Towards Sustainable Development: What is a Social Entrepreneur?
DK Matai - August 17, 2006
Having spent time earlier this year as a keynote speaker and panellist on New Generation Philanthropists at The World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship alongside Al Gore, Robert Redford, Sir Ben Kingsley, Jeff Skoll, Sir Ronald Cohen, Bunker Roy and Mohammad Yunus, at The University of Oxford, in my capacity as the co-founder of The Philanthropia -- Trinity Club, Syndicates and Ethical Investment Funds -- in Switzerland, the questions that have been foremost in my mind are as follows:
1. What precisely is a 'Social Entrepreneur'?; and
2. How can the rising wave of social entrepreneurship bring about a renaissance in modern capitalism to take it beyond its focus on short term gain over 90 day horizons -- rigorously imposed by financial markets -- towards sustainable investment perspectives which may be decades long?
Mahatma Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the World."
We know that a social entrepreneur is someone who develops social innovation through entrepreneurial solutions. A social entrepreneur takes notice of a social problem or need, decides to passionately pursue it, creatively innovates new solutions and entrepreneurially addresses the issue through an organised 'business plan' approach, thus allowing the social entrepreneur to address the issue of sustainability of the social venture undertaken.
According to Bill Drayton's Ashoka, the job of a social entrepreneur is to recognize when a part of society is stuck and to provide new ways to get it unstuck. He or she finds what is not working and solves the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution and persuading entire societies to take new leaps. Social entrepreneurs are not content just to offer food rations or to teach how to grow food. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the food industry.
Identifying and solving large-scale social problems requires a social entrepreneur because only the entrepreneur has the committed vision and inexhaustible determination to persist until they have transformed an entire system. Scholars come to rest when they express an idea. Professionals succeed when they solve a client's problem. Managers call it quits when they have enabled their organization to succeed. Social entrepreneurs go beyond the immediate problem to fundamentally change communities, societies, and ultimately, the world.
According to the Schwab Foundation, a social entrepreneur is a different kind of social leader who:
. Identifies and applies practical solutions to social problems by combining innovation, resourcefulness and opportunity;
. Innovates by finding a new product, a new service, or a new approach to a social problem;
. Focuses first and foremost on social value creation and in that spirit, is willing to share openly the innovations and insights of the initiative with a view to its wider replication;
. Doesn't wait to secure the resources before undertaking the catalytic innovation;
. Is fully accountable to the constituencies (s)he serves;
. Resists being trapped by the constraints of ideology or discipline;
. Continuously refines and adapts approach in response to feedback; and
. Has a vision, but also a well-thought out roadmap as to how to attain the goal.
Social Entrepreneurship describes an approach to a social issue. It is not a field of discipline that can be learned in academia. An approach that cuts across disciplines -- medicine, engineering, law, education, investment banking, agronomy, environment, etc -- and is not confined to sectors: health, transportation, finance, labour, trade, and the like. It is more related to leadership than to management.
The Barefoot College
A good example of social entrepreneurship is demonstrated by the world famous educator Sanjit Bunker Roy, who delivered the keynote address at The World Forum. He has found that tapping local wisdom and initiative can help villagers achieve empowerment.
When Bunker Roy came face to face with a devastating famine that killed thousands in the Indian state of Bihar over 30 years ago, his vocation was suddenly sealed. It would not be in the city but in the countryside, it would not be in the upper echelons of the civil service but at the grassroots, with the village people.
Since founding the Social Work and Research Centre in 1972, Roy has been living in Tilonia, a village in one of India’s largest, driest and most famous states, Rajasthan. Better known as the Barefoot College, the centre has trained two generations of villagers without any formal paper qualifications to become health-care workers, solar engineers, hand-pump mechanics and teachers in their communities.
Thanks largely to its efforts, over 100,000 people in 110 villages now have access to safe drinking water, education, health and employment. Rural youth once regarded as “unemployable” install and maintain solar electricity systems, hand pumps and tanks for drinking water. At special workshops, young artisans upgrade local skills acquired through generations. And on an average evening, about 3,000 children (60 per cent of whom are girls) spend their days grazing cattle and helping their elders make their way to night school (there are now 150 of them around Tilonia), taught by local residents with rarely more than eight years of schooling.
The project’s success is proof that sometimes an outsider’s view can be a lasting catalyst for development. Since graduating from New Delhi’s St Stephen’s College, one of India’s most prestigious educational institutions, Roy has devoted his life to Tilonia and bettering the conditions of the rural poor. It was a radical move: “If someone wants to do work in a village, the formal education system discourages him,” asserts Roy. “The mindset that this system inculcates in students is that going back to the villages is a losing proposition. Remaining in the city is considered a success.”
Roy looks upon the Barefoot College as a multiplier force that uses traditional knowledge as a tool to reach the goals that conventional government policies have often been unable to achieve. Twenty Barefoot College field centres can now be found in 13 of India’s 26 states, and the expansion is set to continue. “The idea is to use local wisdom before we involve expertise from outside,” states Roy.
In Tilonia, education and development are inextricably linked. Youth are trained to use technologies that serve their communities while children learn about environmental themes such as solar electricity, which is used in most of their schools. “Night school students learn from resource persons who are not only their teachers, but also farmers, policemen, or local officials,” explains Roy.
For Roy, taking some of the responsibility for education out of the hands of government could speed up progress towards universal primary education in his country. “Encourage private initiative without commercialising education. Give private initiative more responsibility, more space, more freedom,” he says. As things stand now, the formal system alone cannot answer the challenge of rural education. “It destroys initiative and creativity. It expects you to do everything the way they say, the way they do,” he says. The starting point is to understand the reality of the rural poor — “about 60 or 70 per cent of children never go to school in the morning because they are supposed to work and rear cattle” — and to channel these children into vocational training at an early age so that they can gain new skills while continuing to help their families.
If Roy feels that creativity is not always the strength of government, the Barefoot College is breeding its own generation of committed and politically minded individuals: in Tilonia, it is the children’s parliament, an elected body of girls and boys between 10 and 14 years of age that is responsible for making sure that schools are run properly—an ingenious way of giving children a hold on their own lives—and that of their villages.
The past two decades have seen an extraordinary explosion of entrepreneurship and competition in the social sector. The social sector has discovered what the business sector learned from the railroad, the stock market and today's digital revolution: that nothing is as powerful as a big new idea — if it is in the hands of a first class entrepreneur.
In country after country the number of citizen organizations is up hundreds, often thousands-fold. Tiny Slovakia had a handful of such organizations in 1989 and now boasts more than 10,000. Of the approximately 2 million citizen sector organizations working in the United States, 70 percent of them were established in the last 30 years. Eastern Europe has seen more than 100,000 such organizations established in the seven years following the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The revolution — led by leaders committed to social entrepreneurship — is fundamentally changing the way society organizes itself and the way we approach social problems. These leaders are certainly doing more than giving food or money away. They are teaching the world to reorganise itself along more long term and sustainable lines by bringing about a renaissance in the way we think. There in lie the seeds for changing the thrust of modern capitalism towards longevity and sustainability. The renaissance in terms of measuring return on investment through emotional dividends, happiness, social responsibility, cohesion and fulfilment -- beyond the singular lens of capital and financial accounting -- has already begun!
The social entrepreneurship approach if applied on a global basis may also reduce accelerating polarisation and initiation of further wars.
To conclude with Mahatma Gandhi: "Non-violence and truth are inseparable and presuppose one another."
Yours ever
DK
DK Matai
The Philanthropia, ATCA, mi2g.net
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Posted by DK Matai at August 17, 2006 09:13 AM
Comments
Great article DK. Roy really inspires. My thought is, if one man can be a catalyst for 100,000...just imagine what 100,000 like him can do.
What Roy did/does is great and if he can transfer this vision to various social leaders/workers, that is, find like-minded people like him to innovate, the effect will be even greater.
North, in your case, I'd suggest the same thing. Instead of being the only person to propagate the change(advocacy), you could maybe join hands with people who are passionate thereby making yur case stronger. That way, no threat could shake down your vision.
The thing is, our ideas have to be propagated through a collective which could help us reach a critical mass to be most efficient.
2. Posted by
RJ
![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.intentblog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
on
August 17, 2006 03:49 PM
D K, another great blogpost. I am really proud of what you have achieved. I like the way you quote our beloved Gandhiji.
I am going to share a secret with you. Please keep this a secret!! "Social Entrepreneur", the phrase, is new to me!! Thank you for the lesson.
My father, a graduate of a medical school, from Poona,(Maharashtra State) came back to home town, in Northern Karnatak, population of 10,000, to practice. The home town, surrounded by some sixty or so tiny villages, population ranging from 100 to 1000, boasted of 4 schools upto 7th grade. 95% of the townfolk, and villagefolk, too poor to go to big cities for further education. He organised a Vidya Vardhak Sangha,(organisation that promotes learning) opened a high school first and then an Arts college, and a Commerce College. Most of the really poor received scholorships. My small town has become a centre for education due to one man's dream. My fathers has passed on, but his memory is very alive in the hearts and minds of thousands of people who have reaped the fruits of his labor. I am tearful, thinking of him, and my heart swells with pride to be his daughter.
Was he a social entrepreneur??
D K thank you. Namaskar.
3. Posted by
geetajayaram
on
August 17, 2006 08:00 PM
Worth a good read. thanks.
I like u Dk MaTaI.
4. Posted by
cHoMsKy
on
August 17, 2006 08:15 PM
DK:
Good article! And very well put too! I was wondering what you think of Ck Prahlad's "Pyramid" paradigm that he talks in his book?
Sometime in 1995-96 I was part of a team that did a complete re-engineering study on CAPART - the largest donor organization in India... At that time, I did get a chance to meet some of my alumni from IRMA at Ford Foundation and elsewhere as well as Bunker Roy - since he was on the board. While I commend and admire his work and that of the others like Sanjoy Ghosh (tragically killed in Assam some years back)... I found that the NGO movement in India was sadly very inefficient.
Dont mistake me.. there are a ton of success stories... but not nearly enough... in fact if the track record of integrity that the NGO sector the world over demo-es was repeated by the commercial sector ... Sarbanes Oxley would have been brought many years back and in much tighter manner.
I have believed that:
Spiritual Quotient = Deeds/Ego
Your spiritual quotient cannot be infinity (and therefore you become "Enlightened" or God itself) unless your Ego = 0. No matter how high the value of your Deeds is .. the Ego has to be Zero. The catch is that as Deeds' value rises.... Ego rises too in normal human beings. We maynot think that it so happens.. but it really does.
I saw that amply demonstrated by the stalwarts of the NGO sector including the Bunker Roys of the world!
They all want funding sans accountability. It was during that study that I had mooted the idea of a variant of "Credit Rating" for the NGO sector in India on a formal level - at least for funding from the Governemnt agencies.. and the resistance and ridicule I got was amazing to see! To me it was striking because it was (and still is) very common place for people in Bihar to trade NGOs with 3 year registered period as Dowry!!! because such NGOs would get the funding from CAPART... and noone cared what they did!! It amused me no end to see - again remember in 1995 - almost all NGOs in Lucknow (from nearby villages and towns) had AIDS as the number one agenda! On enquiry I found that AIDS had suddenly that year become an issue of focus for some foreign donors like DANIDA and Ford! Such is the bankruptcy of integrity.. and despite that the stalwarts had this Holier-than-thou air about them.. as if just because they did something ... entire mess could be excused!
It is important to - as you have rightly pointed out - bring the empowerment to the masses.. through education and vocation.. that is where Social Entrepreneurship experiments like Grameen Bank and AMUL are so important.. but we often dont understand that central reason for such experiments to succeed!
The foundational reason is - as an outsider - you ONLY need to provide the STRUCTURE and NOT the "substance", if you will. The 'substance' of the movement needs to be born OUT of the population itself where the externally provided STRUCTURE aligns and helps the efforts of the locals!
The problem comes when - we outsiders (and the "educated") - assume far more responsibility and credit than is required and useful!!
Grameen Bank, AMUL, and Lijjat papad movements have demonstrated this so well.. but we have been shy to learn appropriate lessons.
Cheers,
Desh
Drishtikone.com
5. Posted by
Desh kapoor
on
August 17, 2006 08:21 PM
Another point that I forgot to emphasize was Social Entrepreneurship is good and useful in long term when it can alter the social structures in a positive manner. This is not possible without the element of Sustainability!
Sustainability in some ways (thought it is strongly espoused by all NGO-folks) runs counter to the basic assumptions of the Halo-ed beings of the non-profit world! It really takes commercial underpinnings in your 'Structure' for Social revolution to take place.
If Mohd. Yunus had shied from institutionalizing interest rates on the loans or Kurien did not follow the payment on basis of a formal fat/nonfat milk ingredient formula for the poor farmers.. these movements would have failed as many others.
So while I agree with you that Entrepreneurship is largely responsible for the Sustainability.. I differ with you that the ROI ought to take into account "Happiness" as an income as opposed to a more commercial alternative.
The social and emotional returns are predicated NOT the value that a person helped "directly" gets.... but what he/she derives from the Success and longevity ... and indeed from the formal and sustaining nature of the Risk-Reward relationship of his/her effort!
The reason a person does not make an effort to succeed - or rise from poverty - is that in one's mind .. somewhere.. the Risk-Reward relationship has become MEANINGLESS!! When it is apparent to a person that Reward is not commensurate to the risk (and effort)... the urge to make the effort diminishes.
Sustainable Social Entrepreneurs unknowingly RE-ESTABLISH that relationship!
To see returns from your efforts.. is the only source of happiness and satisfaction.
Heretic as it may sound... Social movements do need to be managed like the corporations. That is why I have high hopes from Gates Foundation and am happy that the person I respect and admire unabashedly - Buffett - concurred with that principle!
Cheers,
Desh
Drishtikone.com
6. Posted by
Desh kapoor
on
August 17, 2006 08:48 PM
Desh
I agree. There's no doubt Sustainability goes hand in hand with Social Entrepreneurship.
I think Social Entrepreneurs have to consider some key aspects during their planning/implementation stages. According to Jeffrey D.Sachs, in his End of Poverty, a true Millenium Development Goal-based poverty reduction strategy would have 5 parts:
1. Differential diagnosis
2. Investment Plan
3. Financial Plan to fund Investment Plan
4. Donor Plan
5. Public Management Plan
That way, the whole process is transparent and we'll be able to see tangible evidence of the social work being done.
In India, the rural health system needs various forms of subsidies until the poor are able to pay for their health services. Ofcourse, in really neglected areas, the time taken to see self-sustained results are longer and needs more attention.
Moreover, new rural partnerships have to be forged between NGOs, Govt, Donors, International agencies etc, because the scale of development should not be limited to 100s of thousands but millions.
7. Posted by
RJ
on
August 17, 2006 11:52 PM
Hi DK,
This is one of the best posts I have read on the IB. But can you please provide some links so that I can know more about the work being done by the Barefoot College and other such folks?
Hi Desh,
I loved reading both your posts. But I just want to straighten out a contradiction that’s cropped up in my mind. You say in your post # 6 “To see returns from your efforts…is the only source of happiness and satisfaction” What exactly do you mean by “returns” in this context? You have often said that Geeta is the most profound document you’ve read. Now Geeta says that you should keep doing your duty without an eye on the result (karma nev dikaraste, Ma faleshu kadachane); that the true happiness lies in the deed itself. Do you admire the entire contents of Geeta or do you put them to scrutiny and reject those that don’t make practical sense to you, like this absence of Risk-Reward relationship between effort and result as advocated by Geeta?
A social entrepreneur is bound to face insurmountable odds in his quest for his mission. Unless his efforts are backed up with an element of altruism, I don’t think he would be able to launch a sustainable endeavor for long. Too much emphasis on short-term results wouldn’t have enabled V G Kurien to do what he did with Amul.
It’s good to know that you are an unabashed admirer of Warren Buffett, the world’s second richest man who’s made his fortune from the stock market. I think majority of the people in the Forbes list follow the message of Geeta unconsciously! They’ve gotten rich by accident! They just did what they loved to do anyway. I had a feeling of déjà vu when I read Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”. It resonated with the thousands-year-old message of Geeta! And Stephen may have only heard about that book!
I understand that sometimes it becomes difficult to blend a philosophical message with what we must do in our everyday lives. Trust, for instance, is a great virtue, but it would be foolish for me not to make sure that the bucket I buy in the marketplace doesn’t have a hole in it before I pay for it!
Indeed, when examined in the context of cold business realities of quid pro quo, your contention makes perfect sense! I guess I have straightened myself out!
