The Social Entrepreneur Podcast

Latest Episodes:

140, Benje Williams, Amal Academy | Continuous Action Creates a Path Out of Poverty Dec 19, 2016

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139, Sonja Ausen-Anifrani, SMS Maama | Reduce Maternal Mortality in Uganda Dec 16, 2016

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Sonja Ausen-Anifrani and Katelyn Pastick believe that maternal mortality can be reduced by providing the health information that every woman deserves.

The founders of SMS Maama met at a course on social entrepreneurship at the University of Minnesota. None of them had experience in being an entrepreneur or building a social venture. The class provided mentors in Uganda. They worked on their idea and, when the class was over, they walked away with a grade and a business plan.

But now, they were on the hook. They knew what the problem was and they suspected that perhaps they had a solution. And if they could do something about maternal mortality, didn’t they have to try?

Uganda has a maternal mortality rate of 360 deaths per 100,000 live births. While 1 in 44 Ugandan women will die due to pregnancy complications, in many cases, this is preventable. Early health assessments and improved nutrition can dramatically reduce maternal mortality. However, many women in Uganda do not have access this information.

SMS Maama uses automated text messages to send pregnancy-related information. They also screen for complications during pregnancy through simple text questions and responses. They are just beginning their pilot project in Uganda. Sonja Ausen-Anifrani tells the story.

Social Entrepreneurship Quotes from Sonja Ausen-Anifrani

“These complications are preventable.”

“Every woman has the right to accurate information.”

“When you’re in the class, you’re working with theory.”

“Moving from theory, working in class on a group project, to something real, takes a lot of work.”

“You don’t have a structure. You’re creating a structure.”

“It takes so much internal motivation.”

Social Entrepreneurship Resources:

SMS Maama: http://www.smsmaama.org
SMS Maama: https://www.facebook.com/smsmaama5
Acara Challenge Business Competition: http://environment.umn.edu/leadership/acara/competitions/acara-challenge

D-Prize: http://environment.umn.edu/leadership/acara/competitions/d-prize

138, Julius Ibrahim, Second Shot Coffee | Heart, Head, and Hustle to end Homelessness Dec 14, 2016

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Julius Ibrahim is tackling homelessness one espresso at a time.

In her book, Work on Purpose, Echoing Green alumni Lara Galinsky offers this formula:

Heart + Head = Hustle

By heart, she means your emotions.

By head, she is referring to your skills and abilities.

And by hustle…well, every entrepreneur knows exactly what that looks like.

Julius Ibrahim is a beautiful illustration of heart, head and hustle.

As Julius entered university in Central London, he was confronted daily by those who were sleeping on the sidewalk, in doorways or parks. These folks are referred to as “rough sleepers.” This was a significant “heart” moment for Julius.

He wanted to apply his skills to make a difference. He became involved with the organization Enactus. Enactus allows students to take entrepreneurial action for social causes. His skills grew as he took on a leadership role in the organization. It was through Enactus that he helped turn around a social enterprise café. He was hooked.

In this role, he had a chance to see a lot of social business startups, including several false-starts of companies who were trying to solve homelessness.

Julius took the time to learn more, speaking to people in the homelessness space. He wanted to know what a good solution looks like.

Julius has a passion for hospitality. He thought about how could bring his hospitality industry skills to bear to solve the issue of chronic homelessness. In other words, how could he combine his head and his heart to make an impact.

Julius started hustling. It took him almost a year to raise the funds to start. He started with a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. Although he failed to raise as much money as he hoped, he did receive a great deal of press and social media attention. This led to private investment funding. Because Second Shot Coffee is a UK-based social enterprise, the investors qualified for a Social Investment Tax Relief.

In May, 2016, Julius launched Second Shot Coffee. Charity organizations refer people dealing with homelessness to Julius and Second Shot Coffee. He employs them, trains them as baristas and then transitions them to further employment.

Social Entrepreneurship Quotes from Julius Ibrahim

“I was always passionate about hospitality.”

“Every day there was just so much rough sleeping.”

“That’s when I realized I’m probably not going to go and do the kind of standard career choice.”

“The reason homelessness is so persistent is because there is such a lack of understanding about how easy it is to fall into the situation.”

“Homelessness is something that happens to someone.”

“The average person is two paychecks away from becoming homeless.”

“We started with a crowdfunding campaign.”

“Every day it’s something new and a new challenge.”

“For our model, staff turnover is a good indicator.”

“Once people learn what we do, they’re really onboard and willing to help.”

“If people are given the opportunity, they will contribute and will try and be part of something more meaningful.”

“Find a local social enterprise and support them.”

“Everybody has some kind of specialized skill that they’re able to give.”

