Exploring the Next Iteration of Social Entrepreneurship
More
and more, organizations looking to have a positive social impact are realizing
that philanthropic institutions can learn some lessons from those that are
inspired by the profit motive.
In
an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Diana Ayton-Shenker, a social impact
strategist, founder and CEO of Global Momenta, and the first Nazarian
Social Innovator in Residence at Wharton, explains how she works with people and
organizations to optimize their impact through social entrepreneurship.
An
edited transcript of the conversation appears below.
Knowledge@Wharton: What personal experiences shaped your
career and inspired you to become involved with social innovation and
entrepreneurship?
Diana
Ayton-Shenker: Well, there were lots
of them, but the way I came into innovation entrepreneurship was really more by
default than design. I was driven and called to engage in work that would
promote global social justice. And I thought that I would need to do that
through the lens and framework of human rights law, which is how I began and
entered this field. What I found out very soon was that the way I wanted to
leverage the law and human rights to promote global social justice didn’t
really exist. I needed to innovate that. And it turns out I’m very
entrepreneurial in how I do that. So, before we had the language of social
innovation, social entrepreneurship, I thought I was just doing my work —
creating new ways to motivate and mobilize people and resources for progressive
social impact. It turns out we now call it “social innovation” and “social
entrepreneurship.” And I now not only get to practice that, but advise others
on how they can optimize their impact and teach social entrepreneurship and
provide training in that area.
Knowledge@Wharton: I feel like what people are talking
about when they say “social innovation” or “social entrepreneurship” is
constantly changing, just as the world is changing. Do you feel that people’s
focus or what they mean when they say that has changed over the years? And how
has it changed?
Ayton-Shenker: I think that it has changed, and it hasn’t. It
has in that by using the language of entrepreneurship and innovation, we’re
quite consciously adapting and applying business acumen, business practices,
business sensibility and strategy to how we create social change. And I think
that’s a good thing because [the] business as usual of how we … work in the
social change sector isn’t sufficient any more. We need new tools. We need new
strategies. And drawing from the private business sector is a really creative
way we can do our work better. Adopting the language of innovation is important
and exciting, because it inherently compels us to constantly iterate and
reiterate and renew how we create change. We innovate in that way. So, in those
senses, I think the new language reflects a change.
I also think it causes
a change in how we carry out our work. I also think, though,
there is a constant of
people’s desire to make a difference, people’s desire to have our work matter,
to have our time, our efforts, our energy and our resources generate value. Twitter
And I think that
that’s a very deep and innate human drive. The fact that we can now articulate
that and identify that drive in new vehicles, new options that might engage
more people and mobilize more people to realize their potential to make a
difference is exciting. And that’s where we are in social innovation and social
entrepreneurship.
Knowledge@Wharton: At Global Momenta, you work with clients
to create customized plans to put social innovation and social entrepreneurship
into practice. Can you take us through the process you use to determine what is
the best fit for them?
Ayton-Shenker: Sure. I don’t have a cookie cutter solution
and I don’t come in — as I heard colleague say at a conference yesterday — as a
“social provider.” I come in as a thought partner. So, as a thought partner, I
want to be a very active and astute (hopefully) listener to who my client is —
as an individual, a family, a foundation, an organization, a company or their
advisors — and what their needs are, what their vision is and what their
resources are…. And then we strategize together on those factors.
So, if I come in with
a solution that I think meets all their needs, I could miss a really important
opportunity that they might inspire in me to suggest or have themselves. And I
see that also as an iterative process where we’ll work together to create the
optimal strategy for them. So, my tag line with Global Momenta — and really my
mantra — is to “optimize your impact.” That doesn’t mean necessarily “Maximize
the numbers according to an algorithm that I’ve preconceived.” It means, “What
is the optimal strategy for you?” Then, rather than imposing a solution on my
clients, we’ll create that together as the partners.
Knowledge@Wharton: What are the most important things that
you want to learn about them? What are you trying to learn to help them figure
out how to optimize?
Ayton-Shenker: Oh, that’s such a good question. The big
picture answer in terms of motivation is, “What is inspiring and driving their
coming to me?” So, “What’s keeping them up at night and what’s getting them up
in the morning?” And if I don’t get a feel of that spark or excitement,
something’s missing and we need to find it.… That’s probably the first thing I
need to learn about them.
The second is just
more practical: “What are the resources they’re able to identify and mobilize
for this vision?” And that need not be exclusively financial. … but [rather,]
what really is the full spectrum of resources at their disposal that they want
to bring to bear?
