Paradigm Found: Leading and Managing for Positive Change

Anne Firth Murray

New World Library,  May 2006

In 1987, Anne Firth Murray had the idea that funding should go to grassroots women's organizations around the globe and that the recipients themselves should decide how to use that money. From that idea, The Global Fund for Women was born. The organization became a major force for good in the world, embodying a new paradigm of philanthropy. In these pages, Murray shares her wisdom, offering guidelines that demonstrate how anyone can turn a clear vision of a better world into reality.

paperback | ISBN: 9781577315339 | Publication Date: May 2006

Reviews:
"I am grateful that Anne Firth Murray and thousands of women around the world dreamed, struggled, and succeeded in planting the seeds and reaping the harvest of the new paradigm she describes here so compellingly. Her experience and clarity provide an essential text for us all. Either we learn to lead organizations based on human generosity, kindness, and wisdom, or we will descend further into the chaos created when we disown these qualities."
--Margaret J. Wheatley, author of Leadership and the New Science and Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time

"These are many of us around the world who have been personally influenced by the principles and the model that Anne describes . . . Readers of this book [will] find inspiration in its practical suggestions and clear guidelines for thinking about their own philanthropic work in new ways."
--from the foreword by Esther B. Hewlett

"Paradigm Found is a must-read for anyone interested in social change and the remarkable history of The Global Fund for Women. Murray's own highly personal and fascinating story is inspirational, instructive, and insightful -- the story of an extraordinary woman and an extraordinary life."
--Thomas C. Layton, president, Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation

"Few people feel deeply enough to act on the gender and equity gaps they encounter. When they do, the power of their conviction and unrestrained commitment creates magic. I salute this book as I do Anne Firth Murray's work. Paradigm Found is an invaluable reference for any and all who dare to walk their paths to fruition."
--Rita Thapa, founder, Tewa, and founding president, Nagarik Aawaz

"Anne Firth Murray is an entrepreneur in the nonprofit world."
--United Airlines Hemispheres magazine

"This powerful and refreshing book explores what it means to devote a lifetime to the service of others, with a focus on the leadership, vision, passion, and humility it takes to use resources as tools for the empowerment of women. Paradigm Found makes us realize that after all, what makes for visionary philanthropy is not the size of an endowment but the size of one's heart."
--Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, cofounder and executive director, African Women's Development Fund

"Anne Firth Murray's honest and valuable advice has inspired and encouraged us since the very first month of FACE AIDS, and we are happy to find that same wisdom right here for everyone to read. Her insight is invaluable -- it could help anyone build a successful organization. Her story of transforming her idea into the largest foundation in the world focused exclusively on women's rights will give you faith in your ability to make an impact on the world."
--Lauren Young, Katie Bollbach, and Jonny Dorsey, founders of FACE AIDS

"Reading Anne's story, I learned new things about the nuts and bolts of building an organization from scratch, about enrolling others in a grand adventure, and about savoring as well as saving the world. With great gratitude to Anne and to Paradigm Found, I look forward with new eyes and fresh energy to the adventures of my own life."
--Barbara Waugh, PhD, director, university relations, Hewlett-Packard Company

"In Paradise Found, Anne Firth Murray described how strong vision, fierce resolve, and leadership humility combine gracefully to create a unique laboratory for historic social change. We at Global Greengrants Fund are indebted to Anne and her colleagues for enabling us to better understand some of what distinguishes successful social movements and how financial resources help and sometimes hurt."
--Chet Tchozewski, founder and executive director, Global Greengrants Fund

"Do you read the newspapers with mounting despair that makes you want to go back to bed? This is a book to give you back your get-up-and-go. Anne Firth Murray offers hope and practical suggestions for those of us who believe that the world deserves a better future and that, in Gandhi's words, 'we must be the change we wish to see.' In telling the tale of one very special organization, Anne provides lively advice and wise insights on the challenges, joys, and rewards of being a social entrepreneur in modern times."
--Kavita Nandini Ramdas, president and CEO, The Global Fund for Women

"Anne Firth Murray has given us a wonderfully readable look into her own personal journey to establish what has become the lighthouse funding organization for women's rights and justice around the world, The Global Fund for Women. More important, she offers a compelling challenge to mainstream organizational and management theory and provides the reader with a concrete example of how to structure and operate an organization 'the way [she] wanted the world to be: friendly, modest, diverse, honest, respectful, loving, fair, efficient, and effective.'"
--Christopher Harris, senior program officer, governance and civil society, the Ford Foundation