Isabel Miranda Global Social Benefit Fellowship 2016

Growing up it seemed that if your goal in life was to make a lot of money you would choose to work for a big business or in finance. On the other hand, if your goal was to serve a particular community you could work with government organization or a nonprofit. Both of these career paths seemed very separate from each other and with little overlap. The first time I heard of social entrepreneurship was when I was applying to the Global Social Benefit Fellowship. After the first couple of classes I completely fell in love with the idea! The way that you can use business to address social needs and empower individuals in marginalized communities and tackle various problems at once seemed genius to me, and perfectly aligned with what I foresaw in my future endeavors.

I initially applied to the Global Social Benefit Fellowship, because I thought it was a great structured program that would expose me to the opportunity to conduct research in an international development setting. This was very aligned with my goals in pursuing a career of international economic development. While I am still interested in a career path concerning international development, as a result of this fellowship I also discovered that I have a deep passion for  climate resilience and women rising activism. Within the broad umbrella of international development, I was able to find subsections that I am particularly passionate about, and can now search out subsequent experiences that are aligned with these passions. Learning about social entrepreneurship presents the opportunity for me to not only work with international development, but also to work with organizations that are related to areas that resonate with me. Furthermore, I’ve learned that my particular skill set and talents would allow me to be successful in the field of social entrepreneurship. Some of these that were particularly highlighted during the fellowship were: being able to speak Spanish and English fluently, the ability to connect with others and make them feel comfortable during an interview setting, searching out new opportunities and being flexible with ideas to further impact and projects, very goal oriented and great time management skills.

Through this fellowship I also learned invaluable life skills. One of the key take aways from this experience for me was the importance of perseverance, self-motivation and passion for your work. This fellowship challenged me on both a personal and academic level no other class or experience has during my undergraduate career. I know the social entrepreneurship industry is more challenging and there is never an answer laid out for you, but I am determined to help find or build solutions for these global problems. I was successful in my fellowship because I was committed to the work of ILUMÉXICO because it resonated with me on a personal level coming from México. I was able to complete all the deliverables required because I constantly motivated myself and stuck through many revisions because I knew the finished product would greatly benefit ILUMÉXICO. After having gone through the fellowship I learned that I am self-motivated and will always find a way to persevere no matter what is thrown my way. This experience has highlighted what I am passionate about and shown me how far I am willing to go in order to help others.

In addition to all the insights I gained on life, my future and my passions, I am above all grateful for the strong community I found. My classmates and staff members from Miller Center have not only provided me with constant support and encouragement throughout the process, but have made me feel so comfortable and welcomed. I found a safe space where I can share my thoughts, and know that they will be well received by like-minded individuals. Furthermore, I’m so excited and hopeful for what the future will bring for my cohort and what we will do in order to positively impact the global community.

Throughout my field experience I wrote thoughts, reflections and observations, in a personal journal, I felt were interesting and important. Here are some of these reflections:

The first was the incredible kindness and humility. In the community of Chilan-balan where we stayed for two days and installed panels I met Elisabeth, a mother of 4 children lives in a one-bedroom household. They have two beds, one for the kids and one for Elisabeth and her husband. The moment Maddie and I arrived to Chilan-balan she welcomed us into her home and treated us like queens. Without a second thought she offered us her bed for the night, leaving her and her husband to sleep on a hammock for the night after a long day of work in the field. After installing panels all day, she prepared dinner for us, which I could only imagine would leave her family with less to eat that week.

“Why is it that we who have so much often have so much trouble sharing? Why is it that with all the free time we have we don’t volunteer or do acts of charity as frequently? Privilege I suppose… I can’t choose the family I was born with, but I can definitely fulfill my responsibility to giveback, and hopefully make a better impact on the less fortunate. We think we know so much because we have a formal education, but there is so much that we can learn from these indivduals.”

The second was sanitary habits. Clearly influenced from my privileged perspective and my own experiences, I observed that the living situations were less than ideal and probably unhealthy at times, yet everyone seemed blissfully unaware. Washing your hands before a meal is not a habit. They often slept with their animals, which can’t be good either, they have fleas! On one hand, it’s almost beautiful to live unaware of everything that can harm you, worry free. On the other it doesn’t seem fair that I complain about having to go to class quite often and I have the opportunity to learn, when these individuals don’t always have that option.

“Why isn’t anyone doing anything about this? Don’t they know if you don’t wash your hands you’ll have bacteria? This pig is so cute!…wait jk it probably has never been washed… are they eventually going to eat this?…What if it isn’t clean!? I guess education is more valuable than what you read in a textbook, if these individuals were never taught something then it’s not their fault. Governments should definitely fund more education programs… and get concrete floors for everyone. Is it right that I impose my thoughts or way of doing things to someone who lives in an entire different culture? Is my way doing things even right all the time.”

