For Here and Now: A New Workbook for Social Change (November 2022)

Deepa Iyer
3 min readNov 15, 2022

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I have exciting news. On November 30th, 2022, my new workbook, Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection, will be available widely (PS. you can get it via pre-order before that date via the links at www.socialchangemap.com). The workbook is the result of a collaboration between myself, Thick Press, an experimental publishing practice, and Omnivore, a design studio founded by Asian American women.

Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection (2022)

Then

It was right here on Medium where I first shared my emerging thoughts about social change entry points. In 2017, I wrote an article on Medium that offered both a visual framework and a set of steps for addressing the family separations, Muslim ban, and immigration raids happening during that time. In 2020, as the pandemic began, I revised the framework to reflect new ideas and examples of how we could play different social change roles during a time of unprecedented crisis. In the wake of the 2020 uprisings, people around the world and organizations in various sectors used the framework to identify collective values and goals for social justice. As I began to use the resources in trainings and workshops with stakeholders in nonprofit, philanthropic, academic, and corporate sectors, I realized that I had much more to share about the framework and its applications. That is what led to the development of Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection.

Now

A picture of the social change ecosystem map, created by Omnivore for the Printed Matter book festival in New York City (2022).

Regardless of what you do, and where you are on your social change journey, we all need guidance and support from time to time, and particularly when we feel overwhelmed, confused, exhausted, and uncertain. That’s why I wrote Social Change Now — it’s the workbook I wish I had during such times, and I hope it will be useful to you.

Social Change Now is a practical guide for those at every stage of their individual and organizational journeys towards justice, equity and solidarity. It introduces an ecosystems framework that includes ten roles that many of us play in service of our social change values. But the book goes further. It contains detailed descriptions and real-world examples, reflection prompts (with room to write responses), and accessible tips that can immediately be put into action. This book is a resource that will accompany individuals and organizations not only in times of crisis, but throughout their lifelong social change journeys to build connected communities and equitable systems in our world. Over the past three years, people and organizations around the world have used the social change ecosystem framework to respond to the pandemic, express solidarity during the uprisings against anti-Black racism, and support multiracial coalitions struggling for reproductive rights, immigrant and refugee protections, and climate justice.

What’s Next?

The results of an ecosystem mapping workshop at the Sustain Dane summit in Madison, WI (2022)

Please keep using and sharing the social change ecosystem framework within the below guidelines. If you would like to learn more, please visit these websites: www.socialchangemap.com, www.buildingmovement.org, and www.solidarityis.org. And do reach out here if you’d like to collaborate for workshops, podcasts, conferences, and more. I’m looking forward to doing in-person workshops and would love to hear from you!

Permissible Uses include (1) using the framework within your organization/ecosystem without changing or adapting it; or (2) sharing and posting the map’s image as it appears here with attribution (including tagging: @deepaviyer on Instagram and @dviyer on Twitter).

Non-permissible Uses: No adaptations, reinterpretations or remixes; no utilization of the framework in your own books/writing/courses without prior permission; no commercial use.

For most updated information, please visit www.socialchangemap.com to find background information on the framework including parameters for use, ways to get involved, upcoming events, and more.

Gratitude

I’m so grateful and overwhelmed with all the interest in this framework. Thank you for sharing and using it to strengthen our collective social change ecosystems. Onward, together!

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Deepa Iyer

Social change movements & Solidarity. Work at Building Movement Project. Writer, Social Change Now; We Too Sing America. Host, Solidarity is This podcast.