Systems Change for Tech & Society Leaders
2 Days
·Cohort-based Course
Don’t let power imbalances hold you or your system back — learn how to change them.
Systems Change for Tech & Society Leaders
2 Days
·Cohort-based Course
Don’t let power imbalances hold you or your system back — learn how to change them.
Clients & Course Participants
Course overview
See your system clearly, and change it
The very first thing you will learn in this course is that there is no such thing as a ‘technology problem.’ Sure, your field demands that you work with, or even build, new technologies. But you also work closely with people, and technology is thoroughly entangled with societal and cultural norms, and power imbalances.
Technology is integral to the system you are seeking to change, but technology is not neutral. Understanding the power dynamics that technology obscures is absolutely key to moving your work forward. If you approach everything as a ‘technology problem’ and ignore the social side, you risk perpetuating the status quo in the name of technological progress and growth.
In this fast-paced, interactive course, you will master the strategies, skills, and frameworks for true systems-change
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
In this fast-paced, interactive course, you will master the strategies, skills, and frameworks for true systems-change:
- Are your tech-for-good interventions continually leading to ‘unintended consequences’? Learn how to see your system clearly, anticipate its behavior, and ensure technology works for (not against!) it.
- Do you see how technology is governed by more than just its underlying code — but are not sure what to do about it? I’ll guide you through concrete examples of how technology and data are societal constructs and help you anticipate their impact on your system.
- Have you tried to effect change with partners & collaborators in your field, but you get the same results over and over? I’ll provide you with frameworks to expose the constraints and dynamics of your system, and craft interventions that truly change its behavior.
This course has four modules:
1. See your system clearly: power obscures problems in your sociotechnical system — learn to locate the problems! You can’t solve for what you can’t see.
2. Understand how your system is changing: and learn to leverage that change, rather than just letting it happen. Understand the capabilities and limitations of a technology, and anticipate how those shape your working relationships
3. Change your system as an individual: systems are unpredictable and do not abide by linear cause-and-effect rules — learn to intervene in complex systems by shifting the norms & behaviors of teams, organizations, and multi-stakeholder collaborations.
4. Change your system as a collective: you now have the tools you need for systems change, but are met with a world of differences within teams, cultural contexts, or organizations. Learn strategies to align a diverse group towards a common vision — and ultimately catalyze meaningful systems change.
WHAT TO EXPECT
- This course is fast: you will learn how to catalyze real systems-change in just two days.
- This course is interactive: don’t expect to sit back and be lectured by me; you will be participating in practical exercises throughout.
- This course is loaded with exercises and tools: get your hands on a 100-page workbook and unlimited access to Untangled (https://untangled.substack.com/) for a whole year.
Who is this course for
01
Senior policy, product, and partnership managers who want to shift the status quo in their company.
02
Funders focused on tech & society issues, trying to align their programs and grantees towards collective action.
03
Non-profit & public interest leaders who want to craft strategies that align AI to their vision of the future, not the other way around
What you’ll get out of this course
💻 9 hours of live & interactive sessions
You’ll learn new strategies and frameworks that will get you out of your system funk, complete with hands-on practice in a lab-like environment and a subsequent Q&A session.
📓 100-pg workbook full of 30+ exercises & tools
You’ll have access to a practical workbook by your side to guide future strategies and decisions as you put them into practice.
💡Access to a private community of tech & society leaders to support your ongoing learning and networking.
Participants will join a private community with tech & society leaders from organizations like New_Public, Discord, Center for Tech & Civic Life, Siegel Family Endowment, Stanford’s Digital Civil Society Lab, LAist, and many more.
✨ A 1:1 coaching session
You'll have the opportunity to engage 1:1 with me in a free coaching session after the course is complete.
➕Hands-on Capstone Project
You’ll develop a ‘Customized Systems Change Plan’ and get personalized feedback from me in the 1:1 coaching session.
What’s included
Live sessions
Learn directly from Charley Johnson in a real-time, interactive format.
Lifetime access
Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.
Community of peers
Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.
Certificate of completion
Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.
Maven Guarantee
This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.
Course syllabus
Week 1
See your system clearly
Understand how your system is changing
Change your system as an individual
Change your system as a collective
Post-course
Q&A Session
1:1 Coaching
What people are saying
Madison Snider
Hays Witt
Cristina Velez
Amanda Green
Steph Ban
Kristen Muller
Meet your instructor
Charley Johnson
I get a kick out of untangling sociotechnical systems. I founded Untangled, a newsletter and podcast about our sociotechnical world, and how to change it. I co-founded The Facilitation Leadership Lab, which helps leaders facilitate organizational change. I coach and advise mission-driven CEOs, Executive Directors, and senior leaders to live more impactful and freer lives. I lead the Public Technology Leadership Collaborative at Data & Society, a peer-learning collective of scholars, researchers, and government leaders working to ensure data and technology serve the public interest. And I'm a Non-Resident Fellow with the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab.
Before all that, I led the Disinformation Action Lab at Data & Society, which won the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public inaugural Award for Excellence for its multi-stakeholder work on the 2020 Census. Once upon a time, I co-founded and ultimately led the Center for Digital Development at the U.S. Agency for International Development. I helped grow the team from 2 to 55, developed our strategy, and designed multi-stakeholder alliances like the Digital Impact Alliance.
I’m a graduate of the University of Washington (Go Huskies!) and the Harvard Kennedy School, I've received training on complex systems from The Sante Fe Institute and The Cynefin Company, and sometimes I teach at George Washington University. I’m a Seattleite by disposition living in Los Angeles, an obnoxiously proud uncle, and a new pug dad.
This is a personal project, all thoughts and opinions are my own and don’t reflect the institutional positions of Data & Society.
Join an upcoming cohort
Systems Change for Tech & Society Leaders
Cohort 1
$950
Dates
Payment Deadline
Course schedule
4-6 hours per week
July 19 - 20, Saturday & Sunday
9:00 - 1:00 pm PT
This is a fast, intensive, interactive course. You will learn how to catalyze real systems-change in just two days.
Q&A Session: July 29
3:00 - 4:00 pm PT
You’ll get the chance to attend a Q&A session following the course to dive into lingering questions about the material, and how to apply it in your working context.
1:1 Coaching
TBD
After the course, we'll schedule a 1:1 coaching session, where I can guide you through any obstacles that are specific to your situation
Course Workbook
Get access to section 1 of the 100-page workbook that accompanies the course.
The section is called, See your system clearly: power obscures problems in your sociotechnical system — learn to locate the problems! You can’t solve for what you can’t see.
Get this free resource
Learning is better with cohorts
Active hands-on learning
This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects
Interactive and project-based
You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams
Learn with a cohort of peers
Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you
Frequently Asked Questions
Join an upcoming cohort
Systems Change for Tech & Society Leaders
Cohort 1
$950
Dates
Payment Deadline