Skip to Content
Center for
Change lives. Change organizations. Change the world.
Follow us :
![[icon - facebook]](/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/icon_img_f.gif "[icon - facebook]"){kind=icon}
![[icon - twitter]](/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/icon_img_t.gif "[icon - twitter]"){kind=icon}
![[icon - LinkedIn]](/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/LinkedIn.jpg "[icon - LinkedIn]"){kind=small}
Human Rights
Increasing Companies' Safety & Gender Equity
A study of oil rigs shows that a different approach to male-dominated environments can change corporate culture.
![[photo - Mandy O'Neill]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/oneill_0.jpg "[photo - Mandy O'Neill]")
A researcher says at least part of the answer is that people are more than their potential.
![[photo - David Dodson]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/davd_dodson.jpg "[photo - David Dodson]")
Project Healthy Children works with governments and manufacturers to bring fortified foods to people at risk.
Research Resources
![[photo - Tony Prophet]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/Hewlett-Packard%20_0.jpg "[photo - Tony Prophet]")
Hewlett-Packard is finding that taking responsibility for reducing the negative impacts on the environment of its entire supply chain is "proving right for the bottom line of our company and clients." An HP executive shared the company's progress at a conference on building environmentally sustainable and socially responsible supply chain networks.
Resource: News Article
![[photo - Hayagreeva Rao]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/hayagreeva_0.jpg "[photo - Hayagreeva Rao]")
Consumers can wield great influence over working conditions under which goods are manufactured, Professor Huggy Rao told a Stanford audience. “You’ve got to influence consumers so they’re willing to pay more,” he said.
Resource: News Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2006
Vanishing NGOs in Bosnia leave lessons in their wake. —By Beth Kampschror
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2006
The Miwoks were exterminated from Yosemite Valley.
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2006
Does an organization’s size correlate with its effectiveness? —By Mark Dowie
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Project Healthy Children works with governments and manufacturers to bring fortified foods to people at risk.
Resource: News Article
![[photo - Debra Meyerson]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/meyerson_debra.jpg "[photo - Debra Meyerson]")
A study of oil rigs shows that a different approach to male-dominated environments can change corporate culture.
Resource: News Article
A researcher says at least part of the answer is that people are more than their potential.
Resource: News Article
A new study finds that a different approach to food-relief efforts in the developing world could save more lives.
Resource: News Article
In the United States today, two-thirds of African American college undergrads are women, and they are going on to excel in business, particularly in entrepreneurship, says visiting scholar Katherine Phillips.
Resource: News Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2011
“One death is a tragedy; 1 million is a statistic,” Joseph Stalin is supposed to have said. The more people we see suffering, the less we care.
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2011
Fair Trade-certified coffee is growing in consumer familiarity and sales, but strict certification requirements are resulting in uneven economic advantages for coffee growers and lower quality coffee for consumers. By failing to address these problems, industry confidence in Fair Trade coffee is slipping.
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011
Sustainable Harvest grows a new supply chain.
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011
Habitat International has grown its bottom line using a largely disabled workforce.
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Winter 2011
Direct participation by African villagers proves that process matters, even when outcomes don’t change.
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
The author details a Web that tells stories and exposes human injustice and trauma rather than gossip. She proposes this exposure will help drive the change that is needed.
Resource: Blog Post
We must actively withhold support when we see the government acting in a way counter to our ideals and its own. Those of us who supported the President’s election because we share his basic principles and values should express that support by remaining independent and criticizing when necessary, rather than by becoming supplicants to or apologists for the people we put in office. That’s an idea relevant to each and all of us as citizens.
Resource: Blog Post
The Internet has the potential to do a lot of good in the world, but we must not ignore the emerging strategies of negative influence.
Resource: Blog Post
Internet tech tools are mobilizing collective action and revolutionizing ways to start a revolution.
Resource: Blog Post
A youth summit discusses online platforms as a means of catalyzing social change.
Resource: Blog Post
![[photo - Janet Tafel]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/janet.jpg "[photo - Janet Tafel]")
Hagar was the biblical woman who became the victim of neglect and violence when she was cast out of the fold of Abraham and Sarah. In Cambodia, Afghanistan, and Vietnam, thousands of "Hagars" and their children suffer poverty, trafficking, and other human rights abuses. Janet Tafel, who was invited by the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford, discusses how her organization, Hagar USA, helps individuals restore their lives through holistic healing, community integration, and social entrepreneurship.
