Leaders and staff of organizations that aim for transformative systems change operate in a challenging environment. Many function at the edge of their personal sustainability. Burn-out, depression, divorce, and botched leadership transitions are all too common. The impact of these organizations can suffer as a result. Research has shown that when inner wellbeing is addressed, it can lead to greater organizational wellbeing, more effective collaboration and movement building, and greater social impact: wellbeing amplifies well doing.
The Skoll Foundation is a co-creator of The Wellbeing Project, along with the Impact Hub, Porticus, the Synergos Institute, Ashoka, and Esalen. The Skoll Foundation has cultivated a community of social entrepreneurs and innovators for twenty years. We are deeply invested in the social impact of the pioneering organizations they have built, but also in their personal journeys, and the stories of how transformational social change happens.
This series, presented in partnership with The Wellbeing Project, Stanford Social Innovation Review, India Development Review, the Greater Good Science Center, and the Schwab Foundation—sister organization of the World Economic Forum—will explore the important but often-overlooked connection between inner well-being and ambitious, effective social change. Contributors to this series, including researchers, funders, and practitioners from around the world will share strategies, resources, and actionable steps leaders and others working in social change can implement to foster well-being at the individual, organizational, and societal levels. The series will feature intimate, first-person perspective essays from Skoll Awardees and other innovators exploring the intersection of inner wellbeing and transformational social change.