Abstract

As the appetite for learning about social innovation intensifies, how can we better prepare practitioners for the work of addressing the world’s pressing social problems at the relevant scale? This chapter presents the “3P” framework developed by the authors to help address this challenge, grounded in their experience of researching, teaching, and advising social innovators around the world. In this framework, the authors propose three key lenses to help social innovators contribute to social change, unpacking the nature of: the problem at hand, the person pursuing change, and the pathway to change. Considering the alignment of these 3Ps provides an organizing template for social innovators to think about how they can effectively contribute to solving social problems. The authors illustrate how they engage new and experienced social innovators in this learning journey by discussing their pedagogical approach as educators. In conclusion, they discuss future research directions to help address unanswered questions.