Social change: The influence of ecosystem change and the business sector

The Social Work Grand Challenges have drawn attention to the fact that problems facing people across the world are typically complex and need collaborative practices to be addressed. Cross-sector social partnerships are being used across the globe to engage multiple sectors to improve communities. The field of social work needs to be innovative in the ways that it equips students and those in the practice to work with multiple sectors and community efforts to see social change. In particular, the business sector has an increasing presence in social change efforts. As businesses have not been traditional partners, social workers need to have a better understanding of the potential value and downsides of working with the business sector. This research brings together three different studies to understand how social work leaders perceive potential partnership with the business sector, explore ways that emerging ecosystem change models can be helpful in creating social change, and investigate how nonprofit leaders of ecosystem change partnerships want to collaborate with businesses. Findings of the studies are presented in three manuscripts to be submitted to identified target scholarly journals. References are accumulated at the end of this document, and conclusions are drawn across both studies. The importance of interdisciplinary work and cross-sector partnerships is also seen throughout the two studies and three articles. Together, the research has implications for those addressing social change through collaboration. All three articles identify leadership needs within the social service sector and a potential for cross-sector partnership frameworks, particularly collective impact, to drive large-scale social change. Further, a case could be made that articles one and three tie together a specific need for social work to be not only engaged, but leaders within community collaborations