Networks for Social Impact About How Organization Can Work Together to Move the Needle on Social Issues With Michelle Shumate
When governments, nonprofits, and businesses come together as a “network” to address the most pressing social issues of the day, they can more easily overcome challenges related to social issue analysis, network governance, securing and managing funding, dealing with power and conflict, managing change, and utilizing data. In Networks for Social Impact, Dr. Shumate and Dr. Cooper depict when and how to use networks for social impact to improve issues related to educational outcomes, mental health and wellness, gender-based violence, climate change, senior and veteran care, and more, by providing a new framework for organizations to more seamlessly work together.

How leaders can make social impact networks more effective

The most common management dilemmas that network leaders face

Avoiding social impact dead ends

Designing networks to address different types of social issues

How nonprofits, businesses, and governments successfully collaborate on serious social problems.


Michelle Shumate is the founding director of Network for Nonprofit and Social Impact (NNSI). NNSI is a research lab dedicated to answering the question: How can nonprofit networks be rewired for maximum social impact? In addition, she is a Professor in Communication Studies and Associate Faculty at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University.
Her research focuses on how to design inter-organizational networks to make the most social impact. The National Science Foundation recognized her research with a CAREER award. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Army Research Office. She is the author of the forthcoming book, Networks for Social Impact (Oxford University Press). Nonprofit Quarterly, Stanford Social Innovation, and the Conference board have featured her work. She offers workshops, consulting, and coaching through the Social Impact Network Consulting.
Professor Shumate holds a Ph.D. from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California.
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