Stanford Social Innovation Review
@ssir.org
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Support us by subscribing at ssir.org.
Get our free weekly newsletter: https://ssir.org/email
What SSIR stories stuck a chord around the world this year?
Our local-language partners in Brazil, Korea, China, Japan, and Latin America shared the social innovation topics and articles that were most resonant for their readers this year:
Our local-language partners in Brazil, Korea, China, Japan, and Latin America shared the social innovation topics and articles that were most resonant for their readers this year:
A World of Innovation (SSIR)
A look at the issues and articles that resonated most with SSIR’s local language edition readers in 2025.
ssir.org
December 18, 2025 at 8:58 PM
What SSIR stories stuck a chord around the world this year?
Our local-language partners in Brazil, Korea, China, Japan, and Latin America shared the social innovation topics and articles that were most resonant for their readers this year:
Our local-language partners in Brazil, Korea, China, Japan, and Latin America shared the social innovation topics and articles that were most resonant for their readers this year:
What did SSIR readers gravitate toward in 2025?
Here are the 10(+ the next 10) most-read articles at ssir.org this year:
Here are the 10(+ the next 10) most-read articles at ssir.org this year:
The 10 Most Popular SSIR Articles of 2025 (SSIR)
Building collective capacity; AI's power for the greater good; grappling with systems collapse; lessons from collaborative philanthropy; and more.
ssir.org
December 16, 2025 at 3:41 PM
What did SSIR readers gravitate toward in 2025?
Here are the 10(+ the next 10) most-read articles at ssir.org this year:
Here are the 10(+ the next 10) most-read articles at ssir.org this year:
Reposted by Stanford Social Innovation Review
Building inclusive, useful, and transformative civic data systems relies on data equity, data justice, and data sovereignty. In @ssir.org, learn how the Modernized Anti-racist Data Ecosystems (MADE) for Health Justice initiative applies these concepts to data transformation. ssir.org/articles/ent...
The Urgent Need for Data Equity, Justice, and Sovereignty (SSIR)
Transforming civic data in the United States is essential to improve our collective health and well-being.
ssir.org
December 16, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Building inclusive, useful, and transformative civic data systems relies on data equity, data justice, and data sovereignty. In @ssir.org, learn how the Modernized Anti-racist Data Ecosystems (MADE) for Health Justice initiative applies these concepts to data transformation. ssir.org/articles/ent...
"The capacity to interpret, to disagree, and to withhold judgment is essential to any pluralistic society. But the consequences reach beyond cognition. When systems reward simulation over understanding, meaning begins to erode, and when meaning collapses, so does the self."
What Kind of World Is AI Building? (SSIR)
The ideologies behind today's most powerful technology
ssir.org
December 15, 2025 at 9:26 PM
"The capacity to interpret, to disagree, and to withhold judgment is essential to any pluralistic society. But the consequences reach beyond cognition. When systems reward simulation over understanding, meaning begins to erode, and when meaning collapses, so does the self."
Reposted by Stanford Social Innovation Review
"Given the dramatic contraction of Big Aid, we need market-based solutions more than ever, and it’s a really bad time for impact investing to be failing us.
Luckily, I have a solution to the myriad disappointments of impact investing: Get rid of it."
New from @mulagostarr.bsky.social:
Luckily, I have a solution to the myriad disappointments of impact investing: Get rid of it."
New from @mulagostarr.bsky.social:
There Is No Such Thing as Impact Investing (SSIR)
There is philanthropic investing, and there is commercial investing, and there is nothing in between.
ssir.org
December 11, 2025 at 4:39 PM
"Given the dramatic contraction of Big Aid, we need market-based solutions more than ever, and it’s a really bad time for impact investing to be failing us.
Luckily, I have a solution to the myriad disappointments of impact investing: Get rid of it."
New from @mulagostarr.bsky.social:
Luckily, I have a solution to the myriad disappointments of impact investing: Get rid of it."
New from @mulagostarr.bsky.social:
Reposted by Stanford Social Innovation Review
💡 Registering to vote is still harder than it needs to be for young people.
It’s not a lack of interest — it’s a systems problem.
👉 Read the full article with @ssir.org : buff.ly/0IQSWfb
It’s not a lack of interest — it’s a systems problem.
👉 Read the full article with @ssir.org : buff.ly/0IQSWfb
December 12, 2025 at 7:03 PM
💡 Registering to vote is still harder than it needs to be for young people.