Resource: Audio
![[photo - Siddharth Kara]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/kara.jpg "[photo - Siddharth Kara]")
A woman or child is trafficked for sexual exploitation every 60 seconds. In this audio lecture recorded at Stanford University, author Siddharth Kara, a former investment banker and executive, uses theoretical economics and business analysis to propose measures that could eradicate sex trafficking by undermining the profitability of the illegal activities associated with the crime.
Resource: Audio
![[photo - Tim Williamson]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/3642%5B1%5D.jpg "[photo - Tim Williamson]")
The Idea Village was launched in New Orleans by "five guys who wanted to change the world." The more modest goal of these entrepreneurs was to revitalize the city economically--a mission that became especially important when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Tim Williamson shares how his nonprofit has been helping rebuild the devastated city economically, and the progress inspired through a powerful network of talented individuals.
Resource: Audio
![[photo - Gavin Newsom]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/3615%5B1%5D.jpg "[photo - Gavin Newsom]")
San Francisco's young and charismatic mayor, Gavin Newsom, has suffered his share of punches for taking bold positions on controversial issues. In this Stanford Center for Social Innovation sponsored audio lecture, Newsom tells of the courage and persistence it takes to make real social change as a leader. He outlines progressive reforms in areas such as education, health care, and business, and reflects on the personal and professional price paid for supporting one particularly contentious issue: gay marriage.
Resource: Audio
![[photo - Paul Farmer]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/podcast_img/3487%5B1%5D.jpg "[photo - Paul Farmer]")
AIDS, malaria, and maternal mortality are some of the chronic public health issues that plague Africa. Invited to Stanford, Paul Farmer talks about how his Boston-based organization, Partners In Health, is spending donor dollars to bring the lessons garnered from its work in Haiti to scale up health care services in war-torn Rwanda. As dicussed in this audio lecture, his organization seeks to fill the gap that exists between medical R&D and health care delivery so preventions and cures can be brought to more of the people who need them.
Resource: Audio
![[Video-Cory Booker's 2012 Commencement Address]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/dZ39FswOyFk/0.jpg "[Video-Cory Booker's 2012 Commencement Address]")
Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, challenges Stanford graduates to be courageous, never lose faith and always work together during Stanford's 121st Commencement. He extolls lessons from his own father and grandfather through stories of hardship, hope, and humor. Booker encourages graduates to find and join their own "conspiracy of love" -- people who will help lift them up in times of need, provide a community and challenge them to go beyond what they think is possible.
Resource: Video
![[Video-Gloria Steinem: Ms. at 40 and the Future of Feminism]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/2qhO3t3ZPZ8/0.jpg "[Video-Gloria Steinem: Ms. at 40 and the Future of Feminism]")
Stanford welcomes Gloria Steinem, co-founder and first editor of Ms. Magazine, in celebration of Ms.'s 40th anniversary. Steinem reflected on Ms. Magazine's role over forty years and looked ahead to what feminism may mean for future generations.
Resource: Video
![[Video-Gloria Steinem at Stanford: The Feminist Struggle Continues]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/N9yrEglT84c/0.jpg "[Video-Gloria Steinem at Stanford: The Feminist Struggle Continues]")
Author and activist Gloria Steinem challenged a Stanford audience to fight social injustice with outrageous acts, and offered several targets in the struggle for equal rights.
Resource: Video
![[Video-Say What You Think Then Take Action]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/u9j4QKIadk4/0.jpg "[Video-Say What You Think Then Take Action]")
San Francisco's young and charismatic mayor, Gavin Newsom, has suffered his share of punches for taking bold positions on controversial issues. In this Stanford Center for Social Innovation-sponsored talk, Newsom tells of the courage and persistence it takes to make real social change as a leader.
Resource: Video
![[Video-Stanford's Guatemala Service Learning Trip, 2008-1]](http://img.youtube.com/vi/zGd1AhT0Ghk/0.jpg "[Video-Stanford's Guatemala Service Learning Trip, 2008-1]")
On a service learning trip to Guatemala, John Joseph, MBA '08, and classmates visited small producers right up to the Starbucks' organization, as well as NGOs like As Green As It Gets.
Resource: Video
Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, challenges Stanford graduates to be courageous, never lose faith and always work together during Stanford's 121st Commencement. He extolls lessons from his own father and grandfather through stories of hardship, hope, and humor. Booker encourages graduates to find and join their own "conspiracy of love" -- people who will help lift them up in times of need, provide a community and challenge them to go beyond what they think is possible.
Resource: Video
Stanford welcomes Gloria Steinem, co-founder and first editor of Ms. Magazine, in celebration of Ms.'s 40th anniversary. Steinem reflected on Ms. Magazine's role over forty years and looked ahead to what feminism may mean for future generations.