Social Entrepreneurship Resources:

Second Shot Coffee: http://secondshotcoffee.co.uk
Second Shot Coffee on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondshotcoffee
Second Shot Coffee on Twitter: https://twitter.com/secondshotcafe
Second Shot Coffee on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/secondshotcoffee
Social Investment Tax Relief: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-investment-tax-relief-factsheet/social-investment-tax-relief
Enactus: http://enactus.org

137, Misan Rewane, WAVE | Skills over Schools Dec 12, 2016

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136, Vivek Maru, Namati | The Rule of Law for Everyone Dec 09, 2016

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Namati puts the rule of law in the hands of people.

The rule of law is a bedrock of most modern societies. No one is above the law. We are all equal under the law. And yet, more than four billion people live outside of the protection of the law. Their rights are easily violated. They have no right to their land. They are denied basic human rights. They are threatened and intimidated, often by the very people who are supposed to protect them.

Vivek Maru learned about social justice from his grandfather who was part of the Gandhian Movement. Vivek wrote his undergrad thesis on Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Malcom X. After college, he received a fellowship to study Gandhian social action in India. He settled in the Kutch district. There he worked on watershed development.

Upon returning to law school, he felt conflicted. He considered dropping out. “What I was learning about the law seemed so contradictory to that Gandhian spirit that I admire,” he told me. But he stuck with his studies.

By 2003, Vivek made his way to Sierra Leone, just after the end of a bloody civil war that had left more than 50,000 dead. Though the country had achieved peace, most of the civil institutions were weak or non-existent. In the entire country, there were less than 100 lawyers. Most of those were in the capital city of Freetown. Across rural Sierra Leone, people had little recourse for legal complaints.

Vivek formed Timap for Justice, training paralegals throughout the country. These paralegals, often referred to as barefoot lawyers, restored the rule of law in many communities. The idea of using paralegals for social justice work is not new. What was different with Timap was that the paralegals coordinated and learned from one another. Eventually the work of Timap was recognized by the World Bank, International Crisis Group and others.

In 2011, Vivek began to scale his community paralegal work to other countries. To do so, he formed Namati. Namati helps people to understand, use, and shape the laws that affect them. Namati develops innovative methods that allow grassroots legal advocates to take on challenges to justice. They spread these methodologies through an interconnected coalition of organizers. The organizers share insights and learn from one another. The coalition work for large-scale, system-changing policy changes. Once the policies are passed, the barefoot lawyers work with local communities to bring those policies to life.

Social Entrepreneurship Quotes from Vivek Maru

“Three billion people around the world live on lands to which they don’t have legal rights.”

“Any big problem you can imagine, law and justice matters.”

“Even though we’ve got tons of lawyers, we have an extraordinary crisis in terms of access to justice.”

“I was dreaming about social justice since I was a kid.”

“What I was learning about the law seemed so contradictory to that Gandhian spirit that I admire.”

“There is a way of approaching the law that sets its sites on transformation.”

“I have found that even in some of the toughest situations, well-equipped and well-supported paralegals can manage to squeeze justice out of broken systems.”

“Study history.”

“You might not notice law and justice if you’re not looking for it.”

Social Entrepreneurship Resources:

Namati: https://namati.org
Namati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GlobalNamati

Namati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlobalNamati

135, Gillian Caldwell, Global Witness | The Link Between Natural Resources, Conflict and Corruption Dec 07, 2016

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Global Witness investigates and exposes natural resource exploitation around the world.

Have you ever wondered why many of the countries that are richest in natural resources, have some of the poorest populations? Countries that are rich in gems, minerals and other natural resources also have persistent poverty. In many cases, this is due to corruption and human rights abuses.

How do you break the chain of corruption and abuse? First, it must be exposed. That is what Global Witness does. They document abuses of environmental and human rights. They work for justice for the exploited and they hold the powerful to account.

Gillian Caldwell has been thinking about social justice and natural resources since she was in high school, where she was a chapter coordinator for Amnesty International. Before joining Global Witness, she was CEO for 1Sky where she took on climate change. She was also the Executive Director for WITNESS, a platform for documenting violations of human rights.

Social Entrepreneurship Quotes from Gillian Caldwell

“Global Witness was one of the first organizations to understand the relationship between natural resource exploitation and environmental and human rights abuse.”

“Our work looks at Western enablers of corruption that help impoverish nation states by depriving them of the wealth that their natural resources should be able to generate.”

“My teachers were very influential for me.”

“From an early age I was thinking in very broad terms about the world around me and what difference I could make in it.”

“The process is as important as the destination.”

“In an increasingly interconnected world, there is no such thing as an exclusively national concern.”

“We just don’t have the luxury to see those problems in separate compartments any longer.”

