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About Social Change 2.0

SC2 cover 200dsSo many of the assumptions we have been operating with as a human community have proven faulty that we must literally re-envision them. And with the accelerating unraveling of our planet’s life support system and the deterioration of so many of our social systems, we are being called on to create rapid transformative change. But the current social change tools at our disposal of governmental command and control, financial incentives and citizen protest— Social Change 1.0—were designed for slow-moving, incremental change.

Not only must we reinvent our world, but also the process by which we achieve this reinvention. According to systems theory, when the current solutions prove inadequate for the magnitude of change required, a system goes into stress and begins to breakdown. What is required to help the system evolve is a second order change solution—or solution capable of transforming and reorganizing it at a higher level of performance and social value. Empowerment Institute’s Social Change 2.0 framework and methodology represents such a solution for our social systems.

It has a simple and some might say radical premise: That the natural starting point for changing our world for the better is us. That taking personal responsibility to make the needed changes within ourselves and our communities is the foundation for changing our institutions, not the other way around. That people are willing to make these changes if empowered by a personal vision and the means to bring it to fruition. That these changes can be accelerated and reinforced with the right laws and financial incentives, but it begins with us.

To bring about this type of change we need leadership schooled in the competencies of transformative social change. With our planet on the line and with such a propitious opening for transformation available as the world struggles to reinvent itself, change leaders must be playing at their best. Empowerment Institute provides a blueprint to help change leaders do just that.

To learn more about the Social Change 2.0 framework, read the free download from the book's introduction, "Reinventing Social Change."

pdf  Reinventing Social Change

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Learn How to Change the World


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The Empowerment Institute Certification Program, led by David Gershon and Gail Straub is a school for transformative social change. It provides participants the design knowledge, skills and tools to further second order change at the personal, organizational, community and societal levels. Each participant specializes in one of the six empowerment tracks and is assisted in developing a successful transformational application. Click here for more information on the certification program.

Changing the Game: The Craft of Transformative Leadership


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David Gershon offers participants the knowledge to design a transformative change strategy and the leadership skills to implement it. This training is based on David’s three decades as a social architect and practitioner of transformative change. This is not offered as a public training and is customized to the specific needs of the group or organization. To learn more click here.

Practice of Empowerment


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This training is an introduction to the empowerment methodology taught in the Empowerment Institute Certification Program. It provides the empowerment foundation on which second order change strategies can be built. To learn more click here. 

Social Change 2.0 Framework


An introduction to the Social Change 2.0 philosophy and framework.

Purchase the Book


Socail Change 2.0“Social Change 2.0 exhilarates. David Gershon has not just laid out a compelling and coherent blueprint for social change, but the vividly written stories he shares make us realize that what we thought was impossible can actually be achieved. Having been a political leader in Portland for twenty years, where I worked closely with David, I saw firsthand the power of his work to change the lives of thousands of people. He may well be the number one expert on social change in our country.”
– Mike Lindberg, former Commissioner of Public Utilities and city council member, City of Portland, Oregon

Click here to purchase Social Change 2.0

To learn more about the Social Change 2.0 framework, read the free download from the book's introduction, "Reinventing Social Change."

pdf Reinventing Social Change

Social Change 2.0 Testimonials


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“This book is a practical and inspiring roadmap to the future we all know is possible. I know of no one more experienced to create such a roadmap than David Gershon, who has spent the past three decades empowering individuals and communities, as well as business and government leaders. I have looked forward to this book for some time to gain a deeper understanding of how David has initiated so much positive change and created so many innovative strategies to help people achieve their visions for a better world.”
—Hazel Henderson, author of "Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy and Building a Win-Win World

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