Resource: Video
Author and activist Gloria Steinem challenged a Stanford audience to fight social injustice with outrageous acts, and offered several targets in the struggle for equal rights.
Resource: Video
Hagar was the biblical woman who became the victim of neglect and violence when she was cast out of the fold of Abraham and Sarah. In Cambodia, Afghanistan, and Vietnam, thousands of "Hagars" and their children suffer poverty, trafficking, and other human rights abuses. Janet Tafel, who was invited by the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford, discusses how her organization, Hagar USA, helps individuals restore their lives through holistic healing, community integration, and social entrepreneurship.
Resource: Audio
A woman or child is trafficked for sexual exploitation every 60 seconds. In this audio lecture recorded at Stanford University, author Siddharth Kara, a former investment banker and executive, uses theoretical economics and business analysis to propose measures that could eradicate sex trafficking by undermining the profitability of the illegal activities associated with the crime.
Resource: Audio
Case Studies : All | Academic Cases
No Results Found
![[photo - Glenn R. Carroll]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/carroll-glenn-r_0.jpg "[photo - Glenn R. Carroll]")
Two nonprofits, the Fair Labor Association (FLA) and the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), were created in 1999 and 2000, respectively, to monitor factories around the world for sweatshop-related infractions. The two organizations had similar goals, but very different histories, strategies, and ways of operating. Their shared history has been controversial and tumultuous.
Resource: Academic Case
![[photo - Jeffrey Pfeffer]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/pfeffer-jeffrey_2.jpg "[photo - Jeffrey Pfeffer]")
In 1991, Frances Conley, the first female, tenured full professor of neurosurgery in the United States, resigned from her position at Stanford Medical School over the appointment of a new department chair who was known for sexual harassment. As she becomes thrust into the media limelight, she wonders what she should do next.
Resource: Academic Case
![[photo - Laura K. Arrillaga]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/arrillaga-laura-kathryne_3.jpg "[photo - Laura K. Arrillaga]")
The CEO of the Global Fund for Women, an organization that seeds and supports women’s rights groups, must examine how to guide the fund’s growth without having it lose its connections with donors and grantees. She also wonders how the fund could do better at assessing grant outcomes and sharing success stories.
Resource: Academic Case
![[photo - Laura K. Arrillaga]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/arrillaga-laura-kathryne_2.jpg "[photo - Laura K. Arrillaga]")
The September 11th Fund was created to support the short- and long-term needs of the people and communities affected by the World Trade Center tragedy. Many foundation leaders evaluated the difficult lessons learned in interacting with the media, and wondered how they could better use communication strategies to demonstrate their accountability.
Resource: Academic Case
In 1998, the chief executive of Mobil in Indonesia considered how he should respond to allegations that Mobil had been complicit in human rights abuses. The cases reflect on the challenges of managing operations in a place like Aceh.
Resource: Academic Case
![[photo - Michael T. Hannan]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/hannan-michael_0.jpg "[photo - Michael T. Hannan]")
In 1999, the World Trade Organization talks in Seattle were sidelined by people protesting against the organization and issues of free trade. The case describes the nature of the protests, and the WTO’s dispute resolution process.
Resource: Academic Case
![[photo - H. Irving Grousbeck]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/grousbeck-harold-irving.jpg "[photo - H. Irving Grousbeck]")
The case offers a view into day-to-day management issues faced by entrepreneurs managing a growing business. The focus is the Gordon Biersch Brewing Company, which had to address a sexual harassment lawsuit and other ethical dilemmas.
Resource: Academic Case
Two nonprofits, the Fair Labor Association (FLA) and the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), were created in 1999 and 2000, respectively, to monitor factories around the world for sweatshop-related infractions. The two organizations had similar goals, but very different histories, strategies, and ways of operating. Their shared history has been controversial and tumultuous.
Resource: Academic Case
In 1991, Frances Conley, the first female, tenured full professor of neurosurgery in the United States, resigned from her position at Stanford Medical School over the appointment of a new department chair who was known for sexual harassment. As she becomes thrust into the media limelight, she wonders what she should do next.
Resource: Academic Case
The CEO of the Global Fund for Women, an organization that seeds and supports women’s rights groups, must examine how to guide the fund’s growth without having it lose its connections with donors and grantees. She also wonders how the fund could do better at assessing grant outcomes and sharing success stories.
Resource: Academic Case
The September 11th Fund was created to support the short- and long-term needs of the people and communities affected by the World Trade Center tragedy. Many foundation leaders evaluated the difficult lessons learned in interacting with the media, and wondered how they could better use communication strategies to demonstrate their accountability.
