💻 Workshops & Courses

Workshops

Workshops are online and interactive. Sign up below (Descriptions of each are included in the event invite.)

• Workshop #1: How to critically analyze data, June 5 from 3:00 - 4:00 PM PT.

Systems Change for Tech & Society Leaders

Overview

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:

• 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.

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 tools & exercises: get your hands on a 100-page workbook and unlimited access to Untangled for a whole year.

Who is this for?

You’re someone who’s trying to make change happen on tech & society issues but your system is stuck in place — you’re running huge consequential pieces of work and you can’t figure out how to make the system work for you.

This course is best suited for…

• Funders focused on tech & society issues, and trying to align their programs and grantees towards collective action.

• Non-profit & public interest leaders who want to craft strategies that align AI to their vision of the future, not the other way around.

• Senior policy, product, and partnership managers who want to shift the status quo in their company.

• Scholars, consultants, and ecosystem builders who think in systems but want frameworks and strategies to guide their practical interventions.

But you don’t have to fit in exactly with the above to learn something from this course. If you are starting to see that technology is a proxy for power, and you want to do something about that, this is the course for you!

Here’s what you’ll get

This highly-interactive two-day course will give you tactics that you can immediately implement into your work. This includes:

• 💻 9 hours of live & interactive sessions where 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 exercises & tools to provide you with helpful context and new challenges during the course, and great to refer to afterwards as you start to put your strategies into practice

• ✨ A 1:1 coaching session with me, where I can guide you through any obstacles that are specific to your situation

• 💡NEW: Exclusive access to monthly meetups with tech & society leaders to coach one another and share tips about frameworks learned in the course. With participants from organizations like New_Public, Center for Tech & Civic Life, Siegel Family Endowment, Stanford’s Digital Civil Society Lab, LAist, and many more.

• ❓NEW: Q&A session - 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.

• 📓 NEW: Hands-on Capstone Project - You’ll develop a ‘Customized Systems Change Plan’ and get personalized feedback from me in the 1:1 coaching session.

• 💌 Bonus: you also get a free subscription to Untangled for a year!

Course Structure

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 people are saying?

“Charley expertly guided us through a framework for making sense of the sociotechnical systems in which we work and live and offered important steps toward honoring their complexity while working toward interventions that can create meaningful change. The materials accompanying this course will certainly continue to guide my work long after finishing the course. If you are vexed by the complexity of the system you are aiming to change, this course will leave you feeling more empowered and hopeful about engaging with shaping this system for the better.” Madison Snider, Research Manager, Siegel Family Endowment

“Charley's course helped me think about our work at Driver's Seat Cooperative in important new ways - expanding the field of view and identifying some additional elements to consider in our strategy. The mindset shifts around technology that he brings to the table are all things "you can't unsee." Highly recommend to both practitioners and theorists.” Hays Witt, Community Engagement Manager, New_Public

"At first, I was concerned that giving up a good chunk of my weekend for this course would be too much, but it turned out to be the best way to spend my time. The concepts and frameworks that Charley introduced both validated that my approach to systems thinking is a worthwhile orientation and gave me tools and approaches that I was able to begin implementing at my organization within just a matter of days. I'm now scheming to see if I can convince the other peer leaders around me to also take this course so that we can all organize around the same concepts and speak the same systems change language." - Senior Trust & Safety Policy Manager

“Charley is an outstanding instructor. He brings fresh insights, grounds complex concepts through real-world cases, and encourages a truly systemic view of technology — reminding us that bias often stems from the social systems behind the tools, not just the tools themselves.” Cristina Velez, Digital Civil Society Lab Fellow, Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society

“This is the only course I've seen that weaves together systems thinking, tech and social organising principles in a multi-disciplinary way that gives you structures & frameworks to use and share with others to make change. If you're building something or doing work in a complex context, I bet it'll beat any other self-investment you could make this year!” Amanda Green, Community Builder, Operations Nation

”Charley is a terrific instructor. He broke down complex ideas and theories into tangible, actionable steps and left me with a sense of agency I didn't have going into the course.” Kristen Muller, Executive Editor, LA Local News Initiative

“This class was great! I loved being able to talk through real problems in a small group setting and get feedback from Charley. A focus on or knowledge of AI is not required, and the frameworks discussed are widely applicable to any context involving technology and/or organizational dynamics.” Steph Ban, Program Associate, Center for Tech and Civic Life

Thanks for making it all the way down here. To learn more or sign up to receive information about future cohorts, visit my website or Maven.