Over at the Nonprofit Quarterly yesterday, editor Ruth McCambridge offers a note on “Jumping Off the Cliff of Social Change:”

“Over the years I have been involved in a number of movements for social change and each of them has taught me something about the patterns and rhythms of such efforts. But there was always a point at which I felt I was throwing myself off the cliff of the accepted into some cauldron of unknown forces and outcomes.”

She then links to a late January post from Dr. Paul Light, “Driving Social Change:”

[...] “Change does not begin with the end game that produces Nobel Peace prizes and documentary stardom. Rather, it starts with an initial, often highly personal, commitment to engage and moves forward in rough order with a careful mapping of opportunities and obstacles, the design and articulation of a powerful vision of the future …”

Given everything that has unfolded (and continues to do so) in Cairo, their subject is particularly pertinent — and moreover, raises the question: how does systemic change begin? In your experience, what sparks it most effectively? And what propels it forward?