In this webinar we shared a new practical framework to help system innovators identify in practice where power lies in a system, how it can be redirected and where the opportunities are to mobilise power in new forms to meet a new system purpose.

The framework is set out in a new essay by the same name as the webinar: The Power to Shift Systems by Charles Leadbeater and Jennie Winhall.

Our paper Building Better Systems (2020) introduced four keys to unlock system innovation: purpose, power, relationships and resource flows. Through this webinar series over the next few months we will be sharing new frameworks to put these keys to work, and delving deeper into the issues involved with a host of inspiring systems innovation practitioners. When registrering for this first event on power you can sign up to alerts for the subsequent events on purpose, relationships, resource flows and more.

Speaker Bios

Jeff Cyr
Managing Partner at Raven Indigenous Capital Partners

Jeff is mixed heritage, Métis and European and hails from the White Horse Plains area of Southern Manitoba, the traditional Buffalo Hunt staging grounds. For nearly 20 years, he has provided strategic leadership for Indigenous, not-for-profit, and government organizations before co-founding Raven Indigenous Capital Partners. Jeff has helped create and implement the community-driven outcomes contract (a unique pay-for-success social finance model) and the Indigenous Solutions Lab process, which earned him an Ashoka Fellowship. Jeff is a proud husband to Nicole and father of five and currently lives and works on unceded Algonquin lands in what is now known as Ottawa, Ontario.

Dr. Afton Halloran
Adviser on Sustainable Food Systems Transitions

As an independent consultant in sustainable food systems transitions and a transdisciplinary scientist, Dr. Afton Halloran advises on issues related to food and agriculture. She works with such organizations as the World Bank, World Health Organization, Food Planet Prize Secretariat, and the Nordic Council of Ministers. She has written and co-authored multiple books and research papers on food policy and security, underutilized foods, urban agriculture, dietary shifts and gastronomy. Afton also holds a research position at the University of Copenhagen Sustainability Science Centre and the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports. She is also the host of the Nordic Talks podcast.

Kenneth Bailey
Co-founder of Design Studio for Social Intervention

Kenneth Bailey is the co-founder of the Design Studio for Social Intervention. His interests focus on the research and development of design tools for marginalized communities to address complex social issues. With over three decades of experience in community practice, Bailey brings a unique perspective on the ethics of design in relation to community engagement, the arts and cultural action. Projects he has produced at ds4si include Action Lab (2012- 2014), Public Kitchen (2011-2018), Social Emergency Response Center (SERC, 2017), People’s Redevelopment Authority (2018) and inPUBLIC (2019). Bailey was recently a Visiting Scholar in collaboration with University of Tasmania and also a founding member of Theatrum Mundi NYC with Richard Sennett. He is currently pursuing his MFA at Bennington College. His new book (co-authored with DS4SI) is entitled “Ideas—Arrangements—Effects: Systems Design and Social Justice” (Minor Compositions, 2020) - read more about the book here.

Speakers: