Startup & Change the World: Guide for Young Social Entrepreneurs

S. DEV APPANAH | SUNIT SHRESTHA

STARTUP AND CHANGE THE WORLD
Planning to start a social enterprise?

Youth Social Enterprise Initiative (YSEI) has
developed a guidebook dedicated to young
innovators who are equipped with great ideas
and are intent on unleashing them to change
the world.

It’s full of information, tips and profiles to help

Guide for Young Social Entrepreneurs
you choose your path, develop a plan and
create impact.

www.ysei.org

www.globalknowledge.org

www.sdc.admin.ch

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share
Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons. Published by: Youth Social Enterprise Initiative, a Global Knowledge Partnership Programme
org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Supported by: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Ths gudebook was wrtten by Salendra Dev Appanah and Sunt Shrestha
ISBN 983-2588-10-8 of Youth Socal Enterprse Intatve (YSEI). We would lke to thank Rahul
Nanwal for comng on board as a consultant to provde nput on varous
Dev Appanah, S., Shrestha, S. (authors) (2007) sectons, partcularly those requrng a socal entrepreneural perspectve.
“Startup Change the World. We would also lke to thank the many people who so kndly and wllngly
Gude for Young Socal Entrepreneurs” contrbuted ther tme, thoughts and deas to make ths a realty so that you
mght benefit from ther collectve wsdom.

Ths work s lcensed under the Creatve Commons Attrbuton-Noncommercal- Walter Fust Rnala Abdul Rahm
Share Alke 3.0 Unported Lcense. To vew a copy of ths lcense, vst Mchael Chertok Kwan Low
http://creatvecommons.org/lcenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creatve Alexander Wdmer Ashok Khosla
Commons, 171 Second Street, Sute 300, San Francsco, Calforna, 94105, USA. Smon Healy Angela Kuga Thas
Marjolane Gallet Raj Thapar
Publshed by Youth Socal Enterprse Intatve (YSEI), YSEI Fellows ‘06-’07 Bruno Bernardes
Global Knowledge Partnershps Programme (GKP) Rahul Nanwal Peerapond Chutsuntarakul
Supported by: Swss Agency for Development and Cooperaton (SDC),

Ths publcaton s avalable from: We’d lke to gve a specal thanks to our closest supporters who have been
Youth Socal Enterprse Intatve (YSEI) by our sde throughout the process and have made crucal contrbutons
444 Olympa Tha Tower, 22nd. Fl., both n terms of desgn and content mprovements. We wsh to thank the
Ratchadaphsek Rd., Samsemnok, team at ChangeFuson for ther contnuous support n our endeavors and
Huaykwang, Bangkok 10310 Thaland the team at Idea!s for addng ther splash of creatvty to the desgn of ths
www.yse.org gudebook.
nfo@yse.org

Global Knowledge Partnershp (GKP)
Level 23, Tower 2, MNI Twns,
11 Jalan Pnang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysa
www.globalknowledge.org

Desgn and Layout: Idea!s Creatves, Manla, Phlppnes

v

CONTENTS

Foreword
by Walter Fust v

Introducton 1
Ch. 5 Beyond the Plan 103
Ch. 1 In Search of Meanng 3 Settng up a team 104
What s Socal Entrepreneurshp? 4 Basc office systems 105
Socal “Technopreneurshp” 7 Role of Mentors 106

Ch. 2 Changng World 11 Ch. 6 Fund Attracton 109
Shockng Facts 11 Know your Needs 110
The Future of Captalsm 13 Choose the Rght Pots of Money 113
Future World Trends 16 Be Unquely Relevant 116
Sustanablty Frst 119
Ch. 3 A Vable Career 19
Young Innovators 19 Ch. 7 Socal Communcaton 123
Profiles of Socal Entrepreneurs 22 Understandng your stake-holders 124
10 Success Trats 45 The Elevator Ptch 125
Socal Communcatons 2.0 127

Ch. 4 Gettng Started 47
Ideas that work 47 Ch. 8 You are your Network 133
Socal Venture Plan 50 Unquely Useful Identty 135
“Schmoozng” Rules 137
Network Weaver 138
Open Source Yourself 142