“Some of the most resource rich countries in the world are dealing with grinding poverty, environmental and human rights abuse and corruption.”

“Too often companies are shielded and the money itself is shielded by the existence of so-called anonymous companies.”

“Tune in to what moves and motivates you.”

“Personal sustainability is key.”

“This is a marathon and not a sprint.”

“The only change that’s meaningful in the world is change that happens through partnerships and collaboration.”

“There’s room for people who are passionate enough to chart their own course.”

Social Entrepreneurship Resources:

Global Witness: https://globalwitness.org
Global Witness on Twitter: https://twitter.com/global_witness
Global Witness on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlobalWitness
- Global Witness on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/GlobalWitness

134, Verengai Mabika, Development Reality Institute (DRI) | The Climate Change Challenge and Opportunity Dec 05, 2016

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Verengai Mabika sees the opportunities created by climate change.

Eighty percent of Zimbabwe’s businesses depend on Agriculture. Most agriculture in Zimbabwe is rain-fed. Climate change brings record high temperatures and frequent droughts. When crops fail, so does Zimbabwe’s economy. The droughts, combined with land reform, changed Zimbabwe from a net exporter of agricultural products to an importer of food. There are currently around four million people who need food aid in Zimbabwe.

Verengai Mabika has a passion for designing green communities. He was trained as an urban planner with an emphasis on environmental design.

In 2009, there was a sharp rise in political violence. Verengai told me, “I was surprised by the way our leaders were taking advantage of young people who had so much energy. I thought I could motivate a few young people to get into a discourse that I believed was very serious and could bring some opportunities for them.”

The Development Reality Institute taps into the high number of unemployed youth to address the effects of climate change. They have three key activities. They run a virtual school to build the capacity of people to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. They operate the Green Innovations Hub, which is a space with technical and financial assistance for innovative ideas. And they work with young people in school, educating them through their Cool Schools program.

Social Entrepreneurship Quotes from Verengai Mabika

“We believe that we can create a generation of social entrepreneurs who can effectively respond to the effect of climate change.”

“I believe that the climate change discourse, even though it is one of the greatest challenges, it also offers some huge opportunities.”

“I see it as a dual challenge of climate change as well as unemployment.”

“The current unemployment rate in Zimbabwe is about 80%.”

“What we’re trying to create here is a pathway for young people to think differently when it comes to climate change.”

“The Green Innovations Hub is both a virtual and physical space.”

“Most of the motivation that keeps me going is the motivation that I draw from my colleagues.”

“Persistence and consistency are quite key.”

“There’s now compelling evidence that climate change is a huge issue.”

Social Entrepreneurship Resources:

Development Reality Institute: http://www.driafrica.org
Green Innovations Hub: http://www.gih.space
Development Reality Institute on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DRIafrica
Development Reality Institute on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DRI.AFRICA

133, Rashmi Bharti, AVANI Society | Create Sustainable Livelihood Through an Ethical, Green Brand Dec 02, 2016

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132, Nina Smith, GoodWeave International | End Child Labor with a Market-Based Approach Nov 30, 2016

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Nina Smith has been thinking about social justice since she was eight years old. It’s natural that today she is working to end child labor.

You might think that child labor is a thing of the past, relegated to black and white pictures from the 1940s. Unfortunate for millions of children around the world, that is not true. According to the Global Slavery Index, 45.8 million people are enslaved in the world today. In the handmade carpet industry alone there are nearly a quarter of a million children who are being exploited.

Nina Smith grew up in a Jewish household, where her grandmother taught her the Jewish tradition of tzedakah, or social justice. As an eight-year-old, she was first introduced to her cousin Mark. She was told by her mother and grandmother that Mark would tell her and her sister a story. The story, as it turns out, was the story of the holocaust. “That was the first time I understood about the injustices in the world,” she told me.

Nina sees echoes of this injustice in the lives of modern-day slaves. “Very much my childhood influenced the way that I respond to this kind of thing now. People all over the world knew it was happening, the information was there, but people didn’t act soon enough or strongly enough.” She said of child labor, “It’s touching every one of us through the products that we buy.”

GoodWeave is transforming the rug industry by certifying child-labor-free rugs. To earn the GoodWeave label, manufacturers must meet certifications standards. They must also agree to random, independent inspections.

GoodWeave has freed more than 3,500 children from slave labor. They have reduced child labor by 80% in the handmade carpet industry of South Asia. Children who are rescued, are offered schooling and other basic needs. GoodWeave also prevents child labor by providing opportunities to at-risk children.

GoodWeave is expanding their market-based approach to eliminating child labor to new sectors such as apparel, home textiles and agricultural products.

Social Entrepreneurship Resources: