4%. 5%. 6%. Those are the undergraduate acceptance rates of Stanford, Harvard and Princeton, respectively. Stanford admits about 2,300 students per year, but it could easily accept multiples of that without sacrificing the quality of its student body. And with an endowment of $28.9 billion there’s no practical reason it couldn’t admit many, many more students each year. No reason, that is, except for the value universities place on that coveted low acceptance rate. Universities obsess over acceptance rates, elevating it as a key proxy of the institution’s impact and worth. Low acceptance rate ..read more

I’m always on the lookout for new perspectives and insights on leading change. And I attempt to find them from all kinds of people and in all kinds of places. This week I’ll share a few favorite articles I’ve read in the last week or so on the topic of changemaking. I hope these brilliant pieces will challenge and inspire you and your pursuit of positive change just as they did for me. Article: Why Ben & Jerry’s Speaks Out (HBR) Link: https://hbr.org/2021/01/why-ben-jerrys-speaks-out Why read it? It’s a refreshingly honest look at corporate social responsibility (CSR) and articu ..read more

Today I’m reflecting on Amanda Gorman’s powerful poem, “The Hill We Climb,” which she powerfully delivered at President Biden’s inauguration last week. I’m especially struck by her final three lines: For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it If only we’re brave enough to be it This is the call to action for our times. In a world with so much pain and despair, our reflexes tell us to feel hopeless. But we must never forget that a better tomorrow is always possible. In a world with so much inequity and injustice, our reflexes tell us to feel powerless. But we must nev ..read more

Based on conversations I’ve had with a diverse array of academics, executives and changemakers throughout 2020, I predict that the greatest opportunities for creating positive change in 2021 lie in climate; diversity, equity & inclusion; and mental health. If these areas are relatively new to you, first take some time to study, learn and immerse yourself in them to better understand the current suite of opportunities and challenges. Then begin identifying opportunities for positive change in these realms through online research, talking with others and paying attention to trends. From the ..read more

If your aspirations for 2021 include becoming an even more effective changemaker, I’ve identified these three high-potential / high-return resolutions for you: Start launching small experiments to test new ideas before going big. Spend time learning about, and then taking action on climate, DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) and/or mental health. Practice resilience and self-care to sustain yourself and your impact. We’ll start with #1 today and I’ll cover each one in more detail for you throughout the month of January. Resolution #1: Experimen ..read more

What an absolute joy and privilege it was to welcome one of my social entrepreneurship heroes, Muhammad Yunus, as a guest speaker for Becoming a Changemaker! Truly a professional dream come true. I’m pretty sure he’s the first social entrepreneur I ever learned about, way back in 2008. His pioneering work in microcredit influenced how we designed StartSomeGood, and the way he carries himself with such humility (as a Nobel Prize winner, no less!) and how he continues questioning the status quo even 6 decades into his work inspire me greatly. He’s dedicated his whole life to serving others an ..read more

I am so fortunate to learn from and alongside my amazing Berkeley students each week. They’ve been developing a changemaker mindset all semester, so on Tuesday I asked them what aspects of thinking and acting like a changemaker are most helping them navigate all of the change around us right now. I wanted to understand which course concepts they are applying to their own life to stay grounded, positive and to continue making a positive impact on those around them during such challenging times. Here are the top 5 results from a poll and our class discussions alongside some resources if yo ..read more

Ask an economist what holds back change and they’ll talk to you about “switching costs.” These costs are often thought of as monetary (imagine if you are an avid iPhone user, the need to repurchase all of your apps on Android would be an undesirable cost to switching platforms). But switching costs also apply to our psychology, our time and our effort when it comes to successfully making change happen (or finding excuses not to). Right now the world around us is changing more rapidly than we’ve ever experienced, and this is naturally quite scary. But if you are looking to make or lead a chang ..read more

Changemakers see opportunities where others see intractable problems.  If you’re not sure where to start, consider looking for opportunities for change at the edges -- leveraging intersections and initiating interdisciplinary thinking.   Pay attention to inflection points where one problem starts and another begins. Consider the blind spots of a single discipline and how intersecting with another’s perspective could generate a brand new way of seeing solutions otherwise unimaginable through a single lens. A terrific example comes from Sweden where leading airline carrier SAS tempora ..read more

How many things have changed for you in the last week? A few dozen? A couple hundred? A thousand? We are facing unprecedented levels of change affecting everything from our personal lives to our professional; our physical health to our mental. Not only are you navigating ridiculous set-ups like taking a video call propped up in your laundry room, many of you are also figuring out how to homeschool your kids, all while navigating massive changes at work and in the health of yourself and your loved ones. And perhaps like me you have decided that without gym access, now is the time to become a r ..read more