FSG understands that social change is about systems change. We support social change leaders and their teams in applying the principles and practices of systems thinking to their work using a variety of tools and approaches.

How We Work

• Explore issues from a systems perspective, looking deeply at context, connections, and patterns, and incorporating multiple perspectives into our work.
• Support collaboration across sectors, including with corporations and governments, to forge cross-sector coalitions to tackle large-scale problems to produce systems change.
• Elevate those with lived experience to help shape system change solutions.
• We aim to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), through the questions we ask, the way we analyze data, how we engage with others, and the recommendations we make on strategy and partnerships.
• Provide training, webinars, coaching, and technical assistance to build the field’s capacity to apply a systems thinking lens to their work.
• Contribute to the field through publications and tools that support systems thinking and change.

Expertise

• Facilitating the development of emergent strategies, including supporting the organization’s implementation of processes, structure, and culture for evolving contexts.
• Supporting an organization’s development of strategies for systems change, individually or in concert with others.
• Designing and implementing learning and evaluation systems and practices that support systems change activity.
• Providing customized coaching services to collaboratives and collective impact initiatives at all stages—from forming and emerging to mature.
• Creating tools and publishing research to support systems change.

I was extremely pleased with FSG and the team; they were creative and innovative... They also really broadened and deepened our community outreach by involving segments of the community who were not previously involved. They got penetration in the community, and that was truly impressive to watch.

Jim Postl, Chair
Early Matters

Intellectual rigor, deep knowledge of organizations and systems, and commitment to communities—for those reasons, FSG is an invaluable partner. We couldn’t—and wouldn’t want to—do it without them. 

Melody C. Barnes, Chair
Aspen Forum for Community Solutions

FSG did a top-level job—looking at the big picture, identifying issues, and providing practical guidance to working out problems.

Laura Leviton, Senior Advisor for Evaluation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Systems Change Projects

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  Supporting a Culture of Health through Emergent Strategy at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• The California Endowment
  Assessing the progress of the Building Healthy Communities initiative.
• Early Matters
  Accelerating progress on early childhood education in Houston, Texas.
• See more systems thinking client projects >

Blogs

• An Introduction to System Mapping

• System Mapping in Action 

• Tools for Supporting Systems Thinking and Change

• Putting Systems Thinking into Practice 

• See all system thinking blog posts >

Tools

• Facilitating Intentional Group Learning: A Practical Guide to 21 Learning Activities

• Guide to Actor Mapping

• Guide to Trend Mapping
• Guide to Appreciative Inquiry
• See all systems thinking tools and resources >

Publications

• Being the Change
  Twelve ways foundations are transforming themselves to transform their impact. 
• The Water of Systems Change
  A model for shifting the conditions that hold a problem in place.
• Evaluating Complexity: Propositions for Improving Practice
  Propositions that can help evaluators navigate the unique characteristics of complex systems, and improve their evaluation practice.
• Evaluating Ecosystem Investments
  In partnership with Omidyar Network, FSG identifies 5 effective practices in evaluating ecosystem investments and highlights examples of these practices in action.
• “The Dawn of System Leadership”
  Co-authored by Peter Senge, Hal Hamilton, and John Kania, this article illustrates the core capabilities required for system leadership through the stories of successful practitioners.
• See all systems thinking publications >