for Changing the Way we Think
Honoring the most inspirational and useful new books contributing to nonprofit management and capacity building.
Awarded by the Alliance for Non Profit Management based on review of over 200 books on non-profit management.
Overview
The issues of poverty, inequality, racial justice, and climate change have never been more pressing or paralyzing. Current approaches to social change, which rely on industrial models of production and power, are not helping. In fact, they are designed to entrench the status quo.
In The Systems Work of Social Change, Cynthia Rayner and François Bonnici draw on two hundred years of history and a treasure trove of stories of committed social change-makers to uncover principles and practices for social change that radically depart from industrial approaches.
Rather than delivering “solutions,” these principles and practices focus on the process of change itself. Through rich storytelling and lucid analysis, Rayner and Bonnici show that connection, context, and power sit at the heart of the change process, ensuring broader agency for people and communities to create social systems that are responsive and representative in a rapidly changing world.
Simple yet profound, this book distils a timely set of lessons for practitioners, leaders, scholars, and policymakers.
Reviews
"A radical reframing of how we all need to work
to reimagine a just future.
— Cheryl Dorsey, President, Echoing Green
"It will guide those who work in and think
about systems change for a generation.
A breakthrough book.”
— Stephan Chambers, Director, Marshall Institute,
London School of Economics and Political Science
“Addressing inequalities and deep-rooted injustices in our society requires a clear vision of the world we want and a process to get there. Cynthia and Francois clearly articulate the key lessons and principles by which we can get there. A must read for those who believe that together we can build a better world!”
— Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, UNAIDS
“Illuminates the almost always overlooked
source of deep change."
—Peter Senge, Founder of the Society for Organizational Learning and author of The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning
“Doers and donors alike will find in this book indispensable tools for ambitious, forward-thinking systemic work.”
— Ambassador Don Gips ret., Chief Executive Officer, Skoll Foundation
“Most social change that really matters involves trying to shift systems. This is a practical guide that reminds us that even the most apparently immovable interests can be overcome and even the most apparently intractable problems can be solved.”
— Professor Sir Geoff Mulgan, University College London
“Rayner and Bonnici demonstrate that the collective power and voice of the most marginalized groups are in fact central to societal transformation.”
— Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Motsepe Foundation and Chancellor, University of Cape Town
“An indispensable guide for social change aspirants everywhere.”
—John Kania, Founder and Executive Director, Collective Change Lab
“An honest taking stock of what system work entails. A must read for researchers and practitioners interested in system change."
—Johanna Mair, Professor of Organization, Strategy and Leadership, Hertie School of Governance, Academic Editor of the Stanford Social Innovation Review
It encourages practitioners, policymakers and funders not only to do something radically different but to understand our social systems in radically different ways. I strongly recommend you read it - it will set you thinking differently.
— Jeroo Billimoria, Founder, Catalyst 2030 and One Family Foundation
“I found myself learning so much as I read this extraordinary book from cover to cover.”
— Professor Peter Tufano, Peter Moores Dean,
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
“It helps you to think big without ignoring the smaller, unsexy details of ground delivery. Must read."
—Asif Saleh, Executive Director, BRAC
“Bonnici and Rayner have taken the oft quoted but seldom understood concepts of systems thinking and shown how they can and have been translated into practical action by social impact practitioners at both global and local levels."
—James Mwangi, Executive Director, The Dalberg Group
“With special attention to the role of context and power, this book is a roadmap for deep change in tackling today's multiple crises. "
— Julie Battilana, Alan L. Gleitsman Professor of Social Innovation; Founder and Faculty Chair, Social Innovation & Change Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School
“In a world beset by wicked problems,
this book illuminates a way forward."
—Alnoor Ebrahim, Professor, The Fletcher School at Tufts University, and author of Measuring Social Change: Performance and Accountability in a Complex World
“It is a book that speaks to the moment.”