Sanjeev
8. Posted by
klumsyklutz
on
August 18, 2006 05:27 AM
Dear Sanjeev
As requested, the hyperlink of Barefoot College is http://www.barefootcollege.org/
Thank you for your thoughts, observations and views.
Best wishes
Operations Unit
The Philanthropia
For and on behalf of DK Matai
The Philanthropia, ATCA, mi2g.net
Dear Desh
Prof CK Prahlad's book "Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid" is well known to us at The Philanthropia and some of the well known implementors like Unilever's Projects are also on our radar. We are not entirely convinced that unless the top of the pyramid changes fundamentally that altering the bottom of the pyramid is going to save the day.
Whilst there is some merit in what Prof Prahlad says, there are some other philosophies which are also taking root, which are worth welcoming such as "Philanthrocapitalism" in which the very top of the Pyramid seeks to invest substantially in a way that the return on investment is measured more on the basis of emotional dividends and helping to build a better world rather than purely on the basis of double digit capital growth year in year out.
Thank you for your thoughts.
Best wishes
Research Unit
The Philanthropia
For and on behalf of DK Matai
The Philanthropia, ATCA, mi2g.net
Sanjeev:
You are really good!! Thanks man... for keeping me honest and thinking! :-)
Actually you are right about Gita's message and the Risk-Reward thing. But if you look at Gita.. Krishna says explicitly that the 'lust' for result is harmful BECAUSE it either makes you happy or sad. To be balanced in your emotions you need to leave your lust for the result. "True Accomplished Yogi is one, who is neither happy at good results .. nor sad at a bad result" is I think how Krishna put it.
But in the normal world, people want to be happy.. as DK assumes it should be true (and rightly so - since we arent dealing with Enlightened Buddhas)...
The place where I differ from DK is that he looks at the emotions as INGREDIENTS.. and I look at Emotions as the FINAL RESULTS.
Actually, Kurien's altruism was staying back in the village and working despite having offers from some top MNCs... however the structure he provided had very little space for altruism.. it was formal and very driven towards meritrocracy in the sense that the best milk will get the higher price!
I did my Masters at IRMA (Institute of Rural Management at Anand).. and the first thing we were told there when Kurien first talked to us was - we were NOT Rural Development professionals.... but Rural MANAGERS!! I think he was right in that!
Cheers,
Desh
Drishtikone.com
11. Posted by
Desh kapoor
on
August 18, 2006 06:22 AM
DK:
"the very top of the Pyramid seeks to invest substantially in a way that the return on investment is measured more on the basis of emotional dividends and helping to build a better world rather than purely on the basis of double digit capital growth year in year out."
VERY WELL PUT!! I am with you on that one. I think again ROI can lead to higher emotional dividends if you can translate them into financial returns.
The paradigm of "Corporate Growth" (as the stock market views it) and "Social Growth" (as I am suggesting too) have the same measuring tape - financial returns.. however they differ on one fundamental point .... financial returns WITH RESPECT TO WHOM?
in the CG paradigm - the returns are measured wrt MY pocket... but in the SG paradigm.. it ought to be measured with respect to the beneficiary's pocket.
However, the return should not be a foregone conclusion (as in altruism or charity).. but the RISK (effort)-REWARD equation should be!!
I like your ideas dear DK!
Cheers,
Desh
Drishtikone.com
12. Posted by
Desh kapoor
on
August 18, 2006 07:42 AM
Dear Geeta
Based on what you state, your father appears to have had the traits of social entrepreneurship in so many respects.
There is no doubt that he was a great man, as most Social Heros are completely unsung and unbeknownst to the world. Yet, they carry on and leave a beautiful legacy for humankind at the local level, where it matters the most. Global is a hollow word without benefits at the local level.
With well wishes
DK
DK Matai
The Philanthropia, ATCA, mi2g.net
Dear DK and friends,
Your linking of sustainable development with the work of social entrepreneurs is insightful and timely. And it’s a convergence that will become much more energetic in 2007, for reasons spelled out below.
When we set up SustainAbility in 1987, six months before the Brundtland Commission report "Our Common Future" appeared, sustainable development wasn’t yet on the agenda, at least in such terms. But there were already a fair number of social entrepreneurs – as in the case of Bunker Roy, whom you mention, and in the OECD nations in such areas as whole foods and solar energy. For much of the intervening two decades, however, the worlds of sustainable development and social entrepreneurship have been on diverging paths.
Paradoxically, this problem was aggravated by the growing interest in big business – particularly with the rapid evolution of bodies like the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (http://www.wbcsd.org). Many people’s thinking shrank down to relatively narrow (and in some cases self-serving) formulations of corporate responsibility in terms of citizenship. The focus was on issues like ‘eco-efficiency,’ rather than on much more fundamental socioeconomic challenges like poverty.
In recent years, happily, a much wider range of such issues have surfaced routinely at events like the annual summits of the World Economic Forum. But, in the process, it is becoming clear that corporate citizenship alone has very little hope of addressing the great divides the world faces in terms of hunger, poverty, famine, pandemics, climate change and so on. In Brundtland’s twentieth anniversary year we need to refocus the spotlight on creativity, innovation, entrepreneurial solutions, replicability and scalability. And on the potentially crucial roles of financial markets, governments and private citizens, each of us.
These are some of the challenges we are addressing in our new program funded by The Skoll Foundation. They are also challenges that Pamela Hartigan (of The Schwab Foundation, http://www.schwabfound.org) and I are discussing in our new book for Harvard Business School Press, due out next April. In 2007, SustainAbility’s twentieth year, we see a growing need for exactly the sort of convergent thinking you are demonstrating in your work.