Advce from Ashok Khosla 146

Resources 149

v

FOREWORD
A play pump s a chldren’s merry-go-round that pumps clean and safe
drnkng water from a deep borehole to water tank, every tme chldren spn t
when they play. The tank s connected to a tap n the communty that provde
a source of clean drnkng water. Not only s the play pump an ngenous
soluton from an nventve perspectve, t also has a unque element of financal
sustanablty. An advertsement placed on the water tank connected to a Play

“We need a world of Pump helps finance the nstallaton and mantenance of each pump, ultmately
makng t a replcable soluton n other communtes.

socal entrepreneurs to I have always magned a world where the sprt of entrepreneuralsm
trumphs over bg and sluggsh bureaucraces to brng about a postve change n
socety. In ts true essence, entrepreneurshp s all about nnovaton and mpact.

brng about nnovatve Entrepreneurs are often hghly-drven ndvduals who have a deep passon
to realze ther deas and solutons. They are very effectve at recognzng
opportuntes, moblzng resources, managng rsks, craftng compellng

solutons for a better strateges, and buldng strong busness models. The word ‘socal’, placed before
‘entrepreneur’, merely denotes a shft n msson from tradtonal busness
entrepreneurs. Socal entrepreneurs, n contrast, am to create socal mpact

future n the world. nnovatvely whle stayng afloat n the marketplace.

We have to re-examne how we as human bengs operate n ths world. A radcal

I want to see them redefinton of the roles of busness, non-profits and governments s requred.
Contnung n ths trajectory s defintely not sustanable. I would lke to call
upon the next generaton of busness and non-profits to take on ths challenge

‘rockng’ all over the by transcendng to more sustanable models. Non-profits and socal enterprses
have to find new ways of stayng afloat n the marketplace whle not sacrficng
the mpact they wsh to create. Busness, wll have to redefine how t measures

world.” Walter Fust, profits and begn takng nto account the socal and envronmental costs t
creates n the world.

Drector-General of SDC Startup Change the World s born out of the shared experences of a small
group of young socal entrepreneurs that formed Global Knowledge Partnershp’s
(GKP) Youth Socal Enterprse Intatve (YSEI). YSEI was set n moton n 2005,
and today delvers financng and capacty buldng support to hgh-mpact youth
socal enterprses n developng regons. Ths book s an mperatve gude as
you begn your journey nto socal entrepreneurshp. It wll help you understand
the essental sklls every socal entrepreneur needs to realze ther dreams.
It s estmated that over a bllon people n the world do not have access to clean These sklls are just as valuable n the socal sector as they are n busness. If
and safe drnkng water. In South Afrca, there s a very unque socal enterprse anythng, they are even more urgently needed.
that s addressng the challenge of access to clean and potable water n varous
communtes. Led by socal entrepreneur Trevor Feld, Play Pumps Internatonal, Let ths gude be a passport to a more vable career path and the creaton of a
s both a smple and revolutonary dea that brngs about a practcal soluton to a better future.
very complex problem.

1
INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
The dea for ths gudebook arose from the varous plannng sessons that took
place pror to the mplementaton of Global Knowledge Partnershp’s program
– Youth Socal Enterprse Intatve (YSEI). The authors, who are also founders
of the program, saw the need for a gudebook that could serve as an ad for
young and emergng socal entrepreneurs who wanted to start nnovatve and
sustanable ventures.

In a world where only one out of every thousand nnovatons prospers, new
ventures or startups face smlar prospects. Socal enterprses face the added
weght of creatng blended values (socal, envronmental and economc)
whle attemptng to stay afloat n markets drven solely by economc returns.
Ths makes socal enterprses unattractve to tradtonal nvestors because of
the promse of low returns on nvestment. As a result socal enterprses are
contnuously challenged to acheve ther msson whle havng access to a
lmted amount of resources.

If you’re one of the thousands of entrepreneurs who have great deas but are
unable to turn them nto acton, consder ths manual a rough gude on startng
your own socal enterprse. We have broadly outlned all the common strateges,
tactcs and elements nvolved n plannng your venture and gettng off the
ground. In addton, we have endeavored to brng clarty to the concept of socal
entrepreneurshp and dentfy varous resources that mght become handy n
your exploratve journey.

Developng ths gude has changed the way we look at present-day
organzatons. It s our firm belef that organzatons n the future would embrace
a blended value approach. We hope ths gude would prove to be nsprng and
of practcal use to you.

3
CHAPTER ONE

1 1
In Search of Meaning

In Burram, a provnce n the Northeast of Thaland, the heat and humdty keep
the pace slow. It s early on a Monday mornng and Nawee Nakwatchara, one of
the founders of Grassroots Innovaton Network (GIN), s runnng a workshop on
the use and benefits of drp rrgaton for farmers from a neghborng communty.
The farmers attendng the workshop, generally walk n not expectng to learn
much. A couple of sldes later, they are left awestruck by the results they wtness
from other communtes that have utlzed smple low-cost solutons to overcome
ther agrcultural challenges.

Accordng to the UNDP, one of the hghest ncdence of poverty n Thaland
orgnates from the Northeastern regon. Most people lvng the Northeast of
Thaland are farmers and for many years have been challenged by poor weather
and sol condtons. Through GIN’s workshops, Nawee s not only educatng a
growng number farmers, he’s also makng these smple agrcultural solutons
avalable to the communtes for mmedate applcaton. Farmers that are
utlzng some of these solutons are reapng sgnficant ncreases n the yeld of
ther crop. Many of them have acheved overall ncome ncreases of up to three
to five tmes from the average.

All of us have a lttle bt of “Nawee” n us. We are constantly n search of
nspraton and meanng n our lves. As we grow older, we begn learnng that
lfe s more than work, money, power or prestge. Instead, t s about makng a
postve dfference n a world that lacks solutons to manage a wde spectrum of
complex socal problems such as poverty, socal oppresson and envronmental
degradaton.

Nawee s nether a socal actvst nor a socal bureaucrat. At 27, he s one of a
few young socal entrepreneurs, dedcated to brng about nnovatve solutons for
specfic socal problems.

5
CHAPTER ONE

What s Socal Entrepreneurshp?
Over the years, socal entrepreneurshp has been ganng momentum across the
globe. More and more of us desre to make a dfference n the world we lve n.
The emergence of ths new sector s sgnficantly shftng the course of human
development. Socal entrepreneurs save mllons of lves and make ths world
a safer place to lve n. They create nnovatve solutons to address socal and
envronmental problems.

The concept of socal entrepreneurshp s as mpressve as t s confusng
to many. Most people understand t as a not-for-profit busness venture
that ether channels ts profits towards supportng socal ntatves or
creates job opportuntes for the poor. They are not wholly naccurate. Socal
entrepreneurshp nvolves even more; t ranges from a wde varety of nnovatve
approaches to solve mpendng socal and envronmental problems, thus resultng
n systemc, sustanable socal transformaton wthout regard for the resources
presently n hand.

A recent paper by Roger Martn and Sally Osberg publshed n the Stanford
Socal Innovaton Revew helps brng ncreased clarty to the definton of socal
entrepreneurshp. Before embarkng on definng socal entrepreneurshp, the
authors begn by understandng the core characterstcs of entrepreneurshp
snce the word “socal” merely modfies entrepreneurshp. Both authors come to
conclude that socal entrepreneurshp s defined by the followng components:

The graph above ndcates the spectrum socal enterprses tend to exst whle balancng the
ablty to dentfy a stable but nherently unjust equlbrum that causes the creaton of socal/envronmental returns and economc returns
excluson, margnalzaton, or sufferng of a segment of humanty that lacks the
financal means or poltcal clout to acheve any transformatve benefit on ts
Professor Gregory Dees from the Fuqua School of Busness, Duke Unversty,
own
explans t best, “In addton to nnovatve not-for-profit ventures, socal
entrepreneurshp can nclude socal purpose busness ventures, such as for-profit
ablty to dentfy an opportunty n ths unjust equlbrum, developng a socal
communty development banks, and hybrd organzatons mxng not-for-profit
value proposton, and brngng to bear nspraton, creatvty, drect acton,
and for-profit elements, such as homeless shelters that start busnesses to tran
courage, and forttude, thereby challengng the stable state’s hegemony;
and employ ther resdents. The new language helps to broaden the playng field.
Socal entrepreneurs look for the most effectve methods of servng ther socal
ablty to forge a new, stable equlbrum that releases trapped potental or mssons”.
allevates the sufferng of the targeted group, and through mtaton and the
creaton of a stable ecosystem around the new equlbrum ensurng a better Equpped wth powerful world-changng deas, socal entrepreneurs have created
future for the targeted group and even socety at large. IT-related jobs for the most desttute n Camboda; ntroduced electrcty to rural
communtes n Brazl; created low-cost cataract surgeres n Inda; developed
smple agrcultural technologes n Thaland; started banks to provde credt for
the poor n Bangladesh; and marketed far trade coffee. Lke a doctor who tres to

