Keely Stevenson - Mar 30, 2005 6:55 pm (#1 Total: 9)
Acumen Fund

Since October, I have been adventuring through MBA land, a foreign place to me where I found myself @risk developing financial analysis models for companies, using Porter’s five forces until analysis paralysis and growing a unique perspective of organizational behavior and culture thanks to classmates from over 50 different countries. In the city of dreamy spires, the Said Business School has offered me intensely challenging and rewarding experiences and the opportunity to meet wonderfully inspiring people. Now, resurrecting from the haze of Hilary Term examinations and business plan writing, it is the first day of the second annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. THIS is why I came to do my MBA here —because the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship is a magnet for trailblazers who are innovating to make the world a better place. This year, the Forum focus on 'Networks' advancing social entreprenuership is close to my heart given my experience with the power of the Social Edge Community.

Today, the sound of lively beating drums filled a lecture theater full of hundreds of delegates to open the keynotes. We were inspired by the visions of people like Ben Kingsley, Bill Drayton, and, of course, Jeff Skoll. An excellent panel shared the challenges of crafting new ways of structuring the ultimate mass mobilisation tool - the media - to effect social change. In addition, Joel Podolny’s speech really resonated with me as he spoke about social networks as ends rather than means because the community network is what will inspire people to action—I am definitely going to try to read more about his work at Harvard. My favorite speaker of the night, was Stan Thekaekara from southern India who gave such a powerful delivery of his story in working to eradicate the injustice of the market system which exploits the poor.

I must admit, the fun for me today was getting to catch up with old friends who came from around the world- many of whom are Social Edgers- and hearing about new adventures in their lives, and connecting them with fellow MBA classmates working on social venture projects (many for the first time).

It is now reaching 2:30am, and I will head to bed and get up tomorrow for another day of learning, inspiration and hope.

jblack - Mar 31, 2005 12:48 am (#2 Total: 9)
(Jesse Fahnestock)

Last night I found myself at dinner with three new classmates, one old boss, a former America's Cup yachting champion, and a man who runs the largest portable toilet and waste management venture in Nigeria. The tagline on his brochure? "Sh*t business is serious business." This is MBA networking the way it was meant to be.

For those of us on the MBA course who are interested in social entrepreneurship, the World Forum is an opportunity like no other during our time at the business school -- a chance to connect our new interests in conventional management tools like finance, strategy, etc. to people who are taking an anything-but-conventional approach to changing the world.

We got off to a flying start yesterday. Charlie Leadbeater's comment during the opening session about "turning the margins into the mainstream" was intended to contextualize Jeff Skoll's Participant Productions venture, but it said a lot about this conference and the people who attend it. We're all here because we believe that marginalized people, places, and issues can be championed by using (and re-inventing) mainstream techniques.

Like, for example, networking. Personally, I came to this MBA course with a passion for energy and sustainability issues, and I'm hoping that I'll leave here with a new career in that field. So I'm eager to meet the many folks at the Forum who are working in that area. And you never know where they might turn up ...

My Nigerian dining partner, as it turns out, has decided to start doing something with the, um, stuff that his company collects. They're going to be pursuing a major biogas initiative -- turning waste into heat and electricity, and at the same time disposing of it in the most sanitary way possible. Biogas is fascinating, um, stuff, and it was very cool to find myself next to one of the field's up-and-coming entrepreneurs in the area. It just goes to show, you never know where your next network will come from.

tutormentor - Mar 31, 2005 2:52 pm (#3 Total: 9)
Cabrini Connections Tutor/Mentor Connection

Hi Keely,

I hope you had a chance to read the email I sent to Dee.  I'm not sure she has seen it since I received a "out of office" response.  I mentioned a series of econference in the email and I've just had some feedback from a contact who is with Learning Mentor, which is an organization with training and network meetings across Birmingham schools.  My contact is a Churchill Fellow who will be visiting me this summer. She reports that here group is looking for ways to host part of the eConference.

It would be great if your networking at the Skoll Forum would find some econference experts from the UK who might want to help the Learning Mentor network.  I can connect folks if needed.

I'm hoping that the Social Edge people who are networking this week in the UK will encourage people they meet to visit the SocialEdge forum and get to know some of the rest of us, via the messages we have posted.  This can be one of the greatest benefits of such a networking forum.

Have a good time.

Dan Bassill
Tutor/Mentor Connection
Chicago
www.tutormentorconference.bigstep.com

Marmar - Mar 31, 2005 3:13 pm (#4 Total: 9)
students-teaching-students

Would like to be there with yall.  Keely, like you a Cal Bear, recently accepted for Said 05-06.  Humbled and happy about this prospect. 

Agree about community, if we lose sight of it as an end-- of the highest value for the life and love and togetherness of it-- we not only miss the point, we lose our power to move forward.  

So how much time do yall spend at Skoll Centre outside of conference times like this?

Peace.

 

Keely Stevenson - Mar 31, 2005 6:25 pm (#5 Total: 9)
Acumen Fund


I cycled through a mystical Oxford fog to the conference this morning and happened upon Jim Fruchterman from Benetech posting on Social Edge in the common room- a great way to start out my morning! He later graciously helped advise some of my MBA classmates on a mobile phone technology project they are developing for people with disabilities. Then, Sally Osberg, CEO of Skoll Foundation, opened with a powerful speech describing the spark of synapses resulting from the connections and visions of wonderful people in the networks here. She ended with a quote from Lennon, “Imagine all the people- Sharing all the world...”

The highlights today for me were around the grassroots student activities. We hosted two ‘recruitment sessions’ which were designed by Jesse and turned out to be a great group of people who came to meet MBA students interested in working in the field of social entrepreneurship. Venture capital for microfinance (aavishkaar), a sleek bottled water product whose profits go to water development projects (belu), our very own Toby Beresford of MicroAid, and several other wonderful projects. That reminds me, Dan, thanks for your earlier post- I will certainly be encouraging people to connect and hope the other delegates do, too. Students asked great questions to learn more about the ventures and also shared stories of their backgrounds.

Then I was off to hear from our very own SBS Professor, Marc Vantresca, who was on the panel talking about network theory and analysis and how social networks give us new way to solve complex knotting problems of change. It was great to see MarMar’s post earlier in the discussion because, I think, that given your background, you will really enjoy SBS (congrats!) Next I got the opportunity to catch up with David Bornstein, author of How to Change the World, and someone many of you know—he shared some good advice about my interest in shaping the next stage of my career perhaps in microfinance.

I also had a great lunch with Jeff Skoll & the four other MBA Skollars and was reminded what a humble and fun person Jeff is to be around, and how lucky I am to have made such close friends with aligned interest in the Skollars. It was a great lead up to the ‘Academy Awards’ style presentation of honored social entrepreneurs later in the day and a deeply moving video clip of the ‘New Heroes’ documentary profiling an amazing innovator working to end commerce slavery in India—a tear jerker!

I closed the evening by hosting a themed ‘Finance & Funding’ dinner- a part of the student initiated grassroots networking at the Forum. 23 people showed up when we originally planned for ten! I was lucky to hear a success story of a project which last year’s Forum helped shape about microfinance products for clean drinking water in illegal housing slums…really one of the most exciting models I have heard so far. At dinner, I sat next to Kylie Charlton who founded the Oxford Business Network for Social Entrepreneurs when she was a student here last year and is now working with one of my favorite organizations, Unitus. On the way home, others wandered into a pub to continue their conversations about social innovation, and I was making my way to my flat when I bumped into Rob John on the street. Rob is a Skoll Centre Fellow and trailblazer in venture philanthropy in Europe, and we had a nice chat about many things, such as the cultural gaps in how people perceive various labels like ‘charity’ or ‘nonprofit’ or ‘investment’. His authenticity and leadership has really impressed me this year as he was our ‘client’ for the new business development project I will present tomorrow for a morning case study. I didnt see too much of Sohodojo today...no doubt their and Kristina's blog will give another valuable angle.

So, I have to say, it is again 2:30am and I am buzzing with excitement from an energy packed day with wonderful people. I have attached here a picture of some of my fellow MBA colleagues with Ben Kingsley, Jeff Skoll and Sally Osberg. Time in our lives is so precious, and I feel so lucky to get to spend it like this—alongside the New Heroes.

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Sohodojo Jim and Timlynn - Apr 1, 2005 8:21 am (#6 Total: 9)
Sohodojo

Special kudos to the Said Business School MBA students who presented Case 3 this morning. Despite everything else going on and all the ways in which you each had been pressed into service to help with the Forum, you did yourselves, your school, the Skoll Foundation, and Jeff Skoll proud!

First, you did something that many of the other presenters had found impossible  - you were able to distill your months of research and effort into SIX MINUTES - project described - complete, cogent, well detailed, and well done. That alone deserves a standing ovation. So many presenters felt severely challenged by the time constraints of trying to say what they wanted to within their 10 minute allotment.

Next, each team did a great job of presenting your work and especially of answering the tough questions that came your way from the packed room of observers. And you did get some tough questions!

Both the Biodiesel in India and Said MBA Venture Philanthropy Fund projects have a great deal of promise. Whenever it's relevant, please share with the rest of the SE community the great projects on which you are working. It will be interesting to keep track of these two projects over time if you decide to pursue them. 

