Alana Chavez, Author at The Wellbeing Project

Ford Foundation

The Ford Foundation is a global, grant-making philanthropy that works to disrupt inequality in all its forms.

The Ford Foundation believes in the inherent dignity of all people. Thus it addresses the reality of too many people being excluded from the political, economic, and social institutions that shape their lives.

A vision of social justice guides the Ford Foundation—a world in which all individuals, communities, and peoples work toward the protection and full expression of their human rights; are active participants in the decisions that affect them; share equitably in the knowledge, wealth, and resources of society; and are free to achieve their full potential.

Across eight decades, its mission has been to reduce poverty and injustice, strengthen democratic values, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. It works in 11 regional offices around the world and supports programs in over 50 countries.

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Echoing Green

Echoing Green has been on the front lines of solving the world’s biggest problems, raising up the transformational leaders willing to speak truth to power and challenge the status quo.

For the past 30 years, it’s been supporting visionaries around the world who are transforming economies, and pursuing racial and gender equity, environmental sustainability, and more. Echoing Green accelerates talent that will change the world for the better by finding, funding, connecting, and supporting a new generation of social impact leaders.

It finds emerging leaders with the best ideas for social innovation as early as possible, and set them on a path to lifelong impact. Echoing Green’s community is of almost 1,000 social innovators. It includes past Fellows like first lady Michelle Obama, the founders of organizations like Teach for America and One Acre Fund, and major public figures like Van Jones.

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Impact Hub

Impact Hub has been a catalyst for entrepreneurial action for 15+ years. It is a global network of 100+ Impact Hubs worldwide, with 25,000+ people driving change – in 60+ countries across 5 continents. Impact Hub enables inclusive and sustainable innovation at scale by connecting entrepreneurs and innovators to large organizations, cultural and public institutions.

Impact Hub believes world challenges can only be tackled through collaboration. Thus it makes collaboration happen by designing impactful solutions, building business for good and (re)imagining the future. This is what the community of impact-driven entrepreneurs, creators, innovators and intrapreneurs does; taking action – today – to create a better tomorrow for people and planet.

Impact Hub started in 2005, with one community, in one city. It was a space for anyone who had an idea for a better world to meet and collaborate – a place where ideas turned into impact. Today, it provides access to spaces, resources, connections, knowledge, talent and investments to turn ideas into action around the world.

All big ideas start small. The time to act is now. And the way to act is together!

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The Collective Change Lab

The Collective Change Lab aims to catalyze a global movement towards more transformational ways of fostering just and equitable systems. For systems to transform, people in the system must collectively become more connected, compassionate, and attuned to their interdependence. Thus supporting people, organizations, communities and collectives in catalyzing social change beyond the incremental.

The Collective Change Lab provides practical insight and guidance for attaining transformational collective change through research, practice, leadership development, and narrative change.

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The Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (Stanford PACS)

The Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (Stanford PACS) is a research center for students, scholars and practitioners to explore and share ideas that create social change. Its primary participants are Stanford faculty, visiting scholars, postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students, philanthropists and nonprofit and foundation practitioners. As publisher of Stanford Social Innovation Review, Stanford PACS informs policy and social innovation, philanthropic investment and nonprofit practice. SSIR is a shared intellectual space where scholars and practitioners publish inter-disciplinary and cross sector research and ideas to advance social change. The journal is complemented by a website, blog, conferences, webinars and podcasts.

Stanford PACS is a part of Stanford University’s School of Humanities and Sciences and falls under the aegis of the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences. However, Stanford PACS’ seek to serve as a university-wide center with interdisciplinary networks and collaborations by developing and sharing knowledge to improve philanthropy, strengthen civil society and effect social change.

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Intrinsic Labs

Intrinsic Labs supports organisational leaders in creating work cultures that harness the motivation and talents of all employees, particularly in this new age of hybrid work. Organisations range from across the corporate, public and non-profit sectors.

The new realities of hybrid work, if harnessed correctly, can actually be a strong help. Thus, Intrinsic Labs focuses on intrinsic factors such as Purpose, Autonomy and Mastery, to embed these deeply into the work cultures of our organisations.

Intrinsic Labs takes leaders on a “Guided Journey” to help them redefine their Working Cultures, creating safe spaces for them to think differently and create new solutions with their teams and stakeholders. This journey can range from a one-off talk or inspiration session to interactive workshops, fire-side discussions, coaching sessions and wider town halls.

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Camelback Ventures

Camelback Ventures aims to diversify social innovation, by giving underrepresented, early-stage entrepreneurs access to the tools they need to be successful. Camelback was built with the notion that genius is equally distributed across communities, but access to funding and start-up mentoring is often limited in communities of color and with women. Camelback provides entrepreneurs with greater access to resources.

Camelback Ventures awards its fellows with 1:1 coaching, capital (start up funding, up to $40,000) and access to investors and networks (connections). Camelback Fellows, most of whom identify as people of color and/ or female, work in communities across the country.

Camelback fellows have built social organizations that have impacted the lives of tens of thousands of young people across the country. Camelback fellows have built STEM-based social mobile games, a charter school network in New Orleans, a mobile app to help recognize strong academic performance, and a platform to help universities track and develop at risk scholarship students. Camelback Fellows have collectively gone on to raise over $14 million in funding. For three years in a row, 3 or more Camelback Fellows have been featured in Forbes 30 Under 30.

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World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum was established in 1971 as a non-profit, impartial, independent international institution for public-private cooperation.

The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. It connects communities of leaders around global issues through high-level meetings, research, initiatives and digital networks.

Activities are shaped by a unique institutional culture founded on the stakeholder theory, which asserts that an organization is accountable to all parts of society. The institution carefully blends and balances the best of many kinds of organizations, from both the public and private sectors, international organizations and academic institutions.

Moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything it does while bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive changes to propel progress.

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Open Society Foundations

The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and inclusive democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens.

To achieve this mission, they give thousands of grants annually to groups and individuals in over 120 countries that work on promoting tolerance, transparency, and open debate. The Open Society Foundations also engage in strategic human rights litigation and impact investing, while incubating new ideas and engaging directly with governments and policymakers through advocacy to advance positive change.

The Open Society Foundations seek to shape public policies that assure greater political, legal, and economic fairness and safeguard fundamental rights. They build alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information while placing a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities.

The Open Society Foundations were founded by George Soros, one of the world’s foremost philanthropists, who since 1984 has given away $32 billion of a personal fortune made in the financial markets.

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