From Vision to Action by John Marks

Social entrepreneurs are people who launch ventures that they believe will promote positive change - locally, nationally, and/or globally. Their bottom line is not financial profit; rather, it is a commitment to improving the human condition. To this end, when seeking to change status quos that may benefit certain parties involved to the detriment of others, or exist because "that's the way things are," negotiation and the ability to resolve conflicts are essential skills Drawing on the author's NGO career leading Search for Common Ground, from using children's television to mitigate ethnic tensions in Macedonia to promoting mediation for conflict resolution in Morocco, this book will provide readers with an on-the-ground perspective on being a social entrepreneur. Readers will learn useful principles -- such as adapting to unexpected impasses or outcomes, communicating effective models and stories, and being transformationally incremental -- so that they can negotiate, resolve conflicts, and solve problems to successfully bring change.

John Marks is the founder of the renowned peacebuilding organization Search for Common Ground, which was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018. When he stepped down as its president after thirty-two years, the organization had a staff of six hundred full-time employees and offices in thirty-five countries. He is now the founder and managing director of Confluence International and a visiting scholar in peacebuilding and social entrepreneurship at Leiden University. Coauthor of the controversial New York Times best-seller The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence and the award-winning Search for the "Manchurian Candidate," Marks also founded Common Ground Productions and has produced TV series promoting nonviolent coexistence in twenty-five countries.