—Diana Wells, President Emerita, Ashoka
“The Systems Work of Social Change presents nothing less than a blueprint for deep social change in a post-Covid world. "
— Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum, and
Hilde Schwab, Chairperson, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
Case Studies
RLabs
RLabs hosts technical training, entrepreneurship, and innovation programs that unite at-risk youth around their life experiences and passion for technology. Since 2008, RLabs has trained 200,000 individuals and incubated 3,500 businesses. Through their different programs, RLabs has created 90,000 job opportunities globally.
Slumdwellers International
Slum Dwellers International (SDI) is an organization that connects slum communities around the world as part of a global movement of the urban poor to ensure that they are part of the planning process for urban development.
The SDI platform links more than a million slum dwellers in 527 cities globally.
mothers2mothers
mothers2mothers (m2m) employs mothers living with HIV as “Mentor Mothers” who support pregnant women in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. Since 2014, m2m has consistently surpassed the UN’s 5% target for reduced transmission rates in sub-Saharan Africa for enrolled participant mothers.
Child & Youth Finance International
Child & Youth Finance International (CYFI) convened stakeholders from around the world to empower children as “economic citizens.” When it closed its doors at the end of 2019, seventy countries had adopted child-friendly policies and 63,000 organizations in 175 countries were mobilized to improve children’s financial literacy.
Nidan
Nidan advances the rights and status of informal workers by elevating informal workers into positions of political, economic, and cultural power alongside existing decision-makers.
Nidan estimates this work has served 1,000,000 people and fifty thousand families across the country.
Family Independence Initiative
Family Independence Initiative (FII) offers an alternative to the standard social service model, providing groups of families with a platform for mutuality: tracking goals, accessing resources, and sharing knowledge. Families have reported an average 22% increase in income and a 55% decrease in government subsidies over two years.
Buurtzorg
Buurtzorg provides home-based healthcare by positioning teams of highly-skilled nurses in neighbourhoods to deliver care to patients. On average, Buurtzorg patients recover faster and need fewer days of care. The organization’s administrative costs comprise only 8% of total expenses compared to the 25% industry average.
Fundacion Escuela Nueva
Fundación Escuela Nueva (FEN) promotes a school model with students as active learners and teachers as facilitators. The model has inspired educational reforms worldwide. Students at these schools perform better and have lower grade repetition and drop-out rates compared to national averages.
About the Authors
Cynthia Rayner
Cynthia Rayner is a researcher, writer, and lecturer affiliated with the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. Her research focuses on how organizations and communities work to shape social systems in collective ways. Cynthia’s work in social change began when, as a recovering management consultant, she joined the LGT Impact Fellowship which brought her to South Africa for more than a decade. She has served in several organizations, including Generation Ubuntu, an afterschool program educating children in Cape Town; mothers2mothers, an African social enterprise employing women to guide other women to good health; and the Starfish Greathearts Foundation, a nonprofit supporting children and families in South Africa. Cynthia holds a BA from Georgetown University and an MBA from INSEAD. She lives in Austin, Texas.
François Bonnici
Dr. François Bonnici is a public health physician, professor, social change practitioner and foundation leader. His career is rooted in front-line medical and humanitarian practice and has evolved to advance social change work more broadly. He currently serves as Director of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and Head of Social Innovation at the World Economic Forum. He was previously founding Director of the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation at the University of Cape Town, where he is Adjunct Associate Professor. He has been recognized as an Archbishop Tutu African Leadership Fellow, Rhodes Scholar, and Associate Fellow of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, and recently served as founding board member of the Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education. François attained his medical degree from the University of Cape Town, MBA from the University of Oxford, and MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He divides his time between Cape Town and Geneva.
With tribute and thanks
We are grateful to the organizations and individuals in our case studies and stories for the gift and privilege of sharing their lives through the lens of systems work.
The research for this book would not be possible without the institutional partnership and support of The Bertha Foundation, the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and the Motsepe Foundation.