Resource: Academic Case
In 1998, the chief executive of Mobil in Indonesia considered how he should respond to allegations that Mobil had been complicit in human rights abuses. The cases reflect on the challenges of managing operations in a place like Aceh.
Resource: Academic Case
Research Papers : All
![[photo - Joanne Martin]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/martin-joanne_3.jpg "[photo - Joanne Martin]")
Although both feminist theory and critical theory focus on social and economic inequalities, and both have an agenda of promoting system change, these fields of inquiry have developed separately and seldom draw on each other's work. This paper argues that synergies between these two fields could, and should, be explored.
Resource: Research Paper
![[photo - Sarah Soule]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/soule-sarah-a_2.jpg "[photo - Sarah Soule]")
The authors reexamine the relationship between protest and policy change at the agenda-setting stage of policymaking. They find that protest, issue legitimacy, and issue competition account for variation in the number of congressional hearings granted to rights issues.
Resource: Research Paper
![[photo - Ernesto Dal Bo]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/dalbo_ernesto.jpg "[photo - Ernesto Dal Bo]")
The authors present a model where a long-run player uses money transfers and threats to influence the decisions of a sequence of short-run players. The model is useful for the debate around judicial corruption.
Resource: Research Paper
![[photo - Brian S. Lowery]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/lowery-brian_4.jpg "[photo - Brian S. Lowery]")
Negative stereotypes about various racial groups bombard us every day in the mass media and deposit their residue deep into our minds, often without our realizing it, says Brian Lowery.
Resource: Research Paper
![[photo - Joanne Martin]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/martin-joanne_5.jpg "[photo - Joanne Martin]")
The paper examines micro-processes that undermine the formal power of high-ranking women in a male-dominated organization. It shows how the capacity of these women to reduce systemic causes of gender inequality is therefore more limited than it might appear.
Resource: Research Paper
Courses : All
![[photo - Roderick Kramer]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/kramer-roderick-m_1.jpg "[photo - Roderick Kramer]")
In this seminar, we explore the nature of human happiness from psychological perspectives, and how such knowledge can be applied in personal and business contexts. To illustrate the ideas discussed, we examine in detail a number of fascinating individuals, including Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey, venture capitalist Tom Perkins, Steven Spielberg, Martha Stewart, and the Nobel physicist Richard Feynman.
Resource: MBA Course
![[photo - Sarah Soule]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/soule-sarah-a_4.jpg "[photo - Sarah Soule]")
This course focuses on women's working experiences in managerial and professional positions in business and some nonprofit organizations. Using business cases, small group work, videos, lectures, and class discussions, we examine a wide variety of career-related gender issues.
Resource: MBA Course
![[photo - Garth Saloner]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/shaw-kathryn.jpg "[photo - Garth Saloner]")
This seminar will showcase successful women entrepreneurs and the challenges they encountered on the paths to success such as finding funding, dealing with different communication styles, and balancing work and lifestyle.
Seminar participants will study mini-cases, engage in panel discussions and hear from experienced entrepreneurs.
Resource: MBA Course
Innovators : All
Dave DeForest-Stalls wants to help kids stay out of gangs. He's providing mentorship and hip ways to keep youth on the straight and narrow.
Resource: CSI Affiliates
![[photo - Federico Lozano]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/social_innovator_picture/fede.jpg "[photo - Federico Lozano]")
Federico Lozano is working to alleviate poverty by connecting poor, semi-skilled laborers from the developing world with jobs in the developed world.
Resource: Fellow
![[photo - Daniel Grossman]](http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/csi.gsb.stanford.edu/files/imagecache/img75x75/social_innovator_picture/Danielgrossman.jpg "[photo - Daniel Grossman]")
Daniel Grossman's Wild Planet creates toys that parents love as much as kids. His aim is to inspire learning and inventiveness.
Resource: Alumni
This course focuses on women's working experiences in managerial and professional positions in business and some nonprofit organizations. Using business cases, small group work, videos, lectures, and class discussions, we examine a wide variety of career-related gender issues.
Resource: MBA Course
This seminar will showcase successful women entrepreneurs and the challenges they encountered on the paths to success such as finding funding, dealing with different communication styles, and balancing work and lifestyle.
Seminar participants will study mini-cases, engage in panel discussions and hear from experienced entrepreneurs.
Resource: MBA Course
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2008
THE INSANITY OFFENSE: How America’s Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens by E. Fuller Torrey Review by Stephen P. Hinshaw
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2008
How companies can respect human rights. —By Christine Bader
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2008
Comprehensive reintegration programs will lower the U.S. recidivism rate. —By John Irwin
Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article