 

The third was how important the work ILUMÉXICO is doing is. The thorough and detailed time the community engineers take to install the panels, interact with the community, build relationships and explain their work and how solar home systems work is absolutely incredible.

“It’s quite difficult to imagine and describe what it’s like to live without energy, let alone something as basic as light. Could you imagine living 70 years without light and then one day someone brings it to you. I watched that! It was amazing!

It’s like if someone told you unicorns existed but you’d never seen one, only heard, dreamt and read about them and then one day BAM someone walks into your house with a unicorn. Your world is literally turned upside down and the possibilities suddenly become infinite. That is what ILUMÉXICO does on a daily basis! Giving individuals tons of opportunities by providing light. I think that is just so beautiful, being able to give someone opportunities they could only dream of before.

It was through this fellowship experience that not only did I reflect a lot about life, privilege, solidarity, social justice, but also I realized a lot about myself and what I want to do. In short I discovered three things about myself: I’m a problem solver, I like a good challenge, but even more I love finding solutions. I enjoy working and interacting with others, I need to interact with people, because it gives me life, and it allows me to learn. I love to travel and experience different cultures and traditions, Santa Clara is a bubble, and there is a big world out there with a lot to teach and offer, and I enjoy discovering it little by little.

One of my favorite scenes in the show Friends is when Ross, along with Chandler and Rachel try to move a heavy couch up a windy staircase. They start off confidently and at the first turn they get stuck. At this point Rachel and Chandler look towards Ross who just keeps saying “pivot pivot pivot.” This scene is a perfect metaphor for my field experience. The couch represents our giant research plan that we worked on all of spring quarter. The windy staircase represents all the obstacles we’ve faced while here: violent protests, security issues, linguistic barriers, and illnesses. Chandler and Rachel represent Maddie and me, who are trying to carry and navigate this “couch” up the “staircase.” Lastly Ross, represents Keith who tells us at each turn to pivot! While this has proved to be an exhausting and frustrating experience, as a strong J, at each step of this summer I think I’ve learned the importance of patience and flexibility, and accepting that life is not a straight staircase but rather a windy one that we need to pivot and navigate through.

We started in the headquarters of Iluméxico, in Mexico City, going over our research plan and itinerary with the Iluméxico team. The biggest accomplishment was building our own model solar powered cooler. Although we are no engineers I’m pretty proud of our model! Shortly after, we had our first pivot, violent teacher protests in the state of Oaxaca that impeded us from entering the state. After getting over the frustration that we would no longer be able to partake in the comparative research project in Oaxaca, Maddie and I worked about a week to make the best of a new research plan in Campeche. We were optimistic, and saw the silver lining, that we would have the opportunity to interview recipients of solar panels from the government, which would give us a unique hands on experience of what we learned in class and contrast the charity model vs. the social enterprise model. I was disappointed about not getting to go to Oaxaca, but I was excited that I would have the chance to put to the test the social enterprise model in the field and gather evidence for myself.

Week one in the field proved to be both eye opening and challenging. Our biggest challenge was working on team dynamics and linguistic barriers. Our original plan was to have me conduct the interview and have Maddie take notes. While this was a good plan, as soon as we got to the field we realized that this would not work given that they spoke extremely fast and in thick accents, making it hard to take notes. Since we are both strong J’s this was not a happy discovery, and it took some time for us to communicate our thoughts and come up with a new plan. Although we were frustrated that the first couple of days were slow in the field, Maddie and I got to bond, which brought us closer together and allowed us to be perfectly in sync for the coming days in the field.

Although going to Campeche was never part of the plan, I am grateful that we ended up there, because we had the opportunity to go to Chilan-balan, a community without light, and got to install solar panels and stay overnight. I think this has been my favorite part of the trip thus far. It was really special for me to take part of the installations, and it clarified Iluméxico’s mission for me witnessing their work first hand. I’ll never forget the look of this little boy as soon as we turned on the light bulb in his home. He lit up along with the light and couldn’t stop smiling and pointing at the lightbulb saying: “luz, luz!” We installed around 20 home systems in those two days!