7
CHAPTER ONE
find the best cure for hs or her patents, socal entrepreneurs smply try to find
the best possble solutons for the world’s problems - poverty, unemployment,
Socal Technopreneurshp
lack of educaton, envronmental damage, etc.
For the 3 bllon people n the world that lve on less than USD2 a day,
Davd Bornsten, the author of the acclamed book, ‘How to Change the World: nventons and gadgets such as the nternet, personal computer, -pod and
Socal Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas’ states the followng, “What pocket pc are rrelevant towards mprovng ther lves. Accordng to Paul Polak,
busness entrepreneurs are to the economy, socal entrepreneurs are to socal founder of Internatonal Development Enterprses – an organzaton that creates
change. They are the drven, creatve ndvduals who queston the status quo, demand for affordable technologes to help the world’s poor, partcularly
explot new opportuntes, refuse to gve up, and remake the world for the subsstence farmers; “Nnety percent of the people who desgn thngs are
better.” In the busness world, entrepreneurs are motvated by profits, whereas, addressng the problems of the rchest 5 percent of people n the world”.
socal entrepreneurs are motvated by findng better ways to solve the problems
that plague our socetes – ther bottom-lne s lves. Professor Mchael Porter from the Harvard Busness School argues that
“Innovaton s the central ssue n economc prosperty,” nnovaton and
Socal entrepreneurs are vsonares, lke artsts they have the ablty to vsualze technology can help the poor as much as the rch. The Unted Natons’ annual
somethng that doesn’t exst and they wll not stop tll they have realzed Human Development Report n 2001 whch studed the relatonshp between
ther dreams. Socal entrepreneurs are just as nnovatve and soluton-orented technology and economc prosperty came to the concluson that poor people
as tradtonal entrepreneurs. They also buld brdges; develop a network of need more nnovaton and access to technology, not less.
relatonshps and contacts. In addton, they have the ablty to communcate
an nsprng vson n order to nfluence and motvate people around them - The relatonshp between technology and economc prosperty s strong.
partners, team members, volunteers, etc. Technologcal nnovatons n plant-breedng gave brth to hgher-yeldng wheat,
whch brought about the Green Revoluton n Inda and other parts of the world
One of the unque qualtes that socal entrepreneurs possess s the ablty to durng the 60s to stave off wdespread famne. Medcal nnovatons such as
nfluence the bg pcture. Accordng to Bll Drayton, CEO, char and founder of the use of antbotcs and vaccnes have helped decrease the human mortalty
Ashoka, “Socal entrepreneurs are not content just to gve a fish or teach how to rates by savng lves. More recently, the wdespread use of nformaton and
fish. They wll not rest untl they have revolutonzed the fishng ndustry. They communcaton technologes (ICTs) has helped the poor gan access to useful
are the drven, creatve ndvduals who queston the status quo, explot new nformaton and knowledge such as up-to-date crop prces and effectve
opportuntes and refuse to gve up.” agrcultural technques whch have ultmately led to ncreased productvty and
ncome gans.
Muhammed Yunus of Grameen bank challenged the percepton that poor people
are not credt worthy and he created a bank that lends to the poor. And n the We have seen n the last 15 odd years that global markets, global technology,
process he created a new way of lendng to the poor, whch today s popularly global deas and global soldarty can enrch the lves of people everywhere.
known as mcro-finance. Dr. Kuren not only revved the local mlk dary n However the challenge s to ensure that the benefits are shared equtably for
Gujarat but n the process revolutonzed the whole mlk ndustry and n a few people - not just for profits. In the busness sectors, ICTs are helpng efficent
years transformed Inda from a mlk deficent country to one of the top mlk communcaton, cost cuttng, mprovng resource allocaton processes and
producers n the world. efficently mplementng programs.

