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I am Glad I Came
This conference is going to be all about social entrepreneurs, but last night was all about people.
"Oh, please - send me back to Seville."
Last night I had dinner with a bunch of Skoll Social Entrepreneurs and Skoll Foundation staff and friends at the Exeter dining hall - apparently where J.R.R. Tolkien conceived his Lord of the Rings trilogy and where parts of Harry Potter were filmed.
I have spent my fair share of time in places like this. My high school in the US was called Exeter, and the graduate dining hall at Princeton looks very similar. And over time I have become almost instinctively allergice to elitism, and to the idea that somehow the chosen few gather in places like this. So my initial reaction upon arrival was negative - I wanted to return immediately to the airport and go back to that bar in Seville where I ate on Sunday night.
"Dennis!" a voice yelled out. It was my old friend Joe Madiath, the founder of GramVikas, which helps marginalized people in India organize themselves to get better acccess to jobs, education, and social services. He wanted to tell me about his latest run-in with Henry Kissinger. Joe grew up in a wealthy family in India - part of the elite - but could not abide the way the laborers were treated on his family's own estate. One day he organized the workers into a union, and they elected him the leader. He therefore led marches against his own father!
Joe was only one of the many extraordinary human beings there last night. This conference is going to be all about social entrepreneurs, but last night was all about people - for the most part wonderful people. As we drank and ate (alas, no tapas, but the food was fair), there was much laughter, many stories, and smiles all around.
There was, hmmm, a flow. People just enjoying each others' company. Life was good. Just like Seville.
I am glad I came.
Last night I had dinner with a bunch of Skoll Social Entrepreneurs and Skoll Foundation staff and friends at the Exeter dining hall - apparently where J.R.R. Tolkien conceived his Lord of the Rings trilogy and where parts of Harry Potter were filmed.
I have spent my fair share of time in places like this. My high school in the US was called Exeter, and the graduate dining hall at Princeton looks very similar. And over time I have become almost instinctively allergice to elitism, and to the idea that somehow the chosen few gather in places like this. So my initial reaction upon arrival was negative - I wanted to return immediately to the airport and go back to that bar in Seville where I ate on Sunday night.
"Dennis!" a voice yelled out. It was my old friend Joe Madiath, the founder of GramVikas, which helps marginalized people in India organize themselves to get better acccess to jobs, education, and social services. He wanted to tell me about his latest run-in with Henry Kissinger. Joe grew up in a wealthy family in India - part of the elite - but could not abide the way the laborers were treated on his family's own estate. One day he organized the workers into a union, and they elected him the leader. He therefore led marches against his own father!
Joe was only one of the many extraordinary human beings there last night. This conference is going to be all about social entrepreneurs, but last night was all about people - for the most part wonderful people. As we drank and ate (alas, no tapas, but the food was fair), there was much laughter, many stories, and smiles all around.
There was, hmmm, a flow. People just enjoying each others' company. Life was good. Just like Seville.
I am glad I came.
