” Jenn Harper, Cheekbone Beauty Cosmetics INC | Opening Plenary • “What if we stopped asking, ‘What about the risks?’ and started asking, ‘What about the opportunities?’” Marla Blow, Skoll Foundation | Brief & Bold • “Our fundamental thesis is that by reducing biases, the funds will perform better.” Joanna Kuang, Illumen Capital | DEI, Ownership & Impact: The Track's Opening Panel • “We should all be on a mission to really listen to people we disagree with.” Emily Kasriel | Deep Listening for Impact - An Interactive Workshop • “If we had a more pragmatic approach to thinking about where new technology should be applied as investors, we might look differently at the companies and founders we’re choosing to work with.” Katy Knight, Siegel Family Endowment | Is VC Eating Impact's Lunch? Fueling Responsible Tech Investment • “Capital flows can be more about relationships than due diligence.” Devin Culbertson, Grounded Solutions Network | Accelerating Community Investment: Strategies for Place-Based Capital Deployment

May be of particular interest to those who interact with funders. I'm curious - what is your experience of those interactions? Is there a sense of co-ownership? #systemschange #powerdynamics #traumainformedfunders "For strategies to generate transformative change—change in the way parts of a system operate and relate with one another, leading to dramatically different outcomes and impacts—they must be collectively owned. Co-owning a strategy for transformation requires a shared intention among partners and funders to rebalance power dynamics, transcend silos, and embrace messiness and experimentation. Co-ownership begins as a shared commitment, rooted in common understanding of a situation. It results in collaborative action that better drives transformation, since partners across the field have greater agency and shared responsibility, their individual strengths have greater value across multiple objectives at once, and their efforts are more agile." https://lnkd.in/g9TMGCA3?

Exponential challenges need exponential response... an important and timely perspective on system orchestration, collaborative philanthropy, measuring equilibrium shifts and much more... Skoll Foundation, Instituto Beja, Waverley Street Foundation, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, New Profit, Centre for Exponential Change, Centro para Mudanças Exponenciais

We are thrilled to announce the publication of a new article series, “Social Innovation and the Journey to Transformation”, published today in the Winter 2025 Issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review. As we reflect on the past year and look forward to the next, we’ll be deep-diving into each article’s insights, learnings, and examples. We worked shoulder-to-shoulder with social innovators and other funders from around the globe to develop the series and share what’s working and what we’ve learned about forging solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. https://skoll.wf/journey We invite you to join us in exploring the impactful insights and strategies social innovators are using to drive social transformation. Discover how collaborative efforts in philanthropy are helping innovators take their solutions to the next level of scale and sustainability. From system orchestration and mission-aligned investing to storytelling and new evaluation and learning approaches, this series explores what it takes to transform societies around the world. Philanthropy can play an even larger role in providing sustained support to social innovators who build bridges across sectors and drive collective action. How can we, together, identify new ways to accelerate social transformation, collaborate with one another, and join efforts for outsized impact? Keep an eye out over the coming weeks as we share more inspiring stories and practical lessons from the frontlines of social innovation. #JourneyToTransformation #SocialInnovation #CollaborativePhilanthropy #Impact #CollectiveAction

"Joining forces with government can turn small-scale social efforts into large-scale innovations that benefit historically under-resourced and underserved communities. The most pressing challenges of our time—from global health crises to social, economic, and racial inequity—cannot be solved by any single sector. Delivering solutions at speed and scale requires a multisector coalition—and government plays a central role given its mandate, infrastructure, and unparalleled resources" Skoll Foundation

The scale of the challenges and the accelerating pace at which we need to find sustainable solutions require strong alliance strategies.

Check out this series from Don Gips and Marla Blow among others at Skoll Foundation on innovative approaches to innovation in impact.

🎁 Thursday gift to all the catalysts, bridge builders, systems thinkers, network entrepreneurs and champions of change in my life and networks. Your all too often unsung work connecting dots and regenerating tissue is so so valued, and you don’t even do it for today or your boss. You amazing humans do it for a tomorrow you will never meet! 🌍 “System orchestrators are often overlooked because of the complex, collaborative, and behind-the-scenes roles they play in long-term systems-change efforts. The work that these system orchestrators do to bridge, connect, and knit together individuals and institutions across sectors and roles is indispensable to transforming societies for the better. We have seen firsthand the huge leverage that system orchestrators create for our partners and ecosystem actors—and the value of funding and partnering with them over the long term.” So here is to you. https://lnkd.in/gBqbtJ-9 #socialvalue #socinnov #systemschange