Thank you for catalysing this debate – and I look forward to following future rounds.
Best wishes,
John
John Elkington
Founder & Chief Entrepreneur
SustainAbility
www.sustainability.com
www.johnelkington.com
14. Posted by
John Elkington
on
August 18, 2006 09:48 AM
Dear DK and Desh,
Wonderful posts. It is always great to hear from people who have done grassroots work.
While in Bangalore, I visited a non-profit organization run by Anantkumar (MP from Bangalore) and family. It is called Adamya Chetana (http://www.raktadan.org/Adamyachetana.htm) and they cater midday meals to government schools in and around Bangalore. This is subsidized by Govt of Karnataka and they raise the rest from charitable contributions. Govt pays Rs. 1.30 per meal and it costs Rs 2.0. I visited their kitchen and it is a huge setup catering to some 70,000 children every day. Every child who receives this meal must write one page every day. What is more, the school attendance has increased substantially since they started this scheme. Hats off to Mr Anantkumar and Supreme Court of India which mandated this scheme all over India.
Regards,
Ravi Kulkarni
15. Posted by
Ravi Kulkarni
on
August 18, 2006 08:56 PM
Dear John
Having spent time speaking to the WBCSD in Geneva, I know exactly what you mean. CSR is not Corporate Social Responsibility on most occasions but rather thinly disguised Corporate Self-serving Relations and the world has moved on, as you rightly point out.
With ATCA, since 2001, we have seen the inter-play of four critical actors in helping to solve complex global challenges ranging from climate chaos, radical poverty, organised crime and extremism on the one hand through to the emergence of new technology and the ethics of its implementation in the context of robotics, nanotechnology, genetics, artificial intelligence and informatics on the other. Those critical actors -- in priority order of delivering tangible results -- are:
1. Individual Philanthropists, their Foundations and Social Entrepreneurs;
2. Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs);
3. Corporates; and
4. Governments.
And then there is the elephant-in-the-room complex global challenge which requires the re-engineering of the DNA of the financial markets, which are based on a type of capitalism that encourages short term thinking and not enough focus on sustainability.
How does one bring about a renaissance?
In the context of our experience from ATCA -- an ongoing and successful philanthropic initiative and I know you are a member -- my wife, Surinda, and I founded The Philanthropia. Why? We fundamentally believe that complex global challenges are going to be tackled more and more by individual initiative both at the grassroots level -- manifest as Social Entrepreneurship -- and at the Strategic Investment level, led by Philanthropists, who will demand change from corporations to demonstrate sustainability or vote by not holding their stock! This renaissance unleashed by large scale philanthropic investors coupled with individual grass-roots pressure will pave the way for pension funds as primary institutional players holding on to USD 7+ trillion of assets in the US alone to fulfil their fiduciary duty of looking after the planet, its quality of life and preserving the environment for the next generation beyond just delivering growth in capital without asking clear and transparent questions of the invested companies in terms of: "Are you helping to build a better world for this generation and the next?"
Here-in lies the incentive for deep change in corporate behaviour via the financial markets: the movement of large scale individuals, pension funds and related institutional capital away from stocks, shares and other financial instruments linked to unsustainable value propositions.
Ratings based on sustainable indices pioneered by some of the most well known research groups are beginning to accelerate this and about 50 close friends -- technology entrepreneurs turned philanthropists -- have given us the encouragement as The Philanthropia to envisage five ethical investment funds based out of Switzerland/Luxembourg -- Euro 500 million each:
1. Clean Energy
2. Sustainable Technologies
3. Micro-finance
4. Water
5. Eco-friendly Infrastructure
The beauty of this ethical philanthrocapital approach is that the funds invested yield a return on capital for the individual philanthropist investors and their foundations, ensure that their entire capital is helping to build a better world -- rather than a small percentage which goes out to donations -- and then if certain returns are achieved, a percentage becomes available for grassroots social entrepreneurship as well, on an ongoing self-fulfilling basis.
Yours ever
DK
DK Matai
The Philanthropia, ATCA, mi2g.net
Wow you guys are inspiring! You're really digging in an doing the work.
It's a fantastic breakthrough for for a local people when someone helps them figure out a way to manage their resources, time, and improve their lifestyle and education levels.
It's a breakthrough for all of humanity when someone figures out how to replicate that success non-locally so that urban and rural poor communities worldwide can leverage the new technology.
It is happening with micro-lending. Perhaps the Barefoot College will be the first of hundreds of similar efforts springing up all over the third world.
Poverty seems like a huge, overwhelming problem. But if the local people themselves can provide the manpower operate the programs of a few good entrepeneurs such as yourselves, and this result can be replicated in any poor community, regardless of religion or language spoken, then suddenly there's something there besides blind hopes and wishes.
You guys have added a new deimension to the Intent Blog.
Please let's hear more good news like this!
17. Posted by
yogi-one
on
August 19, 2006 11:24 AM
DK, thank you for a very inspiring blog. This concentrated sentence will stay with me: "Social entrepreneurs are not content just to offer food rations or to teach how to grow food. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the food industry."
You gave a list of what defines a social entrepreneur. I am thinking of the inner qualities someone must posess in order to show the outer behaviours you listed - inner qualities like egolessness, compassion, creativity, inspired vision, spiritual maturity ... and of what the best way would be to help more and more entrepreneurs culture them.
Your work and your blogs here are one way, Deepak's seminars and leadership courses another, and wherever I turn, there are people working to catalyze the individual transformation of human beings, entrepreneurs included. Both the work at the top and at the grassroots level are important. And I feel that we are living in a magical time when what you call social entrepreneurs are connecting and working together as one and not as separate, isolated entities anymore. It is fascinating to observe this movement in consciousness.