And then the third is
a structural organizational capacity. So, what is their style? … Do they want
to be very hands-on or hands-off? What is their preferred role that they want
to play? What are their success factors?…
[Here’s] something I
usually ask clients as a way of learning what I need to know from them: When
they’ve been at the top of their game, when they know that everything’s lined
up and they’re doing a great job and everything feels right and they get the
feedback and the results that they want, what were the factors that they needed
to come into play for that moment [to happen]? And we all have those moments. …
A viewer watching this could think, “I know when that moment was for me. What
was I doing at that time? Who was I with? What was my role?” If I can
understand and learn that, then I will understand better how to work with that
person so as we optimize their social impact, it’s customized to them and their
needs.
Knowledge@Wharton: You also teach social entrepreneurship
at The New School. What is the biggest thing that you’re trying to teach the
students? And what’s the most important thing they’ve taught you?
Ayton-Shenker: What I learn every single time from the
students is there is an unquenchable thirst and desire to be part of this era
of social impact, if we can call it that. What I teach and want most centrally
to convey is that we all have a role to play in this time and this process. And
our world needs all of us. So, no one’s off the hook. And no one’s irrelevant.
That it all matters. We’re not all going to be social entrepreneurs, but not
everyone should be an entrepreneur to make a difference.
We can understand
social entrepreneurship as one driver of social change to then identify, “Where
do I fit into that ecosystem?” Maybe I’m an investor or a philanthropist that
is partnering with financing this kind of social change. Maybe I’m a conscious
consumer or a teacher or another important role in this larger picture. But I
have a place, and it’s up to me to take that stand and rise to the occasion,
because the time is now to do so.
Knowledge@Wharton: That actually brings me to my next question. Social
innovation impact often involves partnerships from the nonprofit sphere, from
the private sphere and from the government sphere. How do you think people from
each of these spheres — individuals or groups — can be better partners to each
other?
Ayton-Shenker: I think it’s the same way we’re good partners
in anything — that we’re mutually benefiting from the relationship, [and that]
we identify and recognize that. We’re mutually respectful and recognizing of
each other’s equal value and worth in the process. And I think that we are
merging toward greater and better partnerships between sectors as we come into
a convergence and understanding that we need different disciplines and
industries working together to solve problems, or better yet, prevent them from
happening in the first place.
And we’re looking in
that process, I think, of convergence and seeing more co-creation and
collaboration that necessitates or reflects greater transparency and
authenticity. So, that’s a shift in power, because we used to think that
whatever our sector was, was the primary place from which we view the world,
and then everyone else comes in or out, either giving us the power that we
don’t have and we want and need, or taking from us the power that we’re going
to hold over them. And I hope and see that we’re arriving at a point where we
recognize the real power is in being present with each other. And that’s when
you have really powerful partnerships.
Knowledge@Wharton: What do you think is the biggest misconception
that people have about strategic philanthropy or corporate social
responsibility?
Ayton-Shenker: I’m not sure what the biggest misperception
is, but I think there’s some baggage that those terms come with, and perhaps
there are misperceptions.
One is that it’s [like]
what we call “greenwashing” with environmental programs that aren’t really
doing anything good for the environment, but they look like it. [In other
words,] that it’s just for show or it’s just semantic, but it’s not really
making a difference.
The other is that it’s
making a difference, but that [the] corporate social responsibility program or
strategic philanthropy initiative is an isolated and perhaps marginalized
segment of the company or the philanthropy or philanthropic program. I think
that those are misperceptions because while we may have started out that way,
we’re learning to integrate and have more convergence of those kinds of
initiatives — corporate social responsibility or strategic philanthropy — as
part of how we do the business of social good, the business of our corporation,
the business of our philanthropy.
I think there’s also a
misperception of dismissing those initiatives — and I guess it relates to the
other two perceptions — as being somehow not as important and not as central to
the core mission of the corporation or of the foundation. But actually,
sometimes, that’s the most important part. And when it’s effective, it’s
actually embedded into the business.
Knowledge@Wharton: What do you think [good leaders] can do
to gain buy-in on all levels of the organization? What can they do to show
people that it’s not just, “Oh, that’s that other thing that
we do that I have to do,” but rather, that it’s something that’s actually core
to the company or the organization’s mission?
Ayton-Shenker: Well, I think the role that leadership
can play in sending that message is really important. And it’s demonstrating
commitment and authenticity. So, if the leadership is committing resources —
financial, time, positions, structure — to social impact initiatives, that
sends a really powerful message that it’s not just an add-on, it’s not just an
incidental nor is it marginalized. So, that’s one important piece.
I think another
important piece is letting it be genuine and genuinely authentic for the leader.
So, when the leader literally shows up and talks about the social impact
initiatives, not as the separate piece — “Oh, now I’m going to do my social
impact day” — but as part of how I go around my day, how I go about my
business, then that authenticity is really felt. And it’s resonant. And people
respond to what’s true and honest. And we sure know when it’s not.
Knowledge@Wharton: You’re part of launching a new incubator
called Kick NYC. What are the goals of this initiative?
