{"id":80,"date":"2015-11-22T00:16:58","date_gmt":"2015-11-22T08:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/?p=80"},"modified":"2015-11-28T23:01:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-29T07:01:00","slug":"join-the-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/2015\/11\/22\/join-the-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Join the Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

So you want to change the world, make this a better place?<\/p>\n

Don’t we all. Well, guess what\u2014you can’t do it alone.<\/p>\n

No matter what kind of sustainable, do-good, innovation-oriented person you are, you will need your team of like-minded, mission-driven homies to help you achieve your goals.<\/p>\n

\"TEAM:<\/a><\/p>\n

The Global Social Benefit Fellowship introduced me to a community of “impatient optimists,” “unreasonable” innovators, social entrepreneurs\u2014whatever you like to call them. These people dedicate their lives and careers\u00a0to doggedly address some of the world’s greatest problems\u2014poverty, health, water & sanitation, gender inequality, social inequality, environmental degradation, and more\u2014and often work toward shifting\u00a0the structures that propagate these global injustices. \u00a0Social entrepreneurs approach global issues through innovation and use\u00a0the framework of business entrepreneurship to further their impact. Born and raised in the Silicon Valley, I am inspired by these start-ups and organizations not only trying to make it big<\/em>, but first and foremost\u00a0striving to make a big social impact<\/em> on the world.<\/p>\n

After meeting some social entrepreneurs, I was surprised by how humble many of them appeared to be. In my mind, these are superheroes who wrestle mostly-invisible villains such as energy poverty, maternal mortality, infectious diseases, etc. But often, the social entrepreneurs (at least those I have met) say things like this:<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Well there is so much more to be done<\/em>. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0…or…<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Sure, we are impacting 1 million right now, but we could reach 2 million people. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

…and often…<\/p>\n

I’m not the superhero. You should meet our microentrepreneurs\/community health workers\/artisans\/teachers\/etc.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Solar<\/a>
Solar Sister entrepreneurs purchase solar lanterns from sales associate, Regina, as they stock up their inventory for the coming week.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The power of community<\/em><\/p>\n

Some of the change-makers who are most powerful and with the most direct impact on issues in society\u00a0are the very people from within\u00a0that community. They often best know the community, the problem, the culture, and have connections within the community and with other organizations, all of which an outsider will not have.<\/p>\n

I study public health, and a common thread I have found between public health and social entrepreneurship is the bottom-up approach to change. While top-down approaches, such as policy, are crucial for social change as well, they must also be grounded in the context and needs of the people. Learning more about social entrepreneurship has confirmed my belief in the importance of community-based innovation and implementation in the process toward\u00a0social change.<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>
My research partner, Lindsey, assists Solar Sister entrepreneurs as they fill out our survey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Action research applies the bottom-up approach to assessing and improving the social change process. Using Solar Sister<\/a>\u00a0 as an example, how would we know how to better eradicate energy poverty,\u00a0if we do not\u00a0first understand the motivations and barriers which influence people’s purchasing decision for solar lanterns and clean cookstoves? In our research, Lindsey and I interviewed over 50 Solar Sister entrepreneurs and 21 customers. Our report findings came from collecting common elements found in\u00a0the stories of the women and men we spoke with. Many\u00a0Solar Sister entrepreneurs beamed about finding new customers through the referral of previous customers, who pass along the phone number of the entrepreneur to fellow friends and family interested in purchasing a solar lantern. But at the same time many entrepreneurs lamented over a\u00a0common barrier, their\u00a0lack of transportation to their customers.<\/p>\n

By incorporating the feedback from their entrepreneurs and customers, Solar Sister may better understand their own successes and challenges as a social enterprise and work to further increase their social impact. Whether a social enterprise or a public health intervention group, an\u00a0organization will have its best chance at achieving its goals for social change if it recognizes the power of working intimately with local community members, whose lives they are trying to improve. These individuals will be their best liaisons with the community, their experts on the cultural context of the problem, and their eyes and ears in the field for further improvement.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Social entrepreneurship, public health, and a Jesuit education<\/em><\/p>\n

