Audio+Video
In response to the shootings at Virginia Tech and the reactions in the media, we talked to Christine Ahn from the Korea Policy Institute, and Larry Bilick, a social worker in California, to sort through issues of immigration, race, gun violence, and forgiveness. Download the podcast here.
Movement Builders
OnTheCommons.org
On the Commons (formerly Tomales Bay Institute) is a network of citizens and organizations that champions the cause of the commons on many fronts. Our mission is to advance a new worldview by naming, claiming, protecting and expanding the commons for the good of all.
Reports
Evidence of Change: Exploring Civic Engagement Evaluation
This report summarizes the recent efforts of the Building Movement Project, the Alliance for Children and Families and the Ms. Foundation for Women who came together to respond to this call for methods and tools for measuring the impact of social change work. It offers a look into how organizations currently view their relationship with impact measurement and then presents a brief summary of the key findings that came out of the Civic Engagement Evaluation Summit convened by the partner organizations.
Leadership Development and Leadership Change
In partnership with Movement Strategy Center, the National Community Development Institute, and the Partnership for Immigrant Leadership and Action, Building Movement Project surveyed over 30 organizations about their leadership development practices and conducted 15 interviews with staff members of social change organizations in the Bay Area and nationally to explore the ways they develop organizational leadership and the impact on leadership transition. The themes and lessons that emerged from our interviews reflect the premise that organizational values, structure, culture and power inform and transform leadership in social change organizations, specifically those promoting women, people of color, younger generation and constituent leaders.
Alliances for Change: Organizing for the 21st Century
Workers’ centers, youth-based action groups, and urban justice organizations are among those changing the face of traditional community organizing. Many of these groups engage a range of approaches beyond targeted campaign work—from service delivery to media ownership to voter engagement. This report looks at nearly a dozen examples of organizing efforts rising to scale and adapting to the urgent challenges and political opportunities at the beginning of the 21st century.
Making Social Change: Case Studies of Nonprofit Service Providers
The Building Movement Project developed this set of case studies as a response to numerous requests from groups looking for real-life examples of the often-challenging process of incorporating social change models into social service work. The case studies - geared toward practitioners, board members, and funders interested in this work - include organizational profiles, a reflection guide and additional web resources.
Working Across Generations: Defining the Future of Nonprofit Leadership
Now available! Working Across Generations, which was recently awarded the Axiom Gold Medal for Philanthropy, offers a comprehensive look at the leadership and generational shifts in the nonprofit sector. Order your copy now!
Join the authors in a webinar on February 3!
From the Ground Up: Grassroots Organizations Making Social Change
Social-change organizations operate in communities all over the United States, but little has been written about the details of their operations. This new book, co-written by Building Movement Project Director Frances Kunreuther, takes a close look at how these organizations address challenges related to leadership, staff development, resource needs, decision-making, and collaborations.
Building Movement vs. Building Organization: Summary of Regional Discussions
This initial study from the Building Movement Project examines the connection between the vision and mission of progressive social change organizations, and the tools and support they have for implementing their vision. We also wanted to amplify the concerns and ideas of those working in social change organizations, and to explore how to recognize and address the constraints of the current external environment and its influence on organizations building movement for social, economic and racial justice.
Next Shift: Beyond the Nonprofit Leadership Crisis
This report, published in conjunction with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, takes a broader look at the issue of generational change and presents different frames and solutions that move us beyond the “crisis” view of leadership transition and expansion. From a different perspective, it is the nonprofit sector itself that is in crisis, and the emphasis on leadership transition reinforces rather than challenges the prevailing issues facing nonprofit organizations.
What’s Next?: Baby Boom Leaders in Social Change Nonprofits
Part of our Generational Changes in Nonprofit Leadership series, this report looks at the issues facing Baby Boom Leaders, including barriers to retirement, the building of the nonprofit infrastructure, personal costs of this work, and what we can do to address these things. When it comes to transitioning leadership, many older leaders admit that they did not know how to transfer the skills and experience they had gained during the past three decades to new leadership.
The Indispensable Public Space
The Building Movement Project uses the shorthand “TIPS” (The Indispensable Public Space) to describe all our work related to exploring, enlarging, understanding, preserving and illuminating public space. This curriculum explores our complicated relationship to taxes, and thus, our very mixed feelings about how “public space” is to be financed.