Ayton-Shenker: Well, Kick New York City is part of Kick
International, a network of 13 cities around the world who are rolling out this
new incubator. And we come in after the entrepreneur may have been inspired
from an MBA program or a boot camp or some kind of intensive experience.…
[P]erhaps [they’ve] launched a prototype or piloted a venture, but they need
that kick to go forward or to take it up to the next stage. So, we are an
intensive, concentrated accelerator to take the entrepreneurs through a
training program that covers social entrepreneurship — all the good and the bad
and the ugly and the beautiful and gorgeous that you need to know — and
facilitates peer-to-peer learning and engagement along with mentor matching of
practitioners in the field. And it all takes place in a co-working space
devoted to social entrepreneurs so that they, as they’re incubating their idea
or their own leadership, are in the environment of the community of social
enterprise and entrepreneurship.
With the Kick New York
City program as director, I’m also introducing a new element that I’ve created
through Global Momenta and rolled out this summer, piloted through my partner,
Inspiring Capital — who also has a terrific fellowship program — and I call
that “Values in Action.” I’m looking at framing social entrepreneurship as the
way that we live our values in the action of our work and our business.
We’re framing the
social entrepreneurship training through Values in Action looking at four what
I call “compass points” to guide us through this new terrain [of] social
entrepreneurship and innovation. And those compass points to guide us are
inspiration, intention, integrity and impact. So, all of that comes together
through the Kick New York City program, and then other ways that I can share
that with clients and the community.
Knowledge@Wharton: For young social entrepreneurs — either
young in terms of age, or young in terms just getting started in this space —
what do you think are the biggest needs that they’ll have in terms of
resources, tangible or intangible?
Ayton-Shenker: Well, I think there are several key
resources that they need. I do think capital support is essential and really
important. And I know a lot of colleagues and funders who say, “It’s never
about the money.” It’s always something else they need. And that’s true. Unless
you don’t have any money. And then, guess what? It’s really about the money.
So, I think the capital support — financing — is really important.
Secondly, community.
And by community I mean both infrastructure — a place physically that you go to
where you interact with other people — and a community of human resources —
people and peers you can engage with to support to, to try out ideas, to get
inspired and supported by. So, capital, community, infrastructure.
And then I think a lot
of entrepreneurs need sustenance — sustainability — sustenance to sustain the
operation. And sometimes that’s one of the other components that capital or
community infrastructure needs. But sometimes it’s just that you can do it
through one more iteration. So, there are structural components that we need to
understand and iterate and reiterate and pilot and then revise and the pivot in
the process of innovating an enterprise. And for that it’s really helpful to
have great advisors, a coach, a trainer. But those resources that sustain you
so that you’re really a sustainable enterprise. And by that, I don’t mean
sustainable in the sense of being resource friendly, environmentally friendly, although
that’s good, too. But being able to sustain your work. Those are huge needs.
I think there’s also a
sense that social entrepreneurs feel like they can create their own thing and
they’re on their own and they’re going to go do it. But actually you need to be
part of a supply chain management. So, you need to consider who will be your
clients or customers, who will be your suppliers. And the advisor piece is also
really important.
So, when I spoke about
sustenance to sustain the enterprise as being a need that young entrepreneurs
of any age — and I appreciate that insight — need. We all need advisors. And my
advice and approach to advising entrepreneurs is to gather people who inspire
you from different disciplines and sensibilities than your own. You already
have you at the table. So, we don’t need another you, actually. That’s what
friends are for. But for your advisors you need someone who knows more than
you. You need someone who knows less than you. You need someone who’s more
experienced and less experienced, someone who comes from a completely different
sector, someone who comes from a different aspect of the business process. And
having the courage to invite those people smarter than you around the table
with knowledge you don’t have is a really important part of building your team.
Knowledge@Wharton: One final question: What is the best
piece of leadership advice that you’ve ever received?
Ayton-Shenker: Oh, that’s great. And I wish I had a really
great answer. The best advice I think I’ve ever received wasn’t really advice.
The best advice that I return to came from … a colleague of mine, Joy Anderson,
who said, “Trust grace to surprise you.” And I love that. As a leader, we think
that it’s all about our business management and the skill set that we need to
bring up, but I trust that we have that. I trust that a leader is smart and has
vision and has skills and has capacity. And then, it’s being open to that
magic, the alchemy of serendipity and opportunity when it arises.
So, if we trust that
grace will surprise us, we’re open to that. And as Mary Oliver, the poet, also
indirectly advises me by inspiring me with her words — she says in
“Instructions for Living a Life” that I think I take as a leader, three things.
One, pay attention. And two, be astonished. And three, tell about it. … I think
by leading, our leadership is how we tell about what astonishes us from what we
se. So, being really present and attentive — to pay attention and then be
amazed by what’s around us all the time, and tell about it.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/exploring-the-next-iteration-of-social-entrepreneurship/
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