Thank you again for your blog, good luck to you, The Philanthropia and all the other inspired visionaries connecting through your efforts.
18. Posted by
Aurora Carlson
on
August 19, 2006 12:05 PM
Dear Aurora, dear Yogi-One
We have relayed your messages to DK Matai on his wireless and he thanks you for the same. He says, "it is thoughts like your which inspire all of us. Thank you. Apologies for not being able to connect personally."
All well wishes from DK
Operations Unit
The Philanthropia
For and on behalf of DK Matai
The Philanthropia, ATCA, mi2g.net
19. Posted by
DK_Matai
on
August 19, 2006 12:25 PM
Thank you :)
20. Posted by
Aurora Carlson
on
August 19, 2006 12:32 PM
D K thanks for the reply. God bless.
Ravi Kulkarni, reg 15. Hats off to Anantkumar and Supreme court of India for sure!! I am so glad you wrote about this charity work. God bless.
21. Posted by
geetajayaram
on
August 19, 2006 08:19 PM
Dr. Matai.
Thank you for sharing giving some of us the encouragement that we are on the right path.
A brilliant blog, extremely insightful and very encouraging to some of US, who have built that part already into our corporate business model.
Dr. Matai wrote:
"We know that a social entrepreneur is someone who develops social innovation through entrepreneurial solutions. A social entrepreneur takes notice of a social problem or need, decides to passionately pursue it, creatively innovates new solutions and entrepreneurially addresses the issue through an organized 'business plan' approach, thus allowing the social entrepreneur to address the issue of sustainability of the social venture undertaken"
We fall under the above category
A QUESTION FOR MR MATAI,
What if 90%of the world (social investors or investors) are not ready to embrace this shift and they purely come from the old paradigm even though the language they speak say's they are social venture groups.
How does one attract the attention of "New Generation Philanthropists" and get infront of them and show them "next(new)generation technology" which could solve the problem in the rural areas with information technology.
"New Generation Philanthropists at The World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship"
Dr. Matai, what if a "new emerging technology"
is on the verge of making a global impact
with digital divide and it runs opposite to
the internet but enables without taking anything away from the internet.
HOW WOULD ONE attract the attention of Al Core, Ted Turner or Robert Redford, or any one of that caliber or lets say someone in India who is willing to take a chance
to see what this is all about and seriously take the time to see it.
How could one like myself, inspire the "Social Philanthropists" to take a look at what
we have or give us the time to speak to the right "Social Philanthropists" who really wants to change
and see humanity flourish, at the end it is something we could all leave behind for the future generations
who would get empowered years to come.
Dr. Matai, I hope you would be able to answer or advise. I am hoping you will respond to my comment for advise.
hope for humanity,
Ashie
Dear Ashie, the best way to get in front of Social Philanthropists is to be able to:
1. Publish one's thoughts in an independent medium -- so peer review has taken place;
2. Participate in online forums and blogs where dialogue of this seminal nature is underway;
3. Participate in Social Philanthropy events and ideally have an opportunity to speak at such a forum or ask a question at such a forum.
Trust this helps
DK
DK Matai
The Philanthropia, ATCA, mi2g.net
Dear DK, do you have some links you can EM Ashie on the specific forums which you mentioned, to give her a headstart for them.... rather than risk weeks of finding such forums googling?
Ashie, is your EM in your profile?
North
Dear North, dear Ashie
A good example would be http://www.socialedge.org/
which is part of Jeff Skoll's Foundation.
Best wishes
Operations Unit
The Philanthropia
For and on behalf of DK Matai
The Philanthropia, ATCA, mi2g.net
25. Posted by
DK Matai
on
August 22, 2006 08:04 AM
Dear DK, thankyou very much for posting this link.... do you get it, Ashie?
North
What if there was a way to save the world of trillions dollars simply by implementing a single now practical solution?
What if fresh food spoilage could be extended 4 days to a week without preservatives or great cost? All natural non toxic?
There is ! The world is just not aware of it yet, but soon will be.
It requires water, salt, and electricity to create an Anolyte solution. Now we are just waiting for the investors to catch on it will transform world markets, allowing a bigger window to reduce food spoilage and eliminate food born illness.
Then there is more Rock Dust & Amaranth to examples coming to mind.
Question is what is the world waiting for?
I guess for the solutions to slip into their awareness but with the worlds attention where it is they just keep missing it.
Want solutions? then call.
27. Posted by
Richard Thomas
on
August 22, 2006 12:52 PM
Thank you Dr. Matai/Operations unit
for your response
I did not get the full answer to the question but thank you for replying.
#24 thanks North
North has participated on our
Virtual Live Conferences and can say that the technology at hand is developed and is functioning and is not embraced by some of the
venture social investors.
Maybe we have present this to Dr. Matai.
Post #25.. i will check the link out and see
where it will lead me.
North.. once we build it with "youth" i believe
venture social investors will show up.
I have my email on my website also
if Dr. Matai wants to see what we have
we believe with what his technology is doing
we have a synergy.. (Dr. Matai may just about
be interested).
Love and peace
Ashie
Dr. Matai/Unit operation and North.
I have gone to the site Dr. Matai's team recommended will have a look.
the site looks quite promising..
North I may just about see a miracle if someone
is open to seeing what we have.
love and peace
Ashie
Hi Ashie, North, Richard, DK and others...
...we work with a lot of early stage businesses in the sustainability and social entrepreneurship space, and can introduce deals to private investors who like these kind of opportunities. Happy to look at anything you might have and let you know if we can help.