It’s not a lack of interest — it’s a systems problem.
👉 Read the full article with @ssir.org : buff.ly/0IQSWfb
It’s not a lack of interest — it’s a systems problem.
👉 Read the full article with @ssir.org : buff.ly/0IQSWfb
Reposted by Stanford Social Innovation Review
"Given the dramatic contraction of Big Aid, we need market-based solutions more than ever, and it’s a really bad time for impact investing to be failing us.
Luckily, I have a solution to the myriad disappointments of impact investing: Get rid of it."
New from @mulagostarr.bsky.social:
Luckily, I have a solution to the myriad disappointments of impact investing: Get rid of it."
New from @mulagostarr.bsky.social:
There Is No Such Thing as Impact Investing (SSIR)
There is philanthropic investing, and there is commercial investing, and there is nothing in between.
ssir.org
December 11, 2025 at 4:39 PM
"Given the dramatic contraction of Big Aid, we need market-based solutions more than ever, and it’s a really bad time for impact investing to be failing us.
Luckily, I have a solution to the myriad disappointments of impact investing: Get rid of it."
New from @mulagostarr.bsky.social:
Luckily, I have a solution to the myriad disappointments of impact investing: Get rid of it."
New from @mulagostarr.bsky.social:
Reposted by Stanford Social Innovation Review
🇨🇮 In Côte d’Ivoire, the TRECC initiative enabled the government to test what works and scale TaRLAfrica’s approach nationwide.
Read more via @ssir.org 🔗 ssir.org/articles/ent...
#FoundationalLearning #SystemsChange
Read more via @ssir.org 🔗 ssir.org/articles/ent...
#FoundationalLearning #SystemsChange
December 11, 2025 at 12:10 PM
🇨🇮 In Côte d’Ivoire, the TRECC initiative enabled the government to test what works and scale TaRLAfrica’s approach nationwide.
Read more via @ssir.org 🔗 ssir.org/articles/ent...
#FoundationalLearning #SystemsChange
Read more via @ssir.org 🔗 ssir.org/articles/ent...
#FoundationalLearning #SystemsChange
Reposted by Stanford Social Innovation Review
Diagnosing and redressing democratic backsliding.
ssir.org/articles/ent...
ssir.org/articles/ent...
December 5, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Diagnosing and redressing democratic backsliding.
ssir.org/articles/ent...
ssir.org/articles/ent...
Reposted by Stanford Social Innovation Review
Eight years in, one truth has carried our administration forward: real leadership is rooted in love. It’s designing systems that center community and share power. We didn’t just talk about equity. We built it. We changed how government shows up. When you lead with love, transformation follows.
Policy Rooted in Love (SSIR)
St. Paul sits at the heart of a growing national movement—one that insists our systems serve people, not the other way around. This movement challenges us to rethink how government operates and calls us to lead with a new kind of courage.
tinyurl.com
December 5, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Eight years in, one truth has carried our administration forward: real leadership is rooted in love. It’s designing systems that center community and share power. We didn’t just talk about equity. We built it. We changed how government shows up. When you lead with love, transformation follows.
For 60 years, USAID’s memory lived in PDFs. The agency commissioned over 100,000 evaluations, stacking up tens of millions of pages.
But the system was human-bounded by three limits that defined it:
- Cognitive load
- Timing
- Incentives
So what do you find when you can finally read everything?
But the system was human-bounded by three limits that defined it:
- Cognitive load
- Timing
- Incentives
So what do you find when you can finally read everything?
When USAID Shut Down, Its Lessons Nearly Vanished. AI Helped Recover Them (SSIR)
A final sweep of 60 years of evidence reveals durable truths about how development succeeds and fails.
ssir.org
December 8, 2025 at 1:57 PM
For 60 years, USAID’s memory lived in PDFs. The agency commissioned over 100,000 evaluations, stacking up tens of millions of pages.
But the system was human-bounded by three limits that defined it:
- Cognitive load
- Timing
- Incentives
So what do you find when you can finally read everything?
But the system was human-bounded by three limits that defined it:
- Cognitive load
- Timing
- Incentives
So what do you find when you can finally read everything?
Reposted by Stanford Social Innovation Review
Among “Free” countries, lower levels of economic opportunity appear to be the biggest predictor of backsliding.
