Online Class in Social Impact Strategy - Center for Social Impact Strategy (University of Pennsylvania)

This is a free, four-week massive open online course (MOOC) on Social Innovation and Social Impact Strategy offered by the Center for Social Impact Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania and taught by Professor Peter Frumkin. The course guides learners through designing, developing, and launching social impact organizations-nonprofit or for-profit-by teaching key tools and frameworks used in social entrepreneurship.

Course activities include readings, short assignments, online discussions, peer critique, and case studies. The syllabus is structured across four weekly modules: Week 1 (Introduction to social innovation and social entrepreneurs), Week 2 (Define and design, including empathy and mind maps and logic models), Week 3 (Pilot and scale, with tools like the balanced scorecard), and Week 4 (sector selection and business models).

Participants are encouraged to apply these tools to an idea- or active-stage social initiative to develop a concrete plan. The course is available worldwide via Coursera and emphasizes practical application: building a theory of change, testing ideas, measuring impact, and considering scale and sustainable models for social ventures.