Abstract Growing social inequalities, which trigger and accentuate social exclusion and poverty, have reinforced the relevance of social innovation to formulate alternative responses to what has been offered in models consolidated by the status quo. This study analyzes social innovation through the lens of social technology, a concept developed and documented by Latin American researchers. Considering the relevance of social technologies for the transformation of disadvantaged social scenarios, this study offers a central contribution: a conceptual model of processual nature that allows for the identification of key mechanisms underlying the transformation promoted by a social technology. The results were produced from a single, in-depth case study of a civil society organization of public interest that has been promoting social transformations in the semi-arid region of Ceará, mainly contributing to reduce the exodus of young people by the promotion of rural entrepreneurship. As a result of this analysis, we developed a conceptual model to theorize social technologies that can contribute to the better understanding of their mechanisms and action model.