You might be wondering about the United States. The United States scores lower on economic opportunity than “Free” countries that did not backslide since 2013.
You might be wondering about the United States. The United States scores lower on economic opportunity than “Free” countries that did not backslide since 2013.
December 4, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Among “Free” countries, lower levels of economic opportunity appear to be the biggest predictor of backsliding.
You might be wondering about the United States. The United States scores lower on economic opportunity than “Free” countries that did not backslide since 2013.
You might be wondering about the United States. The United States scores lower on economic opportunity than “Free” countries that did not backslide since 2013.
Reposted by Stanford Social Innovation Review
Highly recommend reading this for valuable insights and potential interventions to preserve or improve democracies.
Where should pro-democracy forces focus their efforts?
How can they distinguish causation from correlation?
This new article examines potential leading indicators of democratic backsliding across five elements that scholars agree impact democratic health.
THREAD
How can they distinguish causation from correlation?
This new article examines potential leading indicators of democratic backsliding across five elements that scholars agree impact democratic health.
THREAD
How to Spot Democratic Backsliding (SSIR)
Data can guide investment priorities in strengthening global democracy.
ssir.org
December 5, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Highly recommend reading this for valuable insights and potential interventions to preserve or improve democracies.
Where should pro-democracy forces focus their efforts?
How can they distinguish causation from correlation?
This new article examines potential leading indicators of democratic backsliding across five elements that scholars agree impact democratic health.
THREAD
How can they distinguish causation from correlation?
This new article examines potential leading indicators of democratic backsliding across five elements that scholars agree impact democratic health.
THREAD
How to Spot Democratic Backsliding (SSIR)
Data can guide investment priorities in strengthening global democracy.
ssir.org
December 4, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Where should pro-democracy forces focus their efforts?
How can they distinguish causation from correlation?
This new article examines potential leading indicators of democratic backsliding across five elements that scholars agree impact democratic health.
THREAD
How can they distinguish causation from correlation?
This new article examines potential leading indicators of democratic backsliding across five elements that scholars agree impact democratic health.
THREAD
Reposted by Stanford Social Innovation Review
We need a data transformation — shifting power, resources, and governance to communities — to achieve health equity. A new series in @ssir.org from de Beaumont + @rwjf.org explores how data can be transformed for equity and justice. https://bit.ly/3KwFYNX
Transforming Data for Equity and Justice (SSIR)
Data is a powerful tool that affects every part of our lives, especially our individual and collective health. Civic data—a diverse array of data that captures the realities of life and well...
ssir.org
December 2, 2025 at 6:36 PM
We need a data transformation — shifting power, resources, and governance to communities — to achieve health equity. A new series in @ssir.org from de Beaumont + @rwjf.org explores how data can be transformed for equity and justice. https://bit.ly/3KwFYNX
Reposted by Stanford Social Innovation Review
"One of the greatest obstacles to voter turnout in general, and youth turnout in particular, is registration... While 18- to 24-year-olds make up less than 12 percent of the adult citizen population, they comprise a much higher rate—17 percent—of those who are unregistered."
ssir.org/articles/ent...
ssir.org/articles/ent...
Getting Youth Engaged in Democracy (SSIR)
Young people do turn out for elections—when they are registered. By getting all youth enrolled in high school, we can help achieve universal participation. Here's how to get it done.
ssir.org
December 3, 2025 at 6:04 PM
"One of the greatest obstacles to voter turnout in general, and youth turnout in particular, is registration... While 18- to 24-year-olds make up less than 12 percent of the adult citizen population, they comprise a much higher rate—17 percent—of those who are unregistered."
ssir.org/articles/ent...
ssir.org/articles/ent...
Starting in 20 minutes!
Please join us for our discussion with @ssir.org TODAY at 1p ET: stanford.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
“Getting Youth Engaged in Democracy” is the cover story for Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Winter 2026 issue and one of several articles in the issue that explore the intersection of democracy and civil society. @ssir.org
Join the discussion on December 3! events.stanford.edu/event/youth-...
Join the discussion on December 3! events.stanford.edu/event/youth-...
December 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Starting in 20 minutes!
Online today—our new Winter 2026 magazine issue! Featuring new original articles on democratic backsliding, scaling education reform, rebuilding Ukraine, nonprofit resilience, and much more.
