The Wakeman Agency’s “This Week in Social Change” feature takes a snapshot at high-impact headlines and happenings in the social-change space. We consistently mine the nonprofit and social-change landscape, assessing opportunities to learn from disruption in action, innovation in the works and even eye-opening missteps along the way.

Many nonprofits started the year on a high note, with a fresh set of organizational resolutions. Usually under the terms “strategic planning” and “annual goal setting,” organizations outlined their aspirations for the year through focused meetings and committed them to ink through detailed documents. But, just as when individual people make New Year’s resolutions, nonprofits and companies alike lose often sight of the objectives they outlined months ago.

In recent times, much attention has been given to the idea of amplifying a significant social moment into a larger, more sustained movement. Advocates and supporters want to see their priorities morph into something deeper and stronger, even if the odds of it being a fly-by-night fascination run high in our hyper-social, “on-to-the-next-thing” society.

There’s a lot a talk about disruption these days. Disruptive technologies that stand to change the way we communicate or do business. Disruptive modes of speaking that broaden our lexicon and challenge our dictionaries of record. Disruptive thinking that stretches our views of the world, our communities and even ourselves.

There is much more to how viewers and readers perceive and vet branded content than meets the eye. While newfangled digital platforms tend to dominate headlines and preferred practices by many media and PR practitioners, what’s old is new again – or, rather, it has never gone completely out of style in the first place.

Eyebrow-raising moments, head-scratching successes and outside-the-box opportunities as we reflect on The Wakeman Agency’s 12th year

In 2005, The Wakeman Agency started working with Workshop in Business Opportunities (WIBO), a New York-based nonprofit organization that helps enable small business owners and budding entrepreneurs through its signature workshop – a sixteen-week program that can be likened to a mini-MBA. During this program, attendees from underserved communities gain foundational business knowledge in critical subject areas such as sales, finance, human resources and customer service.