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What's Working

Solving the World’s Most Pressing Problems

This website was created through a partnership between the Skoll Foundation and the Solutions Insights Lab, an initiative of the Solutions Journalism Network, informed by our shared interest in identifying and interrogating what’s working — and what’s not — in the field of social innovation and supporting research and dialogue to advance problem-solving knowledge.

The website and database are regularly used by journalists, philanthropists, policy makers and change agents to learn more about promising responses to the world’s most pressing problems so that they can support, collaborate with, and shine a light on these ideas and models.

What is the Power of Storytelling?

In journalism, storytelling has the power to shape the arc of narratives about core social issues.

Solutions journalism was born out of the idea that there is deep value in mainstream media surfacing responses to social problems and covering them with the same rigor and insight required in covering the problem itself.

David Bornstein, SJN’s Co-Founder & CEO and author of “The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank,” “Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know,” and “How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas,” will share what it means to take a story through the arc of response, evidence, insight and limitations and the impact of intentional storytelling on the field.

Ashley Hopkinson, Insights Lab Manager, and Alec Saelens, SJN’s Impact Manager, will show how the Solutions Insights Lab applies this approach to the field of social innovation and how through this lens, organizations can refine their story of social change and catalyze a myriad of outcomes.

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This website includes two types of stories: reported stories on Skoll Awardees and grantees that have been found in the Solutions Journalism Network’s Solutions Story Tracker®, and structured interviews conducted with representatives from organizations that have received support from the Skoll Foundation over the past 20 years. The interviews represent a starting point to draw out practical insights from a wide range of individuals and organizations that have been working to address a myriad of social challenges.

Each interview seeks to surface the following elements:

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response

Focuses on a response to a social problem — and on how that response has worked, or why it hasn't

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insight

Shows what can be learned from a response and why it matters

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evidence

Provides data or qualitative results that indicate effectiveness (or lack thereof)

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limitations

Places responses in context; doesn't shy away from revealing shortcomings

the result: "What's Working"

A website where you can search across sectors, regions and key topics to learn about efforts to solve social problems. The goal is to engage, inspire and empower people to better address social challenges.