The Toolbox: Strategies for Crafting Social Impact

Jacob Harold participated in the Bellagio residency program in 2022. During this residency he worked on The Toolbox: Strategies for Crafting Social Impact. Jacob is a social change strategist and author. From 2012 to 2022, Jacob served as President and CEO of GuideStar and is co-founder of Candid, a nonprofit transparency organization.

A few words with Jacob

“When I arrived at the Bellagio Center, I had drafts of about half of the chapters; I left with a complete draft of every chapter. I found the Behavioral Economics and Markets chapters especially challenging—the first because I had too little to say; the second because I had too much!

“After my presentation during my residency, I received challenging feedback that definitely helped make the work better—and more accessible.

“The nine tools I explore in the book are listed here: https://www.jacobharold.com/thetoolbox. I’d be very interested to hear what additional tools the Bellagio Network would add.”

Synopsis

In The Toolbox: Strategies for Crafting Social Impact, nonprofit executive Jacob Harold will help you transform your corner of the world with this expert guide to doing good in the 21st century. You’ll explore nine tools that have driven world-shaking social movements and billion-dollar businesses – tools that can work just as well for a farmers market or fire department or small business.

Each of the tools – storytelling to community organizing, markets to design thinking – is explored in a stand-alone chapter, intertwined with poems, photos, equations, diagrams, and stories. Too many social change agents view the world through only a single lens. If all you have is a hammer, get a toolbox.

Explore More

To find out more about Jacob’s work, you can visit his website, or find out more about Candid, the nonprofit transparency organization he helped to start. Or, you can simply follow him on Twitter.

(Photo: Beowulf Sheehan)