TRANSFORMATIVE SOCIAL CHANGE
“Social Change 2.0 exhilarates. David Gershon has not just laid out a compelling and coherent blueprint for social change, but the vividly written stories he shares make us realize that what we thought was impossible can actually be achieved. Having been a political leader in Portland for twenty years, where I worked closely with David, I saw firsthand the power of his work to change the lives of thousands of people. He may well be the number one expert on social change in our country.”
—Mike Lindberg, former Commissioner of Public Utilities and city council member, City of Portland, Oregon
To bring about the large scale transformations needed for humankind to evolve and enable us to have a viable planet to inhabit, we need leadership schooled in the competencies of transformative social change. With our planet on the line and with such a propitious opening for positive change available to us, this is not the time for change leaders to be foundering. We all need to be playing at our best.
This section provides information about training programs, a free webinar, study circles, videos, and articles to help you develop transformative social change leadership skills.
REINVENTING SOCIAL CHANGE
David Gershon talking about Social Change 2.0 with Deepak Chopra.
ABOUT SOCIAL CHANGE 2.0
So many of the assumptions we have been operating with as a human community have proven faulty that we must literally re-envision them. And with the accelerating unraveling of our planet’s life support system and the deterioration of so many of our social systems, we are being called on to create rapid transformative change. But the current social change tools at our disposal of governmental command and control, financial incentives and citizen protest— Social Change 1.0—were designed for slow-moving, incremental change.
Not only must we reinvent our world, but also the process by which we achieve this reinvention. According to systems theory, when the current solutions prove inadequate for the magnitude of change required, a system goes into stress and begins to breakdown. What is required to help the system evolve is a second order change solution—or solution capable of transforming and reorganizing it at a higher level of performance and social value. Empowerment Institute’s Social Change 2.0 framework and methodology represents such a solution for our social systems.
Social Change 2.0: A Blueprint for Reinventing Our World is a handbook every visionary must read. Jam-packed with effective reality-tested tools and true-life stories, this new tome by David Gershon provides insights from the front lines. In David’s case the front lines include working with world leaders like Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbechov, and Li Xiannian as well as the millions of people who have participated in his efforts
David Gershon—Living the Possible
September 7, 2010
By Rachel Schaeffer
David Gershon has spent his lifetime achieving not only his dreams, but also supporting and inspiring millions of others to achieve theirs.
Transition as “a laboratory for building transformative social innovations”
By Rob Hopkins
David Gershon‘s book ‘Social Change 2.0′ has been one that quite a few people involved in Transition have found useful and insightful, so I was delighted to be able to have a conversation with him recently.
Social Change 2.0’s unique contribution to the “how-to” of transformative social change garnered it four prestigious books awards. The National Best Books Award honors the premier books published that year. The Nautilus Award recognizes books that promote positive social change while stimulating the imagination and offering new possibilities for a better life and a better world. The Living Now Book Award honors books that help readers enrich their lives in wholesome, Earth-friendly ways. And the Axiom Business Book Award celebrates the innovative, intelligent, and creative aspects of the business books that make us think, see, and work differently every day.
TELESEMINAR ON TRANSFORMATIVE SOCIAL CHANGE
In this hour-long audio teleseminar, David introduces strategies and tools you can use to change behavior, empower communities and transform large systems. Drawing on his book Social Change 2.0, he describes how you can step up in your ability to make a difference in the world.
PRACTICE OF EMPOWERMENT
This training is an introduction to the empowerment methodology taught in the Empowerment Institute Certification Program. It provides the empowerment foundation on which second order change strategies can be built.
HOST A SOCIAL CHANGE 2.0 STUDY CIRCLE
A small group, using the Social Change 2.0 Study Circle Guide applies the book’s strategies to enhance an existing or develop a new social change initiative. The types of groups that could benefit include community-based organizations, local government agencies, social entrepreneurs, funders, corporate social responsibility initiatives, college and high school service learning programs and clubs, and faith-based social action committees.
TRANSFORMATIVE SOCIAL CHANGE
To learn more about the Social Change 2.0 framework and research underpinning this transformative change methodology, read the free download from the book’s introduction, “Reinventing Social Change.”
SOCIAL CHANGE 2.0 TESTIMONIALS
“This book is a practical and inspiring roadmap to the future we all know is possible. I know of no one more experienced to create such a roadmap than David Gershon, who has spent the past three decades empowering individuals and communities, as well as business and government leaders. I have looked forward to this book for some time to gain a deeper understanding of how David has initiated so much positive change and created so many innovative strategies to help people achieve their visions for a better world.”
—Hazel Henderson, author of “Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy and Building a Win-Win World