Attacking Root Causes Cultivating Collaborations Embracing the Power of Relationships Empowering People Expanding Access Overcoming the Big Challenges Practicing Human Centered Design Using Creative Financing
Customizing and tailoring solutions to meet a person or a community’s needs. In developing solutions, changemakers employ human-centered design, meeting people where they are at, employing behavioral economics, and identifying cases of positive deviance. Sometimes they even employ humor, exemplifying a technique that takes into account existing and natural behavior.
Looking to and learning from individuals and communities that have achieved unusual success, sometimes colleagues or neighbors.
Meeting people where they are atProviding services without the requirement of previous behavior change or that fit the way people behave.
Using behavioral economics nudgesUsing strategies that acknowledge and take advantage of natural human behavior.
Using humorDefusing tension, winning friends and engaging people with humor. Can be used to cut fear.
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http://narrative.ly/this-all-amputee-softball-team-is-changing-the-way-we-think-about-treating-trauma
Mark Oprea
Narratively
31 August 2017
Text / 1500-3000 Words
As the number of veterans with both physical and psychological injuries balloons, this softball team of 11 wounded warriors wards helps one another deal with war trauma and combat isolation by playing a little ball.
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017/08/new-zealand-tries-a-different-kind-of-private-prison/538506/?preview=pClrJ0bmzQ7taH77WLwNMQ1TAwc
Rikha Sharma Rani
CityLab
31 August 2017
Text / 800-1500 Words
The privatized prison system is largely skewed against inmates, as most are funded based on the number of individuals incarcerated, creating a disincentive to invest in the rehabilitation and comprehensive treatment of inmates. But the Wiri prison in Auckland is piloting a new approach that focuses on the greater good: the government pays the prison for positive results based on recidivism rates and improved outcomes for inmates, especially the Maori minority.
http://www.ozy.com/provocateurs/the-woman-bringing-unconventional-sex-ed-to-the-arctic/79935
Neil Parmar
OZY
15 August 2017
Text / 800-1500 Words
The far northern regions of Canada have the highest rates of suicide, sexual violence, and teen pregnancy. Fostering Open eXpression among Youth, or FOXY, and it's partner program, SMASH (Strength, Masculinities And Sexual Health) are bringing sex-ed, mental health counseling, and emotional support to teenage girls and boys (respectively) through creative, more relatable means such as art, theater, Indigenous sports and crafts, and digital storytelling. The unique programs have helped reach thousands of youth in more than 35 communities across Canada.
http://thestoryexchange.org/meet-men-invest-women-entrepreneurs
Riva Richmond
The Story Exchange
10 August 2017
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Women tend to invest in female-owned and run companies, but men disproportionately invest in male run companies, which means female companies lose out on a huge market. Some male investors, such as Adam Quinton, see the female-run businesses as a better investment because of the lack of competition and that these firms tend to outperform the male-owned companies, this finding is shifting where people invest.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/opinion/sending-health-to-rural-ghana-via-traveling-medics.html
Andrew Higgins
The New York Times
1 August 2017
Text / 1500-3000 Words
In places such as Ghana, people live far from proper healthcare, which is why Community Health Workers in the region, and in other regions lacking access to healthcare, are being trained. CHW's can help educate individuals about how to stay healthy, increase prevention techniques, and help them get proper medical aid.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2017/07/30/arnold-weve-harnessed-media-entertainment-to-empower-nigerian-youth
Vincent Obia
ThisDay
30 July 2017
Text / 1500-3000 Words
The MTV Staying Alive Foundation is using television and entertainment to reach millions of African youth with educational messages about HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases, as well as donating millions to organizations combating the disease. The results are already impressive, with the campaign credited for decreasing STIs by 58% among female viewers, and indirectly helping alleviate poverty issues as well.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/30/well/family/free-lunch-at-the-library.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus&_r=0
Catherine Saint Louis
The New York Times
30 July 2017
Text / 800-1500 Words
From New York to Ohio to California, librarians have teamed up with the USDA summer food service program, along with other non-profits, to feed kids dependent on free/reduced-price lunches during the school year. Using census data to locate communities of greatest need and data to measure participation trends, the collaborative has witnessed a surge in effectiveness and impact across the states. Families, librarians, and public officials alike express satisfaction and enthusiasm for the initiative and its future.
