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Changemappers

Connecting changemakers.

Summary

Changemakers want to solve big social problems. Changemappers helps them find & support other changemakers, social causes, communities & organisations to achieve long-lasting impactful systemic change.

"The narrative of hope, possibility and regeneration is existing in small forms and in so many places across the planet right now. Yet these places and these changemakers are often not connected to each other and are often not equipped with the right methods and tools that would allow them to take their initiatives to the next level." - Otto Scharmer

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Our Story…

PHASE: CRYSTALLISING and VALIDATING our concept

Gaspar Incze: I started in late 2019 out of a realisation (following the failure of my first social startup, later public benefit foundation called SpeechAngel) that we changemakers, alone, are doomed for failure.
I talked to social innovators, students, volunteers, leaders, scientists, and others to understand their world, their perspectives.

In parallel, in Sept 2021 I have reached out to Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest, Hungary about a potential cooperation.
In 2022 we built our partnership, in 2023 we had an extensive round of interviews, in 2024 we continue into bulding a prototype. It is visible that we can go very slowly due to lack of funding but we progress step by step using time what we have.

In late 2023 I have applied to the u.lab 2x program (thanks to Phil!), later met with Gyuri and Anna on the way.
Together we discussed, shifted the focus even more inwards, did a Map of Meaning workshop and most importantly, started to embody more and more the world we want to live in.

I am also in frequent contact with several informal groups, e.g. love-based economy, self-organised groups engaged in local civic activites, and members of the Hungarian Innovation and Talent Council. Together we experience transformation through our interactions and these are all reflected in the evolution of the system design…

Everything around Changemappers is free and open source to benefit all humanity, the planet, and beyond.

Massive Transformative Purpose (MTP)

ChangeMappers stands as a beacon of hope and action, blending local impact with global connectivity to drive systemic societal change. Our Massive Transformative Purpose (MTP) is to empower and unite changemakers worldwide, offering not only shared knowledge and collaboration but also crucial mental-emotional support and resources for growth, systemic thinking and volunteer engagement.

Core Principles of Changemappers' MTP:

  • Being a Changemaker is a Journey
    Being a changemaker means evolving from opposition to vision-aligned, goal-oriented approaches with a win-win-win mindset. This journey requires emotional maturity, a stable life foundation, embracing diverse perspectives, and viewing failure as growth. Changemappers is committed to supporting individuals throughout this transformative process of continuous learning and embodying the change they wish to see.

  • Empowering Changemakers with Holistic Support
    Our platform offers essential mental-emotional resources through community encouragement, actionable guidance, and both peer and professional solution-focused support.
    Best Existing Solution: https://29k.org/

  • Skill Development for Diverse Challenges
    Changemappers provides a collaborative space for developing skills crucial for addressing both local and global challenges, ensuring context-sensitive and effective actions for maximum impact.

  • Uniting Global Insights with Local Actions
    We bridge global knowledge with local initiatives, enriching community efforts with diverse worldwide perspectives to amplify their effectiveness and reach.

  • Fostering Systemic Change
    We address root causes of social issues by empowering changemakers to initiate meaningful community-level changes that contribute to broader systemic shifts, helping members navigate this complex work.

  • Transforming Volunteer Engagement
    Changemappers elevates volunteering by facilitating value-aligned matchmaking between projects and volunteers, focusing on conscious personal growth and professional skill development while helping initiatives with limited resources assemble effective teams.

  • Leveraging Polycentric Governance
    Changemappers promotes nested decision-making structures that balance local autonomy with global coherence, allowing initiatives to self-organize while maintaining alignment with larger systemic goals. This approach recognizes that complex problems require governance at multiple scales with appropriate coordination.

  • Cultivating Evolutionary Purpose
    The platform explicitly supports initiatives that address humanity's evolutionary challenges by fostering emergence, self-organization, and collective intelligence. We prioritize projects that strengthen social-ecological resilience and facilitate transition toward regenerative systems.

  • Applying Network Intelligence
    We strategically design for network effects by identifying and supporting high-leverage connection points between changemakers, resources, and initiatives. By mapping relationship patterns and facilitating strategic bridges between diverse network clusters, we maximize collective impact while minimizing coordination costs.

  • Developing Integrative Consciousness
    Changemappers nurtures the capacity for systems awareness, complexity thinking, and integral perspectives necessary for addressing today's interconnected challenges. We support members in developing cognitive flexibility, holding paradox, and integrating multiple ways of knowing—essential capacities for navigating humanity's transition to more sustainable and just systems.

