I’ve spent the last 20 years travelling the world telling people how to fix problems faster. But the reality I encountered taught me something else entirely. The quickest way to really change the world is to slow down and listen. A day at a notorious London prison truly opened my eyes. — “He who rushes ahead, doesn’t go far.” (Lao Tzu from the Tao Te Ching, 6th century BC) London, 2014. I am strolling up the Caledonian Road, or ‘The Cally’ as locals lovingly call it. As I leave London’s futuristic Kings Cross Station behind, small boarding houses, betting shops, letting agents…

Merit is a deceptive concept that justifies our Fast Lane ways. The Slow Lane, by contrast, challenges us to see past credentials and see the power in every person. — This is a book review of sorts. When I first saw Michael J. Sandel’s book “The Tyranny of Merit”, I thought: New York. I felt that I knew exactly what this book is all about: After all, all around us, families were helicoptering their children to get a step ahead…

When a group of German students took charge of developing a more inclusive classroom, they had no adult to hold back their dreams. Reaching 1 Million students every month today, Serlo has turned learning on its head and proves how everyone can experience the power of agency. — Late last year, Simon Köhl and I had a public conversation as part of Ashoka’s Welcome Change series to talk about how we can build inclusive, enabling technology for learning in a Fast Lane world. …

The book is done! The journey here was a true slow lane effort. And yes, I still love the birds. Here is how they got onto the cover! — “Thank you.” It has been an incredible journey to get here, and now The Slow Lane book is complete. You can even pre-order it. And I am back to writing! In her beautiful foreword to The Slow Lane, Anne-Marie Slaughter, the CEO of New America wrote, “I plan to put…

As we face crises like climate change and refugees on the move, it is time to combine the vision and resources of cities and social entrepreneurs to deliver lasting change. — This is the blog version of Cities and Social Entrepreneurs: A Playbook for Catalytic Change that I wrote in collaboration with Manmeet Mehta and David Lubell, published by Ashoka and Catalyst 2030. Social entrepreneurs and city governments have a lot in common, and by joining forces they can tap into…

As Cities and Social Entrepreneurs: A Playbook for Catalytic Collaboration has shown, when cities, social entrepreneurs and communities collaborate, they can significantly accelerate progress toward solving seemingly intractable social problems, and simultaneously making progress towards achieving the SDGs. We identified eight common practices that can be tailored to join forces, and tap into a shared abundance of resources: talent, funding, regulatory and policy tools, human resources, experiences, and empowered citizens. Together, local governments, social entrepreneurs and the communities they serve (and empower!) can have an immediate and sustained impact to improve the quality of life in cities.

In Peru, the social entrepreneur Albina Ruiz created a movement that collaborated closely with municipalities and the national government to transform the lives of thousands of waste pickers from stigmatized informal workers to recycling professionals protected by law and contracted to deliver municipal waste services. — This is the blog version of Cities and Social Entrepreneurs: A Playbook for Catalytic Change that I wrote in collaboration with Manmeet Mehta and David Lubell, published by Ashoka and Catalyst 2030.

Faced by a toxic and fearful sentiment against immigrants in Nashville in 2006, social entrepreneur David Lubell supported community and public leaders to change course and become a truly welcoming city. Welcoming America and Welcoming International emerged from this experience, providing support today to more than 300 city governments and their community leaders in eight countries on their way to operationalize a shared vision to welcome all types of immigrants.

Motivated by a deep compassion for the homeless, Rosanne Haggerty began a journey in 1990 that would lead her to raise the bar on supported living and redefine expectations about what can be achieved in homelessness. In 2018, her organization declared the first city to be at “Functional Zero Homelessness”. More quietly, in 2008 she also seeded an experimental new approach to bottom-up community development in Brownsville, New York City, where parents took charge of co-creating a more just early childhood experience with government and social care providers.