For us in the Small Is Good World Working Group  we were very happy to meet you and to have the chance to talk with you during the Forum. We know Keeley will continue to share with us all on SE, now we want to hear more from Sujeet, Henry, Jesse and the rest of your excellent teams.

Great job guys!

Keely Stevenson - Apr 1, 2005 4:16 pm (#7 Total: 9)
Acumen Fund


Today, I walked to the Forum with a friend I had worked with in Peru, and as we reached the door of Said Business School we met a guy selling ‘The Big Issue’ magazine. ‘The Big Issue’ is a magazine written and distributed by homeless people-- a commercially successful venture that is ethically sound and dedicated to serving society. It was the first time I saw him there, and I thought it was a nice complement to my typical SBS morning routine of the free Financial Times in the common room when I have a morning coffee. Given the presence of the Forum, this homeless (and empowered) salesguy at the doorstep of SBS was quite symbolic actually.

So, in today’s schedule, the students had designed two sessions. First, we had invited students from other universities (IESE, Stanford, Harvard & Wharton) who are active in this arena to share their thoughts on the activities within their schools related to social entrepreneurship and social networks. While I didn’t agree with all that was said (or at least how it was framed), I appreciated the fact that there was some great dialogue sparked and important issues raised about se in practice and cross-discipline academia. Lee Davis of NESsT was a wonderful moderator and our very own Tara McConaghy represented the Oxford MBA perspective.

In addition, my heart was warmed to see that the panel of student project presentations I was on attracted a full house…people were even sitting on the steps in the aisles. So, it was really an honor for Henry Gonzalez and I to be able to share our Venture Philanthropy Fund Proposal as well as see Jesse’s group in action with their Bio-diesel project pitch. Kylie Charleton who graduated last year did a wonderful job moderating as we fielded some tough questions. Overall it was quite a remarkable response, and I want to especially thank Sohodojo for their kind words in the message above, and to the Small is Good Working Group for the way they convey the messages throughout the Forum.

Well, one of my goals at the conference was to learn more about people doing work in microfinance and social banking in the interest of a summer internship. Indeed, I was able to connect with a few people today who sparked my interest and align with my values, so that was a nice outcome.

Now, I am off to Tanzania with some friends from the program working on a business plan for a Safari for people with disabilities. Along the adventure, I reflect on so many of the nuggets of knowledge and inspiration from the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship that I hope to share with my class when we meet again for Trinity term.

So, I would like :::to thank you all for reading this and being who you are,

:::to thank Sally Osberg, Jeff Skoll, Anthony Hopwood, Mike Malone and Stephan Chambers for sparking the idea for the conference and then architecting the possibilities,

:::to thank Rowena Young, Alex Nicholls, Kathryn Smyth (plus 2), Mona and SBS/Skoll Fnd/Social Edge teams for designing and convening a place for changemakers. It is people like you who make the sun shine as brightly as it did today after days of rain.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world: indeed it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

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Toby Beresford - Apr 4, 2005 3:31 am (#8 Total: 9)
MicroAid


A question I wanted to ask Jesse and team was that if "India is in the villages" is there any way to make the biodiesel business they propose "in the villages" too - i.e. they grow the jatropha, process it locally, sell it locally and use it locally. This would be an interesting model to make work. Regards Toby

jblack - Apr 5, 2005 1:37 am (#9 Total: 9)
(Jesse Fahnestock)


Hi Toby (and sorry to all for being incommunicado -- had to jet away early on Friday and just got back).

Indeed our model is village-based in terms of the production facilities. We think the production will be the hub of the supply chain and will help strengthen village economies. Our primary challenge will be to source the biodiesel from village-centric producers. That is our full intention, but of course we recognize that industrial jatropha farms might make it tough to do so economically in the long run. We hope to borrow some principles from Fair Trade in order to support local production, but we will have to see if this can be done competitively on small margins. This is part of the reason we want to scale up -- to pad those margins and keep supply terms favorable to village-based suppliers. We'll also work with the strong cooperative infrastructure to help make this work on both sides of the equation.

I just wanted to thank all the people who not only showed up to our presentations, but also waited out the 20-minute delay. The enthusiasm for what we were doing was positively bracing. Despite waking up on Friday utterly exhausted and weighed down by flu, I left the presentation inspired and mentally six feet deep in our project again. That, I think, is the sign of a good conference. One that keeps you going when you've not much left in the tank. The World Forum certainly managed that for me.

I'd also like to thank Rowena, Alex, Kathryn and Mona for all they did (especially since I didn't get to say goodbye on Friday). They (we!) are building a special event. I look forward to doing it again next year, with a brand new perspective in tow.