Join Changemappers: A Community of Support and Action

Join us at Changemappers, where you can be part of a movement that values global unity and local action, supported by a community that understands the mental and emotional demands of changemaking. Engage in collaborative projects, develop diverse skills, find volunteers, and share knowledge, all while being part of a network that cares for your well-being.

Your path to making a difference, both locally and globally, is supported here. Join Changemappers and be part of a community that empowers, connects, and sustains.

Pitch

Who we are doing this for

People who organize communities or volunteer regularly to help their local communities towards systemic changes.

Problem statement

Many changemakers feel alone in their own community as innovators. They struggle with specific problems that are already solved elsewhere. Resources are very limited for independent social innovation. Burnout is a threat under difficult conditions.

Solution

Connect changemakers based on values, location, interest and availability to unlock full potential. Connect them to relevant solutions. Help them find their true purpose, allies, volunteers, knowledge and resources to act.

Similar portals

Facebook groups, Quora, Stack exchange, Minds, SDGs in Action, Steem.
Jodel, Nextdoor are too “hyperlocal” (not designed to connect changemakers across borders) or not specific to changemakers.

Service

Changemappers provide a platform where people dedicated for systemic change can find each other and solutions to social challenges.

Unique value set

Focused on the needs of changemakers, supporting self-organization. Map-centered simple and visual interface. Increasing volunteering. Timing. Privacy-centered, transparent, open-source.

Sustainability model

Volunteering and donations support the platform. Certified ethical organizations can place ads.

Creation process

Design thinking, research in partnership with universities, interviews, problem synthesis, prototype (MVP/MLP) development, prototype validation, crowdfunding.

Funding strategy

Approach people and self-organizing communities directly. Community building. Crowdfunding. B-corps. EU, UN, foundations, philanthropists.

Users

Est. 30 million people worldwide, 3400+ B-corporations and about 1 million organizations who work for systemic change, including UN 17 SDGs.

Marketing strategy

Direct reach. Viral marketing. Networking, building community and strategic partnerships. Success stories in social media.

Changemappers Analysis through the 80.000 hours model

https://80000hours.org/

1. Scale (Significance)

How important is the problem, and how many people does it affect?

  • Bridging Global Insights with Local Actions

    • One of the biggest challenges in social innovation is that local initiatives often remain isolated and fail to leverage global knowledge.
    • A system that effectively connects global insights with local actions can increase the efficiency and innovation potential of local projects.

  • Fostering Systemic Change

    • Many social initiatives provide symptomatic relief rather than addressing root causes.
    • A system that supports deep learning, systemic thinking, and strategic impact can significantly enhance the effectiveness of changemakers.

  • Transforming the Volunteering Experience

    • Finding and coordinating volunteers is often time-consuming and inefficient, which limits the impact of resource-constrained initiatives.
    • A platform that matches volunteers with projects based on values, skills, and personal growth goals can foster more meaningful and sustainable engagement.

Key Metrics for Scale:

  • How many social innovators and volunteers are actively seeking learning and networking opportunities?
  • How many local projects could benefit from global insights and expertise?
  • How effective are existing solutions in addressing these needs?

Conclusion: The problem is highly significant, as improving support systems for changemakers can amplify local efforts and create broader global impact.

2. Neglectedness

How neglected is the problem?

  • Existing platforms (e.g., Ashoka, Echoing Green, Skoll Foundation) focus on social innovation, but they are often exclusive and not accessible to all changemakers.
  • There is a gap in integrating global and local knowledge-sharing, leaving many innovators disconnected from valuable resources.
  • Volunteer recruitment and coordination tools exist, but few provide value-based matching or opportunities for skill-building alongside social impact.

Key Metrics for Neglectedness:

  • How many open-access platforms exist for supporting changemakers?
  • How effective are current volunteer coordination systems?
  • How many initiatives actively facilitate global-local knowledge exchange?

Conclusion: The problem is still largely neglected, particularly in terms of accessible, inclusive platforms for learning, networking, and action-oriented collaboration.

3. Solvability (Tractability)

How feasible is it to address the problem?

Potential solutions include:

  • Open-access mentorship networks for social innovators.
  • A digital platform for global-local knowledge exchange and collaboration.
  • Smarter volunteer-matching systems based on values and skill development.
  • Integrated learning modules to enhance changemakers’ strategic thinking and effectiveness.

Key Metrics for Solvability:

  • How many changemakers participate in new, open learning and mentorship networks?
  • How many projects see measurable improvements using enhanced knowledge-sharing and volunteer platforms?

Conclusion: The problem is solvable with existing technology and organizational strategies, but solutions need to be integrated and widely accessible to maximize impact.

