Knowledge lab for social innovation and organisational strategies based at Stanford University.
The Hertie School’s Johanna Mair and Christian Seelos have launched the Global Innovation for Impact Lab (GIIL) at Stanford’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS). Johanna Mair, Professor for Organization, Strategy and Leadership, and Christian Seelos, adjunct and currently a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University, serve as the directors. GIIL also has a location in Berlin at the Hertie School.
The lab develops diagnostic tools and shares over a decade of knowledge on social innovation and organisational strategies, spanning various regions, sectors and issues. It also publishes research findings in scholarly journals and practice-oriented publications such as the PACS Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR).
GIIL addresses three core problems in social innovation:
1. a lack of solid evidence on the potential of social innovation for positive impact;
2. a divide between scholarly work and practitioner needs, and
3. unproductive learning that stifles knowledge accumulation.
The lab evolved from over a decade of international research through the project Organizational Capacity for Continuous Innovation (OCCI), led by Mair and Seelos.