Impact Networks: Creating Connection, Sparking Collaboration, and Catalyzing Systemic Change [16pt Large Print Edition]

by David Ehrlichman

This practical guide shows how to facilitate collaboration among diverse individuals and organizations to navigate complexity and create change in our interconnected world. The social and environmental challenges we face today are not only complex, they are also systemic and structural and have no obvious solutions. They require diverse combinations of people, organizations, and sectors to coordinate actions and work together even when the way forward is unclear. Even so, collaborative efforts often fail because they attempt to navigate complexity with traditional strategic plans, created by hierarchies that ignore the way people naturally connect. By embracing a living-systems approach to organizing, impact networks bring people together to build relationships across boundaries; leverage the existing work, skills, and motivations of the group; and make progress amid unpredictable and ever-changing conditions. As a powerful and flexible organizing system that can span regions, organizations, and silos of all kinds, impact networks underlie some of the most impressive and large-scale efforts to create change across the globe. David Ehrlichman draws on his experience as a network builder; interviews with dozens of network leaders; and insights from the fields of network science, community building, and systems thinking to provide a clear process for creating and developing impact networks. Given the increasing complexity of our society and the issues we face, our ability to form, grow, and work through networks has never been more essential.

458 pages, Paperback

Published October 12, 2021

About the author

David Ehrlichman is author of Impact Networks: Create Connection, Spark Collaboration, and Catalyze Systemic Change (impactnetworks.xyz) and a producer of the Impact Networks documentary.

From 2013-2023 David was cofounder and coordinator of Converge (converge.net), a network of practitioners who build and support impact networks. From 2022-2025 he was cofounder of Hats Protocol (hatsprotocol.xyz), working to create open-source software for decentralized organizing. He now serves as an advisor to a variety of networks at various stages of their development, and to organizations seeking to apply a network approach to grow their impact.

David has helped form dozens of multi-stakeholder collaborations in a variety of fields, and was a founding coordinator for networks in the fields of environmental stewardship, economic mobility, access to science, civic revitalization, and open-source software development.

He also speaks frequently at conferences, universities, and at network or organizational events to introduce participants to the power of networks. Find his podcasts, writings, and other projects at www.davidehrlichman.com.