Final Summary

Criterion Rating (1-5) Explanation
Scale ★★★★★ (5/5) Improving support systems for changemakers can drive global impact.
Neglectedness ★★★★☆ (4/5) Existing initiatives are limited and not inclusive for all changemakers.
Solvability ★★★★☆ (4/5) The right tools and strategies exist, but integration is key.

➡ Recommendation: Develop a comprehensive, open-access platform that:

  1. Connects changemakers with global knowledge and local project opportunities.
  2. Enhances volunteer engagement through value-based matching and skill development.
  3. Supports systemic thinking and long-term impact strategies.

Systemic issues

We’re inspired by

Educational Resources

Open Source and Technology

Social Impact and Altruism

Learning from Failures and Innovation

  • Admitting Failure
  • Liberating Structures
  • The Community Tool Box
    • Helping with community development through action, teaching, and training.
    • Community Tool Box
  • Social Innovation Atlas
  • Mapping an Emerging Ecosystem
    • An emerging ecosystem is seeking a radical, alternative approach to social change. One that is simultaneous paradigmatic, integrated and engaged (PIE). The project provides a map including key features, ideas, organizations and initiatives.
    • https://ecosystem.lifeitself.org/
  • Co-Intelligence Institute

Books, Publications and Media

To be explored

Our current civilization is crumbling, leading to a period of crisis and potential rebirth – what we could call a "second renaissance". There are many terms associated with it: metamodern, metacrisis, integral, teal, liminal web, gameB, regenerative and more.

The Second Renaissance project is a simple introduction to this moment of civilization crisis and awakening — and the emerging ecosystem related to it.
https://secondrenaissance.net/

Life wants to have more life. That’s why we can consider generativity a core attribute of life itself, present in all manifestation of living, biological or social. In the world of humans, that broadest sense of the term informs as various and more special uses of it as adult development psychology, organization design, technology theories, appreciative inquiry, and many other disciplines.
https://futurehow.site/generative-capabilities/

Steward-ownership is a corporate ownership structure that presents an alternative to shareholder value primacy. It ensures that companies prioritize their long-term purpose over short-term profits – by legally enshrining two principles:
https://purpose-economy.org/en/whats-steward-ownership/

Doing AI well
https://phi.institute/

Global Giving - A crowdfunding platform that connects donors with grassroots projects around the world, fostering global empathy and progress.
https://www.globalgiving.org/

Project Gutenberg - An early pioneer in free electronic books, offering over 60,000 public domain e-books. They help keep the wealth of historical literature accessible to everyone.
https://www.gutenberg.org/

Khan Academy - A non-profit educational organization providing free online courses and instructional videos across a wide range of subjects, democratizing education for all.
https://www.khanacademy.org/

Changemakers - An online community that connects social entrepreneurs around the globe to share ideas, inspire, and mentor each other.
https://www.changemakers.com/

Global Social Entrepreneurship Network (GSEN) - Amplifies the impact of social entrepreneurship through supporting social entrepreneurs with resources, knowledge, and connections.
https://www.gsen.global/

Ashoka - Fosters a global network of social entrepreneurs, offering support and resources to individuals leading social change initiatives.
https://www.ashoka.org/

In 1999, Jeff Skoll created the Foundation to build a sustainable world of peace and prosperity for all. The Skoll Foundation catalyzes transformational social change by investing in, connecting, and championing social entrepreneurs and other social innovators who together advance bold and equitable solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.
https://skoll.org/engage/

Archive

How could you help?

  • Spread the word to changemakers, local community organizers, volunteers, experts (programmers, graphic/UX designers, etc.)
  • Provide feedback, especially on:
    • How does this project and its description resonates to you?
    • How does it fill a gap of connecting and supporting changemakers across borders?
    • How exactly do you see it would help you as a changemaker?
    • What written (categorized) form of details (e.g. vision, mission, values, principles, topics and goals) would serve you to decide if you want to meet another changemaker?
    • On a scale of 1 to 10, how well can you relate to United Nations 17 SDGs to describe your preferences related to social causes? (e.g. to decide whether you want to be involved or not in a volunteering project)
    • Regarding your talents and goals, how much are you comfortable to share on a public online platform?
    • What type of privacy controls would you need at minimum?
  • Sponsor prototype development
    • One simple user story (function) costs about 50-300 $
  • Contribute to code if you “speak” Svelte/Javascript/OpenStreetMap/UI Design/etc.: https://github.com/sicambria/changemappers

Draft user stories, architecture and other development-related topics:

Let's connect!

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