The Systems Work of Social Change

Cynthia Rayner is a researcher, writer, lecturer, and social change practitioner affiliated with the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB). Her research focuses on social innovation and how organizations and communities work to shape social systems in collaborative ways. She advises social enterprises and investors in the design of sustainable business and investment models to achieve positive outcomes for society. She was a fellow with LGT Venture Philanthropy developing a government integration strategy for a peer-based support model for mothers living with HIV, and served as program director for a South Africa-based NGO providing support and education to children. François Bonnici is physician, professor, and social change practitioner with over two decades of experience working across multiple countries, systems, and sectors. Deeply rooted in context and frontline work in his formative years, he has worked extensively with civil society, foundations, and multilateral actors, in both the public and private sector, in progressive and catalytic partnerships that seek to advance the work of front-line agents and understand the organizational practices of “systems work” towards more transformative social change. He serves as the Director of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, a leading international foundation that has been dedicated to advancing the most impactful models to social change for over two decades.