FROM CHARITY TO CHANGE: THE NEW PARADIGM OF SUSTAINABLE SOCIAL IMPACT

Abstract

In pursuit of a more challenging world, such as inequality, climate change, systemic poverty and social exclusion, the traditional models of charity have been increasingly criticized as focused on the short term, systems change inexistent and reliant upon episodic altruism. To counter this, there has been a new approach; the transformative approach; namely sustainable social impact, which places more emphasis on structural change in the long term, community empowerment, systemic resilience, and scalable innovation. It is a paradigm shift where charity (immediate relief) is replaced by change (long term transformation), incorporating social innovation, impact investment, systems thinking, participatory development, and behavioral economics.