Dear Joanne, and Beyond Borders mates,
I'm very sorry that I missed the final class today, but I have to say it was well worth it. (here comes a LONG post, so get comfy, it's well worth it! I'll give you the coles notes version...)
Today I attended a conference in Cambridge called Venture 4 Change, put on by the folks of Capacity Waterloo . The conference was a mind blowing experience premised on the idea of bringing social innovators together in the name of uniting business and social innovation and change and especially of collaboration. (please pay special attention to the green text as they are links and can help to give you more information and insight)
The day began (with a wonderful breakfast and) with a really neat address from Tony Pigott of JWT (the marketing company responsible for branding and marketing Walmart's greener business model, STAND Canada, Tim Hortons etc). Tony spoke about how social venture can brand themselves and use marketing to get their message out and do more of the wonderful things that they do already. Tony is also the co-founder of BrandAid which is assisting developing world artisans build market power and bring their art to market in the interest of making money to sustain their businesses and communities. The brand aid website (linked above) includes micro-sites for all of the artisan communities that they are affiliated with. Check out this webisode (scroll down beyond Jan 17) for an introduction to one of their affiliates in Haiti: Croix des Bouquets-Fire Iron Art. Tony really hammered the point about building emotional capital and telling people your story. This is a helpful concept for us as beyond borders students looking to fundraise, or to do good things when we return from our placements. It is also helpful for me as I embark on growing Cookies with a Cause into something large, and a venture with the ability to increase the “good deed potential”. I want to share with you two very salient points of this opening address: 1) The artisan master from Croix des Bouquets said “if this is marketing, poverty needs marketing” illuminating that we need to open up space for poverty to be “showcased (if you will) in order to capture attention and much needed aid. The second salient point came from Tony's closing remarks – someone said “Canadians are the only people to take moderation to and extreme” and tony rebutted that this is no time to be modest. Canadians have so much to offer in the realm of social innovation especially to the global south. We need to recognize our assets, be confident in them, and use them for good in our global village.
The next even was a really neat panel discussion with a twist. They called it a “kitchen table discussion” where the panellists sat around a round table to facilitate discussion rather than a linear table that feels really top down and preachy. The topic of discussion was whether social ventures were a trend, or a way of the future. The 6 panellists hailed from a variety of backgrounds including youth programs, environmental programs and such. There were a few key points that came out of this segment of the day: 1)we need to do things with passion, and allow others the opportunity to engage in things that they are passionate about – give them something they believe in. This is close to my heart as I believe that this is the way that education and academia should be moving (I commented on this in a previous post). An education model that gives space to passion necessarily creates space for commitment and drive, and in turn excellence. 2) from this idea is that idea that we need to couple passion and leadership to be effective in effecting change. We, as young people, are the leaders and innovators of the future, so we need to figure out what we are passionate about and lead the initiatives that assist in those areas. 3) we must remember that the unsung heroes are the ones that are making a difference on a day to day basis. This does not mean Bono and U2; this means you doing the right things and good things in your daily life. This might mean finding a way to incorporate meaningful work as part of your job or career so that you are making a daily difference. 4) the final point that is a little bit cutesy, but definitely important: being driven vs being delusional. We must wither strike a careful balance between our dreams and reality, and if not, then err on the side of driven. The key here is to start small with real, measurable goals, and then move on – don't lose your drive to delusional ideas of unattainable results. The panellists were Julie McDowell of ClearlySo, Steve Cordes from YOU, Tina Venema of Philanthrokidz, John Colangeli CEO of Lutherwood, Peter Katona of Foodlink and Bruce Taylor founder of Enviro Stewards (Dave – this is of particular note to you, look them up, and talk to me if you're interested – this project screams your name) Each of the organizations are doing some effing cool stuff, and are worth a look.
Lunch was great (although I was a little bit surprised that their lunch buffet did not include a vegitarian option...), and the Lunch speaker was great (Sam Purdy, national director of the ReStore/Habitat for Humanity) but I am conscious of the length of this post, and so I will move on to other things.