Socal entrepreneurs are workng to solve socal problems but they are not just In the socal sectors ICTs are generatng new possbltes to attack problems
concerned wth the problem n hand. They work to brng change to the socal of rural poverty, nequalty and envronmental degradaton. If ICT s ntegrated
dynamcs and systems that have created and mantaned the problem. They nto socety and supported by polcy reform, t can be part of the soluton
work as catalysts for socal transformaton; n the short term they wll create for mprovng educaton, healthcare, envronmental protecton, government
small changes n the system but these changes wll work as pressure ponts to admnstraton, and local economc development.
eventually trgger and cascade larger socal transformaton n the longer term.
Javed Abd has not only champoned the cause of dsabled people but he has The quest for ICT4D started way back n early 1990s when the financal
also nfluenced natonal government polcy to nclude the dsabled wthn Inda’s communty and nvestors were gettng swept over by the dot com boom. The
natonal census.

9
CHAPTER ONE
development professonals became qute attracted wth the dea that nformaton DDD s an nterestng model for the creaton of ICT-based employment and
and communcatons technologes could enable poor natons to leapfrog over ncome generaton opportuntes for dsadvantaged groups n developng
many slow, panful stages of socal and economc growth. The concept attracted countres by settng up a non-profit and economcally sustanable ICT enterprse.
enough attenton to earn tself a catchy abbrevaton - ICT4D (Informaton and
Communcatons Technologes for Development). When t comes to ICT4D the ptfalls are many, pctures of school chldren playng
wth a computer, a Buddhst monk usng a moble phone, or trbal folks men
A lot of fundng was suddenly made avalable to projects whch were tryng to tryng out a palm-top are qute attractve and they trap us nto belevng that
do thngs rangng from e-governance to reduce corrupton and vllage kosks to we are fixng the world’s lls wth thngs and gadgets. Though when appled
provde local content. Suddenly there were computers, along wth the promse correctly, ICTs-from phones, rado and televson to computers and nternet-can
of a better lfe, shpped over to small vllages where there had never been also lberate mllons of people from gnorance, ll-health and unemployment.
electrcty or telephone, often not even safe water. And almost everyone fumed
at the nfamous Bll Gates statement that medcnes and not computers are of A lot of ICT4D projects also suffer from the “New Toy” phenomenon. There
use to the world’s poorest people. Now, after years of research and experence, s overemphass on new nformaton technologes n solaton from the
a greater sense of realsm about the potental benefits and dangers of ICT4D has exstng ones lke telephone, rado. But companes lke VOXIVA ntegratng old
prevaled. technologes wth new but never losng sght that at the end the technology has
to benefit people by creatng value. Voxva deployed a web-based, real-tme
Today we have the hndsght to ask questons lke, how can nternet be useful to dsease survellance system that doesn’t requre all health facltes to have a PC.
people who cannot read or wrte? Does t make sense to provde computers to Instead, Voxva mplemented a PC-compatble soluton for the Mnstry of Health
vllage schools where there are no teachers? Is access to technology financally of Peru that allowed health workers to use exstng nfrastructure telephones and
sustanable? Even f vllagers do learn how to use the computer and get a web moble phones to report ncdents of dsease.
browser open, where wll they go? Whch meanngful stes wll they vst? Where
s the content? Is t local? Same language subttlng (SLS n short) poneered by Brj Kothar s also a
successful example of how technology can be used nnovatvely. Brj has
A clear example of an effectve ICT-based soluton s the ITC e-choupal ntatve. nvented “Same language subttles” on popular songs to help early-lterates
Whle many tradtonal telecentres operatng n rural communtes have faced mprove ther lteracy sklls. SLS subttles film songs, whch are popular across
many challenges n tryng to acheve financal sustanablty, the e-choupals Inda, and bulds on people’s famlarty wth the lyrcs. Wth SLS, they can read
have tred to create value by not only provdng relevant and accurate crop the words to ther favorte songs. Brj has ted up wth the Government and
nformaton (such as crop prces) to farmers but also the opportunty to sell through the state televson centre the subttles wth the songs reach to 100
ther produce drectly to large export companes. Wthn a few months, the mllon early lterates at almost zero extra cost.
e-Choupals have broken even and are turnng a profit. The e-choupal utlzes
the nternet to effectvely address socal challenges whle beng financally Socal “technopreneurs” from the Stanford Unversty to farms n Kenya are
sustanable at the same tme. workng on developng new nnovatons and applyng never-before used
technologes to address challenges n a varety of development fields. Lke your
The other successful example of usng ICTs s Camboda based Dgtal typcal busness ”technopreneur” from Slcon Valley, socal “technopreneurs”
Dvde Data. DDD s a non-profit Non-Governmental Organzaton (NGO) that ether nvent or ntegrate the use of technology to solve a problem. In addton,
develops sustanable and ntegrated educatonal and vocatonal opportuntes they establsh local manufacturng plants and marketng networks to stmulate
for dsadvantaged groups by provdng outsourced data servces, such as demand for ther nnovatons.
dgtalzaton of data, to busness and publc sector customers. They have a dual
msson, one that s focused on provdng hgh qualty servces to ts customers
and at the same tme facltate human development of ts employees. All
revenues are channeled back nto the operaton n support of the socal msson
and to provde socal benefits to ts staff. Employees receve above average
wages for a shorter than average workday (sx hours), as well as health benefits,
educaton and tranng opportuntes.

11
CHAPTER TWO

2
Changing World

13
CHAPTER TWO
I’m sure many of us wll certanly agree that as a group, we as humans have
never acheved so much wealth and prosperty n such a short perod of tme.
Future of Captalsm
At the same tme though, t must be sad that we have never faced so many
In Captalsm and Freedom, Mlton Fredman, a strong advocate of lassez-fare
complcated and challengng problems. Just to get an dea of what t s we’re
captalsm, stated “there s one and only one socal responsblty of busness–to
talkng about, the Copenhagen Consensus assesses and rates the bggest
use ts resources and engage n actvtes desgned to ncrease ts profits...”
challenges facng the world (after narrowng down the number of development
To burden busness wth wder goals, he argued, was “pure and unadulterated
challenges to just ten from a bgger pool):
socalsm”.

Unfortunately, current approaches to captalsm have ht a plateau n ts efforts
to buld economc value whle attemptng to address socal and envronmental
challenges. Busness, n ths day and age, has had to come to grps wth ssues
Although much of t s stll debatable, the queston remans, n tmes such as around sustanable development whle servng ts customers and buldng on
these, why aren’t there effectve solutons for these problems? Do we not have shareholder value. Although more and more busnesses are adoptng socal
the resources or the people to take on these challenges? programs such as corporate socal responsblty (CSR) ntatves, they’re dong
so only as ndependent actvtes outsde ther busness model, usually ntended
Economcs has taught us that all humans make ratonal choces and decsons; as exercses to boost ther corporate mage.
and from a utltaran perspectve we have been condtoned to engage n
actvtes that maxmze on economc profit. If somethng has been labeled Wth a sgnficant porton of our pursuts demandng purely economc returns,
uneconomc, t s left unattended because t fals to earn enough profit n our response to solve the costly “externaltes” (what we now call socal and
terms of money. As a result, over tme the economc system that we operate envronmental challenges) has been skewed out of proporton. The soluton s
n becomes skewed and ultmately fals to yeld approprate solutons for not to contnue developng new regulatons and complcated socal ntatves,
emergng socal and envronmental problems such as poverty and polluton. as they are both tme-consumng and neffectve. Theren les the problem, our
Ths phenomena s what Thomas Homer-Dxon calls “The Ingenuty Gap” n hs understandng of value creaton has become obsolete.
book. Smply put, an ngenuty gap arses when the amount of problems far
outnumbers the supply of effectve solutons. The blended value proposton, poneered by Jed Emerson, s a nascent concept
that can help shed some lght on the true nature of value creaton. Accordng to
Somewhere along the evoluton of free-market captalsm, the world has Emerson, there s a sgnficant dsconnect n our current understandng of value
managed to create and leave unattended a wde array of problems whle creaton, where, for-profit organzatons are meant to create economc value
achevng mpressve amounts of growth and development. Both globally and whle non-profit organzatons create socal value. Unfortunately, ths model
locally, we vew and treat socal and envronmental degradaton as separate and has become rather anachronstc to cope wth the challenges of a more modern
dsconnected from our busness and commercal actvtes. Ths lne of thought socety.
evokes a deep flaw embedded n the way we do thngs.

15
15
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER TWO
STARUP AND CHANGE THE WORLD
Both for-profit and non-profit enttes create a wde array of values, beyond
what ther legal structures denote. Busness creates a sgnficant amount of
socal value such as the creaton of jobs, payment of taxes, and delverng
products and servces to ts customers. It also creates negatve mpact on the
envronment by generatng waste and polluton. At the same tme, non-profits
create a sgnficant amount of economc value; n many countres, non-profits
represent a sgnficant amount of a country’s GDP.

Busnesses tradtonally judge ther own performance aganst one bottom lne
– the financal one. Increasngly, however, they are beng asked to consder how
they affect the envronment and ther communtes. The Trple Bottom Lne (TBL)
s a relatvely new concept that allows companes and organzatons to measure
ther performance based on the adopton of sustanablty or blended value
creaton.

Benefits of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL)
1. Reducng operatng costs
Employng nnovatve processes such as reducng energy use, ncreasng
manufacturng efficency, recyclng/reusng waste can result n sgnficant cost
savngs.

2. Improvng dentficaton and management of rsk
Organzatons would be able to antcpate rsk and ensure legal complance by
assessng ther envronmental and socal mpacts, and lstenng to the concerns
and perceptons of staff, supplers, regulators and customers

3. Creatng value by mprovng reputaton and postve customer response
Good organzatonal performance n relaton to envronmental and socal ssues
can buld reputaton whle poor performance, when exposed, can damage brand
value.

4. Increasng ablty to attract and retan employees
Organzatons that are more socally responsble create healther workng
envronments, thus makng t easer to recrut and retan employees. Ths can
help reduce recrutment and tranng costs too.

5. Increasng learnng and nnovaton
Organzatons that address envronmental and socal mpacts can dscover new
forms of nnovaton that results n new markets and value creaton.

Socal and other hybrd enterprses are helpng shape the future captalsm.
They are pavng the way for a more holstc busness model that redefines the
understandng of value creaton for one that maxmzes ther full value potental,
whle bearng n mnd t s a blend of economc, socal and envronmental
returns.

17
17
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER TWO

Future World Trends all currcula, n the future, chldren would be able to undergo talored
and specalzed educaton whch would not only sut ther nterests but
Sr Ken Robnson mentoned once “Nobody has a clue what the world sgnficantly develop ther unque talents.
would look lke n 5 years tme and yet we’re meant to be educatng for
t”. The rate at whch the world s changng has become harder to grasp.
Real change arrves very subtly, almost as an nvsble undercurrent that 4. Global goes local
determnes the drecton the world s headed. A couple of thngs are Globalzaton has made our world nto a global vllage. Whle we
certan though, ssues around creatvty and socal and envronmental contnue to vew the world as becomng one, we are also wtnessng
development would come to domnate. So here are some new the re-emergence of many local denttes. As an example from the
developments, some of whch are already underway, that could shape technology end, only 10% of Asan youth are on Myspace, a popular so-
our world n the future. cal networkng platform. Ths does not mean that Asan youth are not
embracng new forms of technologes and meda, nstead they prefer to
get onto ther own localzed verson of Myspace - Mx, SHE, Badu, etc.
1. Do-it-yourself...DIY From the soco-poltcal arena, the ntegraton of the European Unon has
Anyone would be able to do anythng. We won’t need to consult experts made t possble for local governments to bypass natonal nsttutons
anymore. All we’ll need s access to the nternet whch s awash wth and communcate and buld partnershps at a regonal and global level.
resources such as encyclopedas, blogs, forums, etc. The focus wll shft
from groups to ndvduals who want to voce ther thoughts and deas on
ssues. Wth power of nfluence democratzed for the ndvdual, we won’t 5. Be green and make green
have to wat for busness or government to take acton. We can start Busness would have to redefine ts reason of exstence from purely
spreadng our message and takng acton makng money to value creaton. Companes should exst to create value
for ts stakeholders and the creaton of profit enables them to contnue
2. Embracing diversity ther servce to the world. Socal and envronmental elements would
Due n part to rapd globalzaton and mgratory labour, we wll be lvng have to be taken nto account as part of a company’s bottom-lne n
n a multethnc, multracal world of open borders. The mx of races, order to ensure long-term growth and sustanable development.
relgons and natonaltes would become a key asset for any country’s
or organzaton’s economc and cultural vtalty. The more the dversty
the better. Some of the most developed and progressve ctes are
cosmopoltan and are a meltng pot for a dverse group of people. The
common stereotype s that mmgrants lead to hgher crme and poverty
but only the opposte s true. Immgrants buld on human captal,
contrbute by payng taxes and fight poverty.

