2022: a year filled with sorrow and joy, losses and celebrations, tragedies and triumphs. We shared grief at the horrific toll of a pandemic, wars, environmental degradation. I was deeply honored to receive Catalyst for Change Award by Shirley Chisholm Cultural Institute that inspires me to keep on keepin on… Jerry and I keep promoting social causes in the long relay race for a more just world. I welcome your ideas on how to create mutually supportive connections at a time of growing inequity. Do you have projects that you’d like to promote? See what I’ve written in Forbes Councils and other places. Amidst our sorrow at a broken world, we celebrated the marriages of our two eldest grandchildren. Braedon... more

With 2021 drawing to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the “new normal” (or not normal) wrought by the pandemic, climate change and growing inequity worldwide. Despite these crazy times, Jerry and I have continued to promote social causes in the long relay race for a safer, more just and peaceful world, understanding that all of us are inextricably interconnected, so we have a sacred obligation to bring love, hope and peace to everyone everywhere. The work never stops. So, when the temperature drops and sunlight wanes, we can all take heart in knowing that every culture celebrates the power of light over darkness near the winter solstice. As the Brits say, we have to calm down and carry on.... more

beCause CEO Nadine Hack’s opening keynote at Stockholm Philanthropy Symposium – Other speakers will address with great wisdom myriad specifics on philanthropy, impact investing, corporate responsibility, social innovations, digital platforms, partnerships, gender equity and more. So, to start, I’ll share a meta framework about what I call connectedness because I believe it’s at the core of all those topics and, actually, everything. You can watch video of presentation. First, please turn to someone near who you don’t already know and introduce yourselves. Take a minute max each so the two introductions will take two minutes max. Go ahead! [participants interact] How many of you basically shared your name, where you’re from and what you do? That’s kind of like the... more

by beCause Associate Robi Damelin – While watching the bereaved African-American mothers on the stage at the Democratic Convention, I thought just how much we mothers, who have lost children, have in common, regardless of color, creed or national identity.  I thought that all bereaved mothers in the world should rise up together and say, “Enough! Stop the killing! Let our children live out the course of their lives.  We cannot continue to have the dreadful task of burying our sons and daughters and of continuing our motherhood by tending to graves and pretending that planting flowers and plants brings solace.” I promise you, as one who has lost a child, the pain never goes away.  Yes, we put on our... more

by beCause Associate John Seaman and his Saybrook Partner Robert Ferguson Storytelling is all the rage these days. In a world that is swimming in content, more and more organizations have begun using stories to sell products and services, build support for a strategy or agenda, or shape public perception. Unfortunately, many of the stories they choose to tell are superficial or inauthentic, serving only to undermine the very goals they hope to achieve. For truly compelling stories, organizations should look to their own heritage. What kind of stories work, and why Storytelling may be popular, but that doesn’t mean it’s a fad. In fact, the power of stories is well documented in the literature on narrative psychology. As social creatures, our happiness... more

Guest post by Dr. Surendra Soni — Indian philosophical wisdom, especially in the Sāmkhya school of philosophy and the Bhagavad Gita, describes that our lives operate under the influence of an admixture of various modes of energy. We are not under the influence of the same mode of energy all the time. This varying blend of energy has an overwhelming impact as much on our relationships as it has on our actions and performance. This energy, which has a certain quality of consciousness, flows into our actions and our relationships and goes on to mould and shape them. These varying modes of energy lend charm and colour to human life and pursuit, but they also have us swing between harmonies and... more

beCause Associate Peter Cook just released a book with Bloomsbury Publishing, Leading Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise . I asked Peter for some insights into this, the 11th book he has written or contributed to over 22 years in business. What prompted you to write this book? I have had three passions across my life – science, business and music. When I was four years old I wanted to be in The Beatles. By nine, I wanted to be a brain scientist. At 18, I joined a pharmaceutical company as a chemist and traveled the world, fixing factories and scaling up life-saving drugs, including the world’s first treatment for HIV / AIDS and work to introduce human insulin to the world. By 29 I became... more

beCause Associate Lina Srivastava interviewed by Henry Jenkins, Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts at University of Southern California – As my student Geoff Long likes to say, transmedia is an adjective, not a noun, and as such, it needs something to modify. Much of the conversation here has centered around transmedia entertainment, transmedia storytelling, or perhaps transmedia branding and transmedia learning. But, when the word transmedia modifies activism or mobilization, there is no more important voice in the world today than Lina Srivastava. In her hands, transmedia becomes a verb — something we do to make a difference in the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiOKsv_1wRo#t=22 I first met her in Madrid several summers ago when we were both speaking at a gathering of thinkers... more

by beCause Associate Jennifer Sertl   I am a pilgrim on the edge, on the edge of my perception. We are travelers at the edge, we are always at the edge of our perception. ~ Scott Mutter (Escalator ~ Copyright 1984 Scott Mutter used with permission from Bob Mutter) The people I know in this impact community often do a great deal for others. As caretakers and as innovators, we need reminders to slow down and also take care of ourselves.  This message is particularly for all my colleagues fostering social innovation. Here are a couple of exercises I hope sharpen your senses and allow you more grace in the midst of the pressure that comes with being change agents. There is a... more