A Practical Framework for Positive Social Change

"Global problems seem insurmountable; poverty, injustice, and environmental decay demand attention. Nevertheless, hope persists. The beginning of change is the recognition that things can be different. Next comes a drive toward empowerment, an action plan, and the development of effective programs and organizations based on vision and principles." So writes Anne Firth Murray, author of Paradigm Found: Leading and Managing for Positive Change and Founding President of The Global Fund for Women. Drawing on her extensive experience in the international philanthropic world and particularly on the founding and growth of The Global Fund for Women, Murray provides practical advice for others who want to effect positive change.

Murray, a New Zealander and one of the women nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, serves on several boards. She advises organizations on principles-based development, leadership, governance, and management. She is currently a consulting professor at Stanford University, where she teaches courses on international women's health and human rights. Ms. Murray serves on several boards and councils of non-profit organizations, including the African Women's Development Fund, Commonweal, GRACE (a group working on HIV/AIDS in East Africa), Hesperian Foundation, and UNNITI (a women's foundation in India). She is the recipient of many awards and honors for her work on women's health and philanthropy.

PARADIGM FOUND: Leading and Managing for Positive Change is both a personal story and a handbook for positive change, leading the reader through the journey from the beginning of an organization to the transition from its founding leadership. The spiral images that appear on the cover of Paradigm Found are "koru" which, in the Maori language of New Zealand, symbolize not only the unfolding of the fern frond striving toward the light but also a new beginning, renewal, and hope for the future.

Books will be available for purchase and signing.