Books, Articles, and Manuals

Manual 1 – Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship: A Teacher’s Guide  - $99.95

This is the original manual for teaching the next generation of social entrepreneurs, innovators, heroes, and heroines for the 21st Century.  It has more than 400 pages, and it includes enough materials for over 60 hours of class activities, readings, and discussions. This curriculum that has won multiple awards, including being part of Ashoka U’s Hall of Fame. It has also spread to hundreds of high schools and colleges around the world. Read an excerpt from the manual here.

Manual 2 – 21st Century Skills – A Primer - $59.95

This is the introduction to the key skills that young people will need in the coming decades. Each skill has anywhere from 3 to 5 introductory activities. Read an excerpt of the manual here.

Manual 3 – Making a Difference – Free

This is for a course teaching about solutions, hope, and inspiration. It was designed in coordination with two journalists from the New York Times: Tina Rosenberg, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the MacArthur genius award, and David Bornstein, author of the acclaimed book, “How to Change the World.” In response to the overwhelming barrage of bad news that bombards readers every day, these reporters started a popular column about innovative, visionary solutions. Now they have started the Solutions Journalism Network, which includes an ever-expanding collection of stories of things that go right in the world.

Article 1 – Changing the World: The Science of Transformative Action – Free

When people try to make the world a better place, how do they win? What separates those who are successful from those who fail?

The founder of the Transformative Action Institute, Scott Sherman, had met countless good-hearted people who were working to improve the world. But so many of them were exhausted, burnt out, and frustrated. Thus, for his doctoral research, Sherman investigated the factors that separated the best from the rest. He looked at literally hundreds of groups working to improve prosperity, public health, the environment, civil rights, and economic development.

The results were surprising. Everything that he had learned about how to change the world was wrong. Many of the strategies and tactics that had worked in the 20th century – many of the most common lessons still taught to new generations of changemakers - were now outdated and ineffective. This article outlines the three core principles for success in the 21st century.

Article 2 – Teaching the Next Generation of Social Entrepreneurs – Free

 The Transformative Action Institute started a course for teaching the next generation of heroes, heroines, and visionaries for the 21st century. This course spread to hundreds of classrooms across the world, including many top universities, including Yale, Princeton, Penn, Columbia, NYU, Johns Hopkins, and Stanford. This article talks about how this educational revolution began, and the principles for teaching young people how to find careers of meaning and purpose.