Charlie
30. Posted by
Charlie O'Malley
on
August 22, 2006 05:53 PM
Dear Richard, you can send your public domain information or pointer through to The Philanthropia and we will consider it. eMail for the Intelligence Unit can be tracked via the profile.
Dear Ashie, trust you will find the ideal fit. The Philanthropia may be able to invest in your project but it has to fulfil a number of criteria.
Dear Charlie, as you will no doubt remember, DK was happy to come from Switzerland and speak at your P3 Capital event in London earlier this year.
1. It would be useful for some of those presenters and others to relate their experiences of finding capital for their "Social Entrepreneurship" and "Sustainability Projects" on this debate.
2. Your own vision for P3 Capital, which you submitted to ATCA could also be shared with this group.
3. The work you are doing with GEXSI should also be shared and perhaps some of those players can be encouraged to participate in this debate.
Thank you to all and good wishes
Operations Unit
The Philanthropia
For and on behalf of DK Matai
The Philanthropia, ATCA, mi2g.net
Dear Ashie, miracles for kids are an almost given...when wonderful folks like you, at Heart in Action, pulling for them!!
Yes, I have attended all 3 shows, and I can say, without a doubt, they are ON TO SOMETHING BIG, and only need "further support!!"
DNA has a gift of "gab" and puts his guests at quick ease; making for a very intimate live cast with such distiguished guests to date!! Ultimately, DNA research's his guests "thing" and knows exactly what to talk about, to keep the show "pumping" with live inter-Action!!
North
Dear Charlie O'Malley, Ashie is the "head" to talk to...
I am just a "member at SMT", quite taken with their efforts with Heart in Action--for sutainable youth migration into the net-scene; which adds great growth-cultivation for their creative pursuits!!
Ashie, may the miracles abundantly abound!!
North
Dear North (spirits in motion), DK, Charlie and Richard and all.
Thank you all for your generous support and input
I am grateful for this amazing group
who have similar passion,heart and drive to co-creat a better world.
Dr. Matai, this is my challenge that I have been experiencing and facing for the last few years.
I have spoken to key investors "this is what comes back, once we send them the documents they look at it and come back by saying....
at this time we are not ready to fund as we have
several projects on the plate, and talk to us in the future"
Or groups that are involved with venture capital
companies say.. oh.. you are a Canadian Company
you don't fit into our US mandate.
and the list goes on and on.
So I just keep working towards my vision my goals and we are now creating a marketing campaign with SMT Youth Leaders
who understand the scope of this technology and
are all embracing it with amazing results.
#post 32
Dear Ashie, trust you will find the ideal fit. The Philanthropia may be able to invest in your project but it has to fulfil a number of criteria.
We are willing to take a chance to present the
project to you with our Executive Summary.
We believe
WE HAVE A UNQUE SECURITY SOLUTIN THAT WOULD BENEFIT mi2g.
We have a solution to bridge the Digital Divide
in the rural areas.
How do we please make the presentation and please let us know what criteria we need to fulfil
please advise us or email to ashie@heartinaction.com
Post #30
Charlie how can we collectively make this happen
we have the technology, we have been using it
for the last 2 years.
Our first presentation we did was at the
Alliance for a New Humanity Conference in Puerto Rico and connected Youth of Africa discussing
about HIV/Aids from 12 schools.. they were
in Tanzania.
Where to we start please advise.
myself and my partners have self-funded all the
technology projects.. (pretty much wiped out
my savings)
I am committed to making an impact in the lives
of children and youth globally with these
technology tools and platform.
We have a business model and a sustainable model.
I would love for one ANGEL INVESTOR to see the
potential of what we have.
We are enablers and we don't take anything away
from internet/cable/telco's.
We are the next generation emerging technology
in the videotelephony sector.
love for anyone to take a chance and see what
we have.
love and peace.
Ashie
Dk,
I will be sending info.
Thanks for your interest.
35. Posted by
Richard Thomas
on
August 23, 2006 05:56 PM
Richard
I listened to your beautiful song, voice and music like your site, love your concept and
idea brilliant.
You are very talented.
I have a suggestion if you are open.
I have writen over 200 poems.. but lost most of my journals.
Would love to give you the lyrics to creat a
song.
are you open to it.
Ashie
Dear Ashie, I know what you mean...the stack piles on executive desks must be tremendously high; all too often, great inovative groups like Heart in Action, get lost in the fraying selection of so few, from so many; often..the best candidate, never being met.
Ashie.. may you soon, be "met." I am rooting for the cause, for global youth, to communicate in ways, which would provide many rural area's of destitute villages.. a glimpse of the "world out there" that they only dream about, discussing issues nobody wants to talk about... only there, in the safety of "common ground."
much love, to you, and your platform!!
North
Dr. Matai,
I had a chance to look at the site you recommended and I see a huge benefit for them
and for what they have and for their environment.
Accessible communication is a huge factor in the
developing countries.
Lets take for example ... India/Africa/South American parts of Asia all have problems with
accessible communication oh and lets not forget
USA..
What we have is a solution to the digital divide
and as we connect youth globally.. Youth in Africa are telling us.. please bring these tools
to africa.
Dr. Matai,
I believe if you give me and my
associates/partners
an opportunity to present to you and you can then
decide if this would be of an interest at the same time you may know some one else you may refer.
What we have developed and how our tools benefit non-profit organizations
and ngo's and corporation and educational institutions.. cost effective way to communicate.
You will not be disappointed.
This is my story:
I have been working 24/7.. "multitasking"
From raising finance for Asita Informatica Inc
a company I founded with my business partner
(It is heartinaction's parent company heartinaction is a goodwill/market awarness enterprise supporting youth groups to build their on Multimedia Virtual Conferences.. and connect
youth globally.
