I was fortunate to be given a scholarship to attend Santa Clara University's Global Social Benefit Incubator program (GSBI). Every participant is tackling a major social issue such as clean water delivery, health care, education, and energy services.  It's an intensive, two-week business training program that takes 20 social entrepreneurs from around the world and helps then scale up their vision. Everyone comes in with passion and the GSBI helps them refine their vision and develop a strategic plan to achieve their objective given real world constraints.

Joining me in the class of 2008 are entrepreneurs from the Philippines, Nepal, India, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Haiti, and Vanuatu. It's an amazing group and it's an honor to be among them. 

Each of us is facing a seriously daunting task and each of us is at a point where we need some retooling to take our organizations to the next level.  I am really excited to be here and look forward to the next two weeks of intensive learning and sharing.

Fidel Castro in the Sierra Maestra

I love this picture.  I've got it sitting up above my desk.  I love it because it illustrates the drudgery of the fight going on behind the scenes in any revolution.  All the talk, all the media, all the flair is one thing, a necessary component, but the real fight is won in the trenches, painstaking foot by painstaking foot.  It's not the flashy picture of Che and his hat - the one worn by people around the world who have no concept of what it all stands for; it's an ordinary picture of a long hike up the mountain in the dense jungle.  You can tell the pack is heavy and the trail is steep.

My thinking isn't about military revolutions - it's about revolutions of the mind and of habits.  Whatever you think of Fidel's Cuban revolution and of him as a person, I think you need to grant that he has dedicated himself fully to his cause, led by example, and worked for a vision where the public's welfare is prioritized over corporate and individual profits.  You can argue about the success of his endeavor, but that's for another discussion.

My point is simply that leading a social venture that is trying to change fundamental behaviors and/or work on the fringe of society is leading a revolution of your own.  There are no shortcuts; it's a long, steep climb, but one that ultimately has the potential to improve people's lives in a fundamental way.

As I read through other blogs on the Social Edge, I can see a clear theme - all the young start up social ventures are in the fight of their lives.  Growing pains some call it.  The difficulty of getting the back office support established (accounting, HR, etc) seems to catch most of us by surprise.  I knew it would be hard for us, but had no idea how hard.  Thanks to our new super-volunteer in San Francisco, Alex Pederson, we've made tremendous strides in the past month and I'm looking forward to returning to program work soon with a new perspective and new powerful tools to help us in our struggle.