Beyond Design Thinking for Social Impact

Social challenges are complex. People live within human, natural, and economic systems that are constantly in flux. Power dynamics within those systems shift and change, almost always in ways that are unfavorable to the most vulnerable. Social impact organizations seek to address injustice, alleviate suffering, provide opportunities and protect the

Engaging a Participant Advisory Council for social impact organizations

A Participant Advisory Council is a group of beneficiaries and community members who can advise on social impact programs and services meant for them. They can be a great resource throughout the entire lifecycle of your program. They will have valuable insight and can share context regarding their challenges. They

Crafting a compelling problem statement for social impact

Understanding the true problem your audience is experiencing is critical to developing a solution that will genuinely help them overcome challenges and achieve their goals. A good problem statement is compelling and will inspire so many ideas for you and your team! After doing a good discovery you can focus

Benefits of Co-Evaluation with Beneficiaries for Social Impact

Evaluating the true impact of a social impact program requires the input of beneficiaries. Many organizations seek this through surveys or interviews, but this is only the first step towards true co-evaluation. Benefits to Co-EvaluationCo-evaluating programs provides humanitarian organizations with deep insight into the impact theirprograms are making or could

Ideation Sessions with Beneficiaries

Facilitating an effective ideation session is as much art as it is science. Now is the time to go wide and dream up anything and everything that might help. Some tips for facilitating this are below. Consider: How might you best create a creative environment for ideation? Invite multiple perspectives.

Benefits to Human-Centered Programming for Non-Profits and Social Impact Organizations

Human-centered Programming gives Non-profits, Humanitarian, and Social Impact organizations the tools needed to solve challenging human problems in deep partnership with program beneficiaries. It brings their stories, experience, and creativity into solutions meant for them. The benefits are real and sustainable as your organization and your audience become co-designers, co-implementers,

Empathy Interviews for Non-Profit and Social Impact Organizations

Listening to stories from program beneficiaries helps us gain empathy. As we begin to understand a person’s challenges and goals from their perspective, we can co-create genuinely helpful solutions and services. Empathy interviews in the social impact space require special preparation. Interviewees may have experienced trauma and need a safe

Is Human-Centered Programming a good fit for your non-profit, humanitarian, or social impact organization?

Human-centered programming is an approach to solving challenging social problems in deep partnership with your audience. Partnering with your audience  brings their stories, their goals, their challenges, and their creativity into your programs. This self-assessment will help you determine if this approach will really help your organization. Keep track of

3 Questions for Non-profit and humanitarian practitioners

These three essential questions can guide the work we do every day in non-profit, NGO, and humanitarian organizations. Who are you helping? What do you truly know about their goals, their experiences, and their challenges? How do you currently use that knowledge to make decisions? Answering these questions bring us

How Human-Centered Design helps non-profits and humanitarian organizations design sustainable solutions

With so many difficult challenges and so many people to help, it is tempting to run with the first feasible solution. Time is often short and moving quickly is necessary.  There may be pressure from donors, solutions may have been predetermined by leadership, or there may be legacy solutions in

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