After lunch we had something called “interactive open space session”. Topics were suggested and participants were free to move to which ever table topic they were most interested in. I suggested one of the chosen topics “ how do we engage the 'young ones' in social change. How do we user in the next generation of social innovators”. This discussion was rich and full. We discussed youth culture and how it can be connected to social venture and social innovation. There were 3 main points to our discussion and conclusions 1) delivering opportunities to youth, creating the opportunities and making youth aware that they exist. It is not that young people do not WANT to get involved, it is usually that they are unsure HOW to get involved. 2) Mentoring is infinitely important, and is a way to pass the torch. Mentoring can either be from field veterans, or even peer to peer. This gives young people and entrance into the field, and provides them with a guide to help navigate and find their place. 3) Communication is the missing link between social organizations and the young populations. This is how the field of social innovation can make youth aware of the opportunities, as well as match up young people with suitable mentors. Communication opens up space for dialogue, dialogue makes space to discuss need, and that is the crux of getting people involved. One thing that was said was really congruent with the work I am doing with kids is that we need to give young people ownership of their causes and initiatives. We need to help them get involved and then get out of their way so they can involve themselves as they see fit this will lead to meaningful involvement as a way of life, and not a chore.
The final part of the day (well, before the free booze came out) was spent listening to Jerry Greenfield tell the story of how Ben and Jerry's came about, and how they applied a radical business model that was built on the foundation of their core values of community and giving back. Some highlights – they introduces a business model that looks at financial statements as well as social statements to assess their business success, and giving back 7.5% of their pretax revenues to the Ben and Jerry's foundation – most business foundations only see a maximum of 1% of pretax revenues!!! these guys are amazing! And they learned to make ice cream through a $5 correspondence course that they split between the two of them! I spent as much time telling Felix the story as I did listening to the story. I wont re tell it here but please visit these links for more information on how Ben and Jerry's makes a difference: Ben and Jerry's, Wikipedia, Lecturer profile, Interview, Dough boy campaign, . OH, and one more important thing the Ben and Jerry's compay has announced that they are going fair trade: their ice cream (every flavour in every country, for the rest of time) will be 100% fair trade by 2013!!
Here's what I left the conference with: I had a mind blowing day. I was able to tell my story (well, stories, as I went to the conference wearing 3 hats: BB student, Cookies with a Cause, and my newly named youth program Youth4Change) and network with 150+ people who are kindred spirits and soul mates. The main theme of the conference, for me, was collaboration and bringing together like minds and like ideas to begin to create a network of people who are all connected in reaching the same goal. We were, in effect, breaking down the conventions of the old silo model. Instead of preaching, we were bringing the choir together. One of the round table panellists (John Colangeli) commented that people are not your strongest asset (for an organization), the RIGHT people are your strongest asset – I was in a room full of the RIGHT people. We were a bunch of people that are interested in sustainable capitalism. I participated in, and left this (AMAZING) conference with a similar feeling to other conference that I attend: with excited heart palpitations, and a heightened sense of vigour and (social change oriented) potency. There are others out there who are doing incredible things; people that care, people that “get it”. Today I networked like I have never networked before (PS Cat I met your friend Amanda from the women's centre, she's lovely, I'd love to keep in touch with her, can you connect us?!) I stole peoples brains (in the form of business cards and promises of future networking gatherings), gathered ideas, and re affirmed for myself that this, the cross roads between venture, innovation and change is really and truly where I belong.
There was a part of me today that was sad that I will be leaving for Ukraine in 1 month. I shared this with a fellow participant and she introduced me to the concept of “non doing” - she explained it as the time that we are NOT busy doing things to make sure things are going well the time that we allow the universe or cosmos to catch up with were we are at and give it the time and space to take it's own course. Sometimes the most powerful things that happen to us are the things that we didn't necessarily plan or control for. I am going to hold on to this little nugget, as I think it'll come in handy for me!
And perhaps you too....
*love*
PS I'll post some pictures when I upload them
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