Netgain Challenge

As digitalness engulfs the world, the future promises an increasing depth and spread of all things electronic, connected and data-rich. Nation-states, industries, religions and markets are driven and rewarded to operate on both globally and intimately invasive scales. The biggest threat in this digital future is that in both scale and tempo, problem creators are outpacing good people’s capacity to keep them in check. The future of successful movements – and the digital future itself – depends on those who can build and access high-capacity advocacy networks. Yet, network capacity building is out of sync with current donors, organizational-centric growth interests and philanthropic priorities. We must align civic infrastructure, focus, incentives and rewards so that future leaders can also effectively wield the power of a connected world to bend the arc of history toward justice.