I designed the concept where I also produce the
Live Virtual Conferences with youth leaders.
I do marketing, promoting, selling the tools creating collaborative partners
basically jacquline of all trades, researching
etc
at the same time creating "global conferences" and working with youth to inspire them making sure
that the vision does not collapse guiding them
as to how the conferences should happen
connecting other youth groups globally (producing
the events).
My own journey has taught me to clearly understand what sustainability is.
A lot of youth are struggling as they have
no resources to creat wealth themselves so
I have designed the structure around that to
give them the opportunity to build their own vision.
If I can support them with technology tools
then they have an opportunity to make it and get
empowered.
I understand the meaning of Digital Divide.
I understand what it is like to not have access
for communication.
I understand what it is like to loose hope
I understand clearly what is needed in the developing countries
I come from Africa.. I see what Africa needs
I connected youth from India..during an event in
2005 they are asking
us they want these tools
(I selfunded these projects.. just to keep the
vision alive)
we were two years ahead.. we are not
one year ahead... lack of funds can make it difficult.
but I kept going ... put 24/7 and kept building
the company.
Lots of Youth groups in Vancouver are wanting
to be part of this..
I have sent countless emails but people don't get
the value of what we have.
So we keep creating Live Virtual Conferences
someone will start to pay attention.
I hope Dr. Matai you will give us an opportunity.
Funding will make a huge difference.
If not then I just keep doing it.. eventual
the universe will give...
We have a huge project we are working towards
and this will benefit youth globally.
I would love for you to please give me an opportunity.
Thanks Dr. Matai
Ashie
ashie@heartinaction.com
Hey Ashie,
Thanks but I think you were listening to Artist X and I am not he. But it is a mystery, who he is.
I just put a link to his "play it forward" site.
39. Posted by
Richard Thomas
on
August 23, 2006 08:33 PM
You want to hear something that is a trip. Soon as I posted that I went and checked my mail in one special place and there was just one from Artist X. Coincidence?
40. Posted by
Richard Thomas
on
August 23, 2006 08:35 PM
If you want to get in touch with Artist X join zaadz.com
41. Posted by
Richard Thomas
on
August 23, 2006 08:41 PM
Richard,
I thought it was you.. on one of Gotham's blog
I said Magic happens..
wow.. we just created a cross connection
Universal intelligence in the making Richard
Wow.. here i thought it was you loved the music
though.
Richard,.. I like your concept and your idea
with pay (play) it forward.
Love it.. I am going to look at your site
again.. to grasp what you are doing ..and how
we could support the vision to take place.
don't know how it will come.
Meanwhile... does anyone know a good "ghost writer".
let me know please.
I am going home catch you tomorrow.
you have my email.
peace
Ashie
Ashie,
"Pay it forward" was a movie
"Play it forward" was the idea of Artist X, but is in alignment with my my anonymous ghost / spirit writer approach.
If you want to see some of my stuff check out.
InfinitePlayTheMovie.com or click my name
43. Posted by
Richard Thomas
on
August 24, 2006 07:30 AM
Charlie,
I will check out your site thanks.
44. Posted by
Richard Thomas
on
August 24, 2006 07:39 AM
Richard,
Checked in I will check your website today.
do you have your email on your site let me know
will get back later.. busy day.
Ashie
Dear Ashie, I wish so many times, I were wealthy; to support groups like yours...with such brilliant innovation for youth. They need you out there, so badly. I cannot imagine my life now, without PC tools. I cannot imagine, not making my digital designs.
North
North,
you are awesome.. we keep going no matter what
we are committed to making it happen.
I was going to send you the press release for
this Saturday's conference.
Please email me at ashie@heartinaction.com
and will forward the press release to you.
North we are going to make it girl.
love
Ashie
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Ashie commented on Towards Sustainable Development: What is a Social Entrepreneur?
North,
you are awesome.. we keep going no -
North commented on Towards Sustainable Development: What is a Social Entrepreneur?
Dear Ashie, I wish so many times, I were wealth
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Ashie commented on Towards Sustainable Development: What is a Social Entrepreneur?
Richard,
Checked in I will check your w
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Richard Thomas commented on Towards Sustainable Development: What is a Social Entrepreneur?
Charlie,
I will check out your site tha
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Richard Thomas commented on Towards Sustainable Development: What is a Social Entrepreneur?
Ashie,
"Pay it forward" was a movie
Dear DK
Absolutely great read!
From 1996-2002, I advocated via newspaper researched articles, exposing corrupt and defunct social safety net programs for the aged and disabled, and in particular my target was lone parenting issues.
Tragicly, my advocating ended due to death threats, finding light bulbs(broken) in my mail, under my car tires, etc... shit thrown on my deck/patio.
Amazing, how government can find "subordinates" in town, to do their dirty work for them...needless to say, when I had to call my son's school, and tell them of the threats, and to take precautions,, I no longer was viewed as an activist, the Lone Parent Support Group I founded, became denounced; as people feared to attend my meetings; so the support group fell.
Not one to be "stopped", I became a phone supporter, and just last year, met the mother of a woman, who's daughter I walked through a nasty divorce; whom praised me for my efforts, citing if I had not been there for her daughter, AS a woman, lone parent too... she felt sure, her daughter would have committed self-harm.
I asked the mother, why the daughter felt more comfortable with me, than a professional? her answer? professionals put her in a box; whereas I did not....
Kudos to those, willing to risk life and limb, for the greater cause, of thwarting human suffering!! Bravo!!
North