Winter 2026 (SSIR)
Read about how the ACLU is defending civil liberties in Trump’s second term; how automatically registering high school students to vote can energize US democracy; how Teach at the Right Level (T...
ssir.org
December 2, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Online today—our new Winter 2026 magazine issue! Featuring new original articles on democratic backsliding, scaling education reform, rebuilding Ukraine, nonprofit resilience, and much more.
Reposted by Stanford Social Innovation Review
Our newest voters (18-year-olds) will graduate from from high school in a few short months. If we want them using their voices in the 2026 midterms, the time to register them is now.
Read more in our cover story, out now! ssir.org/articles/ent... @ssir.org
Read more in our cover story, out now! ssir.org/articles/ent... @ssir.org
Getting Youth Engaged in Democracy (SSIR)
Young people do turn out for elections—when they are registered. By getting all youth enrolled in high school, we can help achieve universal participation. Here's how to get it done.
ssir.org
December 2, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Our newest voters (18-year-olds) will graduate from from high school in a few short months. If we want them using their voices in the 2026 midterms, the time to register them is now.
Read more in our cover story, out now! ssir.org/articles/ent... @ssir.org
Read more in our cover story, out now! ssir.org/articles/ent... @ssir.org
Public health is profoundly informed and shaped by the diverse array of civic data that captures the life and well-being in communities.
But data isn’t neutral or objective.
In fact, it’s often rooted in structural racism, patriarchy, and other systems of oppression.
But data isn’t neutral or objective.
In fact, it’s often rooted in structural racism, patriarchy, and other systems of oppression.
Transforming Data for Equity and Justice (SSIR)
Data is a powerful tool that affects every part of our lives, especially our individual and collective health. Civic data—a diverse array of data that captures the realities of life and well...
ssir.org
December 1, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Public health is profoundly informed and shaped by the diverse array of civic data that captures the life and well-being in communities.
But data isn’t neutral or objective.
In fact, it’s often rooted in structural racism, patriarchy, and other systems of oppression.
But data isn’t neutral or objective.
In fact, it’s often rooted in structural racism, patriarchy, and other systems of oppression.
Reposted by Stanford Social Innovation Review
We're so proud to have a cover story in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2026 Edition. Going live tomorrow AM!
Please join us for a webinar discussion with @ssir.org on Wednesday events.stanford.edu/event/youth-...
Please join us for a webinar discussion with @ssir.org on Wednesday events.stanford.edu/event/youth-...
December 1, 2025 at 3:37 PM
We're so proud to have a cover story in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2026 Edition. Going live tomorrow AM!
Please join us for a webinar discussion with @ssir.org on Wednesday events.stanford.edu/event/youth-...
Please join us for a webinar discussion with @ssir.org on Wednesday events.stanford.edu/event/youth-...
"While it has primarily been touted as a new driver of productivity and financial growth, AI is so much more than a profit-making tool. The current concentration of AI funding in profit-driven applications creates a troubling pattern of widening inequalities."
Bridging the AI Investment Divide (SSIR)
The concentration of AI funding in profit-driven applications has the potential to drive widening inequalities in three critical ways.
ssir.org
December 1, 2025 at 4:25 PM
"While it has primarily been touted as a new driver of productivity and financial growth, AI is so much more than a profit-making tool. The current concentration of AI funding in profit-driven applications creates a troubling pattern of widening inequalities."
Reposted by Stanford Social Innovation Review
Four Lessons From $4 Billion in Impact-focused Giving ssir.org/articles/ent... - Alexander Berger, @ssir.org
Four Lessons From $4 Billion in Impact-focused Giving (SSIR)
The CEO of Coefficient Giving reflects on more than a decade of pursuing their distinct approach to philanthropy.
ssir.org
November 25, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Four Lessons From $4 Billion in Impact-focused Giving ssir.org/articles/ent... - Alexander Berger, @ssir.org
"A good mission statement performs a similar function to the role the US Constitution plays (on a good day) for the American government: It helps to keep an organization grounded and offers an important reference point for resolving conflicts about vision and direction."
The Seduction of Nonprofit Mission Creep (SSIR)
An excerpt from The Nonprofit Crisis on why nonprofits should resist the lure to extend their reach
ssir.org
November 25, 2025 at 3:48 PM
"A good mission statement performs a similar function to the role the US Constitution plays (on a good day) for the American government: It helps to keep an organization grounded and offers an important reference point for resolving conflicts about vision and direction."