News

03/24/2008

A letter from Executive Director Marianne Hughes

“Networks are present everywhere. All we need is an eye for them.”
- Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, Physicist

Dear Friends,

Granville Sharp may not be a name with which you are familiar. Sharp was a musician and attorney who lived in London and who, in 1765, began an unlikely campaign to abolish slavery. Fueled by his experience of representing a 16-year-old slave who had been beaten and left for dead by his owner, Sharp was moved to fight the prevailing social acceptance of the (mis-)treatment of some human beings as the property of others. For 18 years he led a tireless campaign, making little progress, and then he reached out to the Quakers. Tapping into this marginalized but nonetheless robust religious community of some 20,000 people living throughout England, Sharp was finally able to create a significant platform and catalyze a movement that successfully rendered slavery illegal in England in 1833.

For authors Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom, the story of Sharp’s partnership with the Quaker community is an illustration of the power of networks to spread an idea and mobilize people on its behalf. In The Starfish and the Spider, Brafman and Beckstrom write of numerous examples of the proven ability of networks to spread information, activate people, build resilience, and influence decisions. Their book joins a growing body of work echoing Barabasi’s words – networks are indeed everywhere, and they merit both our attention and our intention.

Here at the Interaction Institute for Social Change we are paying attention to and setting our intention based on what we are learning about network theory and its application to social change. We are designing and facilitating the work of social change agents who are intentionally tapping, activating and building on their social networks to create and implement effective strategies for action. For example,

• In a small urban community, organizers and residents are creating an open network to better offer services, create opportunities for connection, and foster spaces for self-organized social and political action.
• A foundation has initiated a network mapping and building process among nonprofit leaders by funding a fellowship program to intensify connection, trust, and relationship while fostering previously unexplored possibilities for collaborative action and innovation.
• A partnership of philanthropists concerned about environmental issues is looking to build and connect to a network of stakeholders that can pool resources, create shared visions, and ratchet up their impact.
• Grassroots activists, scholars, and funders concerned about the state of US foreign policy have created a network that convenes itself and shares resources in order to reframe peace and security issues and regain lost political relevance and effectiveness.

At the heart of IISC’s methodology is our commitment to tapping the power of participation and the collaborative principle that we should all be participants in the decisions that affect our lives. The freedom of decentralized networks and the emergent power in self-organized systems are clearly taking our field in a new and exciting direction. We are integrating these lessons into our work with multistakeholder change efforts, organizations, schools, and communities, and into new versions of our Facilitative Leadership® and Facilitating Change™ workshops. It is also our goal to build a new training experience for “network weavers.”

IISC has a deep belief that we must take our change efforts to scale in order to confront the global crisis that is at hand. And we believe that our change efforts must be rooted in an unlimited love for one another and the planet. Network building not only takes change to scale but by necessity prioritizes the building of relationships of trust. These two factors are what is needed to realize the extraordinary potential of the new world we must and will build together!

Please stay tuned, and as always, feel free to send us your thoughts and reactions.

And thank you for your continued good and important work in the world.

Sincerely,

Marianne Hughes

p.s. In addition to The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom, we recommend the following books about networks, network theory, and network building:

• Net Work: A Practical Guide to Creating and Sustaining Networks at Work and in the World by Patti Anklam
• Theory U: Leading from the Future as it Emerges by C. Otto Scharmer
• Inside-Out: Stories and Methods for Generating Collective Will to Create the Future We Want by Tracy Huston

03/24/2008

Latest new from Sisterhood for Peace: Transforming Sudan

Sisterhood for Peace has tuned a corner in recent months from design to implementation. The Core Strategy Group of Sudanese and African American women leaders continues to meet monthly to support one another, make key decisions, and move the implementation plan forward. The women are finding that this is a unique space where they can be themselves, voice opinions and receive support without judgment. In this difficult work, rife with conflict, this is unusual and something we will work to maintain and grow as others join us in our efforts to build a peaceful Sudan. We believe our perspective of women in leadership, focus on healing and dialogue, and strengthening the network of grassroots efforts in Sudan and in Diaspora is critical for obtaining lasting peace in Sudan. We are working to reframe the internationally policy agenda to include this perspective. For more about Sisterhood for Peace, go to www.sisterhoodforpeace.org

03/21/2008

IISC participates in GEO’s annual conference: Ideas to Action: Grantmaker Practices that Improve Nonprofit Results

IISC had the privilege of participating in GEO’s annual conference in San Francisco, and in a centerpiece of this year’s conference: an afternoon of Café Conversations. The afternoon open space session was designed and facilitated by IISC Senior Associate Daryl Campbell in collaboration with GEO Director of Programs Courtney Bourns. Inspired by Open Space Technology, Café Conversations created the space for participants to engage in dialogue around their most challenging and burning questions.

In addition to Café Conversations, Daryl Campbell presented a session on Facilitative Leadership in a Networked World. The premise of this session was that if we are to believe the world is flat and interconnected and that the “unit of action” is shifting from organizations to networks, there are implications for the way grantmakers lead and act as change agents. Increasingly, there are calls for more collective, participatory, and collaborative approaches to change. The workshop explored elements of a collaborative model of leadership, IISC’s Facilitative Leadership®, including a framework and language to understand, design and apply the collaborative change process.

11/28/2007

IISC Presents at the annual gathering of fundraising professionals in Massachusetts

In a first time engagement with the Massachusetts chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, IISC facilitated two sessions at AFP’s invitation: “A Collaborative Approach to Leadership” and “Facilitating Change in a Networked World.” Participants in the first session were introduced to the profile of collaborative leaders who seek to involve others in decision-making in strategic ways. The second session featured a lively conversation about the role of networks in and across organizations and introduced participants to a framework for moving diverse stakeholders through a series of conversations and agreements that move them towards achieving a shared goal.