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2017/0725/Madagascar-skirted-famine-barely.-Now-it-s-boosting-resilience-before-drought-returns
Peter Ford
The Christian Science Monitor
25 July 2017
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Drought in Madagascar grows worse each year as its minimal public infrastructure and extensive poverty slow efforts by the UN and various NGOs for food and water distribution. But in recognizing the severity of the cyclical water shortages, organizations are piloting new approaches. These include solar pumps from portable groundwater sources; distribution and cultivation of drought- and rot-resistant seed strains for staple crops; cash-stipends for "productive goods," delivered by phone to bypass the problem of damaged roads -- which are building newfound resilience among residents.
http://www.governing.com/topics/public-justice-safety/gov-rope-community-policing-elgin-rockford.html?utm_term=In%20Extreme%20Community%20Policing%2C%20Cops%20Become%20the%20Neighbor&utm_campaign=In%20Extreme%20Community%20Policing%2C%20Cops%20Become%20the%20Neighbor&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email
John Buntin
Governing
22 July 2017
Text / Over 3000 Words
In efforts to diminish violent crime, police agencies are revisiting a model law enforcement strategy of the 1970s, "community policing," as an alternative to the more recent "broken windows" style of the late nineties. Research substantiates its effectiveness, too, in building citizens' trust of law enforcement, helping a community's ability to solve its own problems, and, in turn, decreasing crime rates. Despite redefined priorities in the wake of 9/11 and post-recession budget cuts, community policing is again on the rise and bringing positive results, too.
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/07/a-rust-belt-citys-school-turnaround/534006
Amadou Diallo
The Atlantic
18 July 2017
Text / 1500-3000 Words
In a Buffalo school district where many students from low-income families struggled with trauma, attendance, and the effects of poverty, a non-profit initiative called Say Yes to Education is implementing drastic change. The program increases graduation rates for minority students, grants scholarships and admissions guidance to colleges, provides medical and mental health care to under-served students, brings in mentors and after-school programs, and even assists students parents with job-readiness workshops and housing assistance. The comprehensive, collaborative approach can serve as a model to educational institutions across the country.
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Our issue area taxonomy was adapted from the PCS Taxonomy with definitions by the Foundation Center, which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Photos are licensed under Attribution Non Commercial 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license / Desaturated from original, and are credited to the following photographers:
Fondriest Environmental, David De Wit / Community Eye Health, Linda Steil / Herald Post, John Amis / UGA College of Ag & Environmental Sciences – OCCS, Andy B, Peter Garnhum, Thomas Hawk, 7ty9, Isriya Paireepairit, David Berger, UnLtd The Foundation For Social Entrepreneurs, Michael Dunne, Burak Kebapci, and Forrest Berkshire / U.S. Army Cadet Command public affairs
Photos are licensed under Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license, and are credited to the following photographers:
Ra'ed Qutena, 段 文慶, Fabio Campo, City Clock Magazine, Justin Norman, scarlatti2004, Gary Simmons, Kathryn McCallum, and Nearsoft Inc
Photos are licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons license / Desaturated from original, and are credited to the following photographers:
Burak Kebapci and SCY.
Our issue area taxonomy was adapted from the PCS Taxonomy with definitions by the Foundation Center, which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Photos are licensed under Attribution Non Commercial 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license / Desaturated from original, and are credited to the following photographers:
Fondriest Environmental, David De Wit / Community Eye Health, Linda Steil / Herald Post, John Amis / UGA College of Ag & Environmental Sciences – OCCS, Andy B, Peter Garnhum, Thomas Hawk, 7ty9, Isriya Paireepairit, David Berger, UnLtd The Foundation For Social Entrepreneurs, Michael Dunne, Burak Kebapci, and Forrest Berkshire / U.S. Army Cadet Command public affairs
Photos are licensed under Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license, and are credited to the following photographers:
Ra'ed Qutena, 段 文慶, Fabio Campo, City Clock Magazine, Justin Norman, scarlatti2004, Gary Simmons, Kathryn McCallum, and Nearsoft Inc
Photos are licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons license / Desaturated from original, and are credited to the following photographers:
Burak Kebapci and SCY.
Photos are licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) and are credited to the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Conference attendee listening to speaker, Jenifer Daniels / Colorstock getcolorstock.com.
Photo Credit: Kevork Djansezian via Getty Images
Photo Credit: Sonia Narang
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