3. Liberated education
Exstng educaton systems have mned our mnds just as the ndustres
have mned the earth. These systems have been bult wth the sole
purpose of educatng people to fit nto an ndustral world. We are at
a dawn of a new age - the conceptual age, a tme when a person’s
creatvty and magnaton would domnate. Instead of a one-sze-fits-

19
CHAPTER THREE

3
A Viable Career
Young Innovators
In developng regons, young people represent a sgnficant share of the
populaton – almost half of Asa s made up of young people, more than 40
percent of Latn Amerca s under the age of 30 and approxmately 30 percent
of Afrca conssts of young people. The role that young people play n a rapdly
globalzng world s beng scrutnzed, because ther collectve decsons
determne the future of manknd.

Young people are keen to offer fresh problem-solvng deas to address socal and
envronmental challenges. However, ther efforts reman obscure and neffectve
because of ther lmted access to opportuntes. In addton, socety commonly
perceves young people as brash msfits who belong to a consumerst, fast-food
and myopc culture.

Young people are trapped n a vcous crcle of not beng able to effectvely
brng about socal change as they are lmted to take on postons as
volunteers, nterns and communty servce workers. As a result, development
as a professon ranks much lower for young people than jonng the prvate
sector or government. Beng assocated wth organzatons such as ‘NGO’ and
‘CSO’ are consdered ‘uncool’ by ther peers and has negatve connotatons
as organzatons that are commonly known as rratonally radcal and
uncompromsng.

Worse stll, jobs are badly pad. In Asa, where famly nfluence s stll
paramount, t s extremely rare for famles to encourage ther chldren to jon
the development sector because of the lack of growth opportuntes, low pay
and lttle socal recognton that t offers. As a result capable young people
become dsnterested n pursung development as a professon.

Can the creatve energy of youth be productvely drected to support
development? The answer les wth young people embracng socal
entrepreneurshp. Although stll consdered by many as an anomaly n the

21
CHAPTER THREE
Beng an entrepreneur s more than holdng a job. It s a state of mnd. No one
can be certan of whether they are entrepreneurs untl they become one – and
even then uncertanty prevals. Socal entrepreneurs are even further away down
the uncertanty path. They face far more challenges when mplementng ther
ventures as opposed to tradtonal busness entrepreneurs. Socal entrepreneurs
usually work wth small amounts of captal to acheve ther organzaton’s
msson and at the same tme have to try to stay afloat n the market.

Guy Kawasak, a seasoned Slcon Valley entrepreneur advses n hs book “The
Art of the Start” that there s only one queston that any entrepreneur should try
to answer before startng a new venture:

system, the movement of socal entrepreneurshp s sweepng the globe
and ganng recognton as an nnovatve, hghly mpactng and sustanable
approach to acheve equtable and sustanable development objectves.
The future mpact of the movement les wth youth and f t s to brng
ncreased effectveness and nnovaton to conventonal development, the
most dynamc young people must embrace t.

Young people understand the concept of socal entrepreneurshp almost
mmedately. They can easly relate to the engagement, passon and
energy (all part of ‘youth DNA’) that socal entrepreneurs commonly
possess. Successful socal entrepreneurs show what development
professonalsm can mean. These people are passonate, dynamc, efficent
and nnovatve, and eager to make a dfference n the world. Repeatedly,
they have proved that small thngs do matter and can become socally
sgnficant and worthwhle.
Kawasak adds that entrepreneurs that are drven towards creatng meanng
Socal entrepreneurshp has ts challenges as well. I’m sure many of you at above everythng else ultmately succeed over those that are drven by
some pont n lfe have had an dea for startng somethng totally new