 

 

Something I’ve personally struggled with is the depth of poverty in Mexico. The differences are so drastic from one place to the next, and as someone born in Mexico City, it is a little disheartening to see there is so much money concentrated in one city when the rest of the country is extremely marginalized. Each day on our way to the communities I felt like I crossed three different levels of poverty, which is really rough mentally. Our hotel is a small pueblo that I would consider poorer than most places in the U.S., the small villages on our way to the interviews are even poorer, and definitely poorer than anywhere in the U.S., and lastly we arrive to the communities like Chilan-balan, and witness a kind of poverty I’ve never seen in my life before, yet the kindness these people receive you with is probably more genuine than anywhere else I’ve been before too. It’s a strange feeling, on the one hand it makes me appreciate everything I have, but on the other hand it makes me feel a little guilty and wishing I could do more to help.

The best part of my day is always conducting interviews. It’s unbelievable how selfless and hospitable these people are. Offering us what little food and drink they have to complete strangers. These people are all so willing to take part in the interviews, and are excited to share their stories and experiences with us. These people have a lot to say, and I wish everyone had the opportunity to listen first hand to their stories. It was very touching at the end of the interview some of the comments they had for us. I remember a couple of people thanking us for taking the time to come so far just to see them. It’s really amazing how something as simple as taking the time to have a conversation means the world to them, making them feel acknowledged, and important, in a place were they are so marginalized and almost “forgotten.”

The rest of our trip remains up in the air, but I’m curious to see what windy turns are waiting for us up ahead! I think Maddie and I have dominated the pivoting technique when working with social enterprises by now 🙂

 

 

My name is Isabel and I was born in Mexico City. I moved to California when I was five and a half with my parents and two little brothers. I distinctly remember my first day of kindergarten on Valentine’s Day. I received a ton of chocolate and colorful cards, but I didn’t understand why or what was going on because I didn’t speak any

English yet. It was only later that I learned that in the United States it’s typical for kids to bring Valentine’s Day cards and chocolates to pass around to their fellow classmates, something I had never seen in Mexico. When I moved to the United States, I didn’t just move to a different country, I had to learn a new language and adapt to a different culture. While my parents encouraged me to embrace my new culture, they instilled in me the value of staying connected and fostering my Mexican roots and heritage. Although I became a United States citizen about three years ago and have primarily grown up in the Bay Area, I have never let go of my Mexican background and still hold strong ties to those roots. It’s usually a shock for others to learn I am Mexican and speak fluent Spanish, but I was lucky enough never to be treated differently because of it and it gave me the freedom to blend both the American and Mexican cultures and lifestyles. Growing up it was as if I had two homes: one in Mountain View where my immediate family was, where I went to school and where I was making friends and the other in Mexico City where I was from, where all my extended family lived, and where they have tacos al pastor. At times, this

was difficult. For example when I started college and moved out, I often felt like my parents didn’t understand me and we couldn’t relate to each other because they never had the typical American “college experience” that I was going through. Similarly, I had to get used to difficult goodbyes every time I visited Mexico. While I struggled at different points in my life having two homes, I’m grateful my parents were insistent on teaching me Spanish and about Mexico even if we were living in the United States, because it allowed me to be more sensitive and culturally aware as well being able to relate and communicate to both Americans and Mexicans. Ultimately, I hope that my mixed cultural background will allow me to build a career that allows me to bridge the best of both worlds in order to make a positive impact.

In addition to my cultural background, martial arts has played a huge role in my life. Again, it comes as a shock to most people to find out that someone as shy and small as me could ever be a black belt, but it’s one of my proudest accomplishments. Not only did I earn my black belt but I was also awarded best tester out of everyone

testing in 2011. The theme of my black belt test was dedication and commitment. At the beginning of each training session we would recite a phrase: “I commit to constant and never ending improvement ‘till black belt excellence.” The black belt test was two long and rigorous days in which I was tested on the entire curriculum in front of a panel of judges in addition to having to break three boards, spar and end with intense conditioning. In that moment, the lessons I learned in my studio came together. I committed myself to perform at black belt excellence and be the best. This was no easy task. Many people didn’t or couldn’t complete the test because they lacked the self-discipline and dedication that I had. My martial arts studio taught me more than

just how to defend myself; I learned the value of searching for my passion, having self-discipline, being responsible, the value of hard work and dedication, the importance of committing to my goals, being resilient, and building self-confidence. After receiving my black belt, my instructor offered me a job at the studio. I was thrilled to accept. I wanted to be an instructor at my martial arts studio so I could help others achieve their black belt and pass down all the knowledge I had received. Most of all, I wanted to serve as a good role model and inspire others in the same way my instructors did for me. The same attitude and dedication that allowed me to earn my black belt, is mirrored today, in my work ethic and has only propelled me to be more driven in all aspects of my life.

 

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