Why does social innovation matter?
What an inspiring day I have just had in Bogota learning from outstanding system entrepreneurs with compelling stories.
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Here are dynamic young founders of philanthropic organisations and not for profits, young global leaders, top-notch professionals leading big conversations at the Inter-American Development Bank, and a young woman helping to build resilience strategies in West, Central and North Africa because she believes in “resilience building that addresses underlying drivers of vulnerability.”
Here are young women challenging ways in which others think about and deliver aid to Africa by empowering communities to be change agents, men working to end gender-based violence, established writers and authors, and people with awards pitching them among a global network of the world’s leading social innovators.
It has been truly fascinating.
Overall, it appears to me that these colleagues are driven by a dream, a dream to affect and effect social change, a desire to be relevant, a need to connect so as to multiply the effect of their influence and an ambition to be greater than they ever imagined. Lina Maria, co-founder of Alianca Empreendedora, a microfinancing institute that has at this point spread into 19 states in Brazil, has a great story.
Experiences
Sharing her experiences, she described her journey as moving from “an employee of a non-governmental organisation” to an entrepreneur who as defined by her, is a person with more than just another paying job, to a person whose perspectives were significantly reframed by her mentor to “see new things and believe she was capable of more through bigger connections, bigger impact and bigger effect on systems”.
Eloquent and passionate, Lina shared three key requirements needed to be a successful entrepreneur, encapsulated in three simple questions. Who am I? – delving into one’s identity and what one is passionate and dreams about and what one’s view of their self-image is. What do I know? – delving into one’s knowledge and experiences. Finally, who do I know? – delving into what high impact networks one could tap into. She described these three questions as not only easy to answer but hugely empowering to the extent that they forced one to focus on his/her assets and resources compared to a rigorously written business plan which often stirred feelings of inadequacy because of the glaring personal and resource deficiencies it often exposed. In the words of Eric Young then, effecting change is about “making connections that create extraordinary outcomes.”
Social entrepreneurship and system entrepreneurship
It has also been a day when I have heard social entrepreneurship distinguished from system entrepreneurship. While social entrepreneurs have generally been defined as “individuals with innovative solutions to society's most pressing social problems…ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change”, systemic entrepreneurship aspires to transcend the above goal and press on into the realm of tackling the underlying structure or systems that created those social problems to start with.
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Today, my aim is to reach out to people that have latched onto some bold idea but have lacked courage to break out and act upon their dreams. I target those that have ideas, so gigantic that the mere thought of stepping out scares them. I reach out to people who are not satisfied with their status quo and want to reach out with the strength and power of their dreams to change their lives and the world forever. It could be in the world of politics, in the world of non-profits, in starting a new company, in breaking free from the comfort of government employment and simply reaching out to make significant impact on a large scale.
British Council’s InterAction Leadership programme
Today also, I am reminded that truly, a small group of people can really change the world if they are so inclined through the power of networks.
I recall the British Council’s InterAction Leadership programme in 2006. Being one of its early beneficiaries and later facilitators, I grew to appreciate how often a small class of 15 presumably little known young leaders could make a great difference. I watched in sheer fascination as young change agents, burning with the zeal to challenge the deficit view of Africa seized the opportunities that InterAction offered, built their leadership capacity to make a difference in our spheres of influence.
A few years later, leaders such as Shamima Muslim proceeded to take the Ghanaian media by storm with her intelligence, eloquence and beauty. Young leaders such as Ali Ibrahim founded non-profits such as ‘Youth for Change’ in the Atwima Nwabiagya District of the Ashanti Region with the bold vision of creating a society “in which all children and young people have equal opportunities to unearth their talents to make efficient use of their potentials in life”. John Denanyoh proceeded to lecture at the National Film and Television Institute with a clear focus on deploying media for development. The likes of Frank Paa Kumi found a niche in youth leadership and governance and established the Passionate Africa Leadership Institute. Yawa Hansen-Quao is now a well-known public figure making waves as the founder of the Leading Ladies Network (LLN), which is described as a “resource and relationship base for young women as they take leadership roles in government, civil society, corporate organisations and others”.
Clearly the faith and mentorship of other great leaders such as Janet Adama Mohammed, award-winning global peace builder, Emelia Arthur, Presidential Advisor and other phenomenal facilitators who continue to make a difference as system entrepreneurs has left a mark. Most of all, the above young leaders also believed in their God-given talents, built their capacities continuously and run with their opportunities.
You too can change your world. This was the message of our InterAction Leadership programme yesterday. This is the message of the 2016 Class of Rockefeller Fellows of Social Innovation today, as we aspire to tackle not just the social ills, but the systems that birth them.