Since the tech boom and rise of neo-conservatism in the early 1980’s, a fundamental structural change occurred in society. Instead of looking to business or government to solve societal issues, citizens began to “innovate for social good” using the same entrepreneurial acumen driving new business ventures. Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, founded by Bill Drayton in 1980, was an early fosterer of this movement, funding and connecting social entrepreneurs from around the world. Ashoka has now grown to an association of over 2,000 Fellows in over 60 countries on the world's five main continents. Meg Wheatley and Deborah Frieze have recently merged this concept of social entrepreneurship with systems thinking in their “Walk Out, Walk On” model, dubbing social entrepreneurs as “Walk Outs” that refuse to work from negative dominant values or paradigms, “walking on” to become social change pioneers. Similar to Ashoka, Walk Out, Walk On seeks to organize individual entrepreneurs for collective impact.

Researched and produced by: UMN Center for Intergrative Leadership, Spring 2012.
See following link to view all eleven community organizing models: http://www.incommons.org/node/6591