As I near the end of my time at Santa Clara University, I notice some common themes involving three significant aspects of my time here.\u00a0\u00a0Santa Clara University aims to shape every student with the vision of\u00a0the three C’s<\/a>:\u00a0competence, conscience, and compassion. Competence<\/em> so that we may be capable individuals and scholars in our world. Conscience<\/em> so that we are aware of the perspective and realities of others, and so we can make ethical decisions. Compassion<\/em> so that we may want to make this world a better place.<\/p>\n

In both my public health classes as well as religion classes, we have discussed liberation theology, which seeks to provide a preferential option for the poor. This means seeing those most marginalized in society as those who most need us to stand with them in solidarity. Individuals subject to social inequities and exploitation are those who most need our compassion and collaboration to improve their lives. Unfortunately, this perspective seems contrary to the way many existing structures and corporations appear to act in our society. Those who are poorest have the least say and power, and they often carry the heaviest burdens in our society, including the exploitation of human labor, environmental degradation, and inequities in health care, to name a few.<\/p>\n

Social entrepreneurship, public health, and the Jesuit education call for the world to not only recognize those marginalized in our society, but also to stand with them and work with them to tackle social issues in our world. As liberation theologians like to say: “see, judge, act.”\u00a0See\u00a0<\/em>the social suffering and problems in the world.\u00a0Judge<\/em> according to the Bible (or other sets of moral values).\u00a0Act<\/em> in a way that “promotes the self-realization of the poor<\/a>.” These values align well with Santa Clara University’s three C’s. Social entrepreneurship also echoes aspects of these values. The poor are not seen to be fated to their poverty or their problems. Social entrepreneurs recognize them\u2014the base of the pyramid\u2014as agents in social change. They are valued as consumers, partners, and leaders.<\/p>\n

\"Rose<\/a>
Rose and Maria, two of six Solar Sister entrepreneurs in Hala village, have together completely eradicated kerosene from their community.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We need to care about the people who are suffering in our world and the burdens they carry. Many of these burdens are\u00a0in place because of existing structures in our society. In those living in poverty or marginalized in society, we must recognize their human dignity, the value these individuals\u00a0can bring to our world, and their power as\u00a0change-makers in society.<\/p>\n

So, you say you want to change the world? Well join the community\u2014none of us can do this on our own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So you want to change the world, make this a better place? Don’t we all. Well, guess what\u2014you can’t do it alone. No matter what kind of sustainable, do-good, innovation-oriented person you are, you will need your team of like-minded, mission-driven homies to help you achieve your goals. The Global Social Benefit Fellowship introduced me … Continue reading Join the Community<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1264,"featured_media":89,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","kk_blocks_editor_width":"","_kiokenblocks_attr":"","_kiokenblocks_dimensions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"gutentor_comment":1,"qubely_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/files\/2015\/11\/1.jpg",1024,768,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/files\/2015\/11\/1.jpg",1000,750,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/files\/2015\/11\/1.jpg",427,320,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/files\/2015\/11\/1-290x290.jpg",290,290,true],"medium":["https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/files\/2015\/11\/1-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/files\/2015\/11\/1.jpg",660,495,false],"large":["https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/files\/2015\/11\/1-1024x768.jpg",660,495,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/files\/2015\/11\/1.jpg",1024,768,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/files\/2015\/11\/1.jpg",1024,768,false],"qubely_landscape":["https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/files\/2015\/11\/1.jpg",1000,750,false],"qubely_portrait":["https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/files\/2015\/11\/1.jpg",427,320,false],"qubely_thumbnail":["https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/files\/2015\/11\/1.jpg",133,100,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/files\/2015\/11\/1-825x510.jpg",825,510,true]},"qubely_author":{"display_name":"Serena Chan","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/author\/sschan\/"},"qubely_comment":1,"qubely_category":"Uncategorized<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"So you want to change the world, make this a better place? Don’t we all. Well, guess what\u2014you can’t do it alone. No matter what kind of sustainable, do-good, innovation-oriented person you are, you will need your team of like-minded, mission-driven homies to help you achieve your goals. The Global Social Benefit Fellowship introduced me…","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1264"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions\/91"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/serenachan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}