For more than 40 years, Ashoka has built and nurtured a network of 4000+ leading social entrepreneurs in the world- Ashoka Fellows- through our venture selection process with support from Partners.
The Globalizer Strategy Accelerator supports social entrepreneurs gain clarity on systemic root causes of social and environmental problems and the importance of engaging more changemakers as part of the solutions. It enables them to design effective collaborative systems change strategies (based on respect to all humans and nature).
Refined since 2010, the accelerator is usually co-created with a Partner and facilitates a structured collective thinking and experimenting process between social entrepreneurs, systems thought partners from Ashoka and selected leaders from business and the social sector.
The Globalizer Systems Change Research Lab is the knowledge research and development lab of the Ashoka Globalizer founded in 2018. We distill the insights and patterns from the work and wisdom of advanced social entrepreneurs on changing systems and create open knowledge products available to changemakers all over the world.
Our Ecosystem Endeavors have been geared to unlock more funding for systems change initiatives and to enable intermediaries to effectively support changemakers in their systems change work.
This Case Study Library emerged as an effort to showcase the impact of the social entrepreneurs who participated in the strategy accelerator, document insights and patterns from their collaborative systems change strategies and open them up for intermediaries to effectively support changemakers in their systems change work.
You can filter through the Case Studies in multiple ways- From the year and country the Fellow is elected in, to the Partners who supported their selection and participation in the accelerator; from the Sustainable Development Goals their work contributes to, to the elements of their collaborative systems change strategy.
Elements of Collaborative Systems Change Strategies
Based on the insights and patterns from the work and wisdom of advanced social entrepreneurs on changing systems, we have codified (and continue to codify) a methodology to develop Collaborative Systems Change Strategies in the Ashoka’s Systems Change Masterclass.
The methodology is applicable to any sector and can be applied no matter what stage you are in - whether idea stage or established, entrepreneur or employee, team member or team lead.
As per our latest understanding from our conversations with social entrepreneurs who participated in the accelerator 5-10 years back, there are four key questions / elements to think about to create impactful Collaborative Systems Change Strategies:
Systems Change Goal - What's the most strategic root cause of the problem to address?
The first element of crafting a collaborative systems change strategy is defining the problem and identifying the most strategic change needed to addressing its root cause(s). That becomes the targeted Systems Change Goal or the Mission.
To identify it, analyze the root causes—barriers, factors, dynamics, points or conditions driving the problem—and determine which offers the greatest leverage for change.
According to the FSG's Water of Systems Change Report leverage points include:
1. Policies
2. Practices
3. Resource Flows
4. Relationships & Roles
5. Power Dynamics
6. Mental Models
These leverage points are derived from the work of Donella Meadows, the pioneer in the field of systems thinking who articulated and conceptualized "Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System to Create Effective Change".
You can see examples of strategies to address different types of root causes of a problem by using the "Systems Change Goal" filter below.
To further emphasize on the value of addressing root causes, according to the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) co-created by Ashoka Fellow Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt, Dr. Göran Broman and Dr. Merlina Missimer of the Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden, there are 8 root causes of all socio-ecological unsustainability problems (also referred to as the 8 Ecological and Social Sustainability Principles).
You can also see examples of strategies contributing towards addressing the root causes of global socio-ecological problems by using the "Sustainability Principles" filter below.
Type of Strategy - How to achieve the systems change goal? What's the most strategic & effective pathway?
The second element of crafting a collaborative systems change strategy includes determining how to achieve the systems change goal.
This means choosing a strategy suited to the system’s context. The strategy could be to:
• Increase indirect impact by getting others to adopt an approach (many fishes)
• Bringing on board the stakeholder with the highest influence (whale)
• Build a competitive advantage
• Create a new field/market
• Work with government (here is a thorough methodology our colleague Olga Shirobokova has distilled on this type of strategy)
• Shift societal narratives (here is a thorough methodology our colleague Olga Shirobokova has distilled on this type of strategy)
The items on the list are neither mutually exclusive, nor collectively exhaustive.
You can read more about the types of systems change strategies/pathways/endgames/stories we have come across in this article by our colleague Odin Muehlenbein.
You can see examples of different types of strategies in action by using the "Types of Strategy" filter below.
Types of Partners Engaged - Who are the critical stakeholders needed to achieve the systems change goal?
The third element of crafting a collaborative systems change strategy includes identifying the critical stakeholders to engage with- those who influence an exponential number of people in the context of the system.
Irrespective of the type of strategy, systemic change always requires activation of a network of stakeholders for different tactics towards the mission.
Typical stakeholder groups to partner with for systemic change include:
1. government agencies
2. universities (e.g. education schools for the empathy paradigm, public health and med schools for the health paradigm, etc.)
3. publishers (e.g. education publishers for empathy, medical journals for health, etc.)
4. informal & formal communities / unions (e.g. AARP for longevity, teachers' unions for empathy, families, etc.)
5. media companies
6. industry-specific companies / organizations (e.g. tech companies and financial institutions for the technology paradigm, insurance and healthcare companies for longevity, relevant civil society organizations etc.).
You can see examples of strategies that engage different types of partners by using the "Types of Partners" filter below.
Levels of Engagement - How deeply to engage with the different stakeholders?
The fourth and final element of crafting a collaborative systems change strategy includes reflecting on & sensing into what depth to engage with each stakeholder.
Activating a broad network is essential, but so is clarifying their role: Are they simply informed, consulted, or co-creating the strategy?
CoCreative's Five Levels of Engagement Framework guides how one may engage with each stakeholder. Are you:
1. co-creating?
2. collaborating?
3. involving?
4. consulting?
5. informing?
You can see examples of strategies that engage stakeholders at the different levels by using the "Levels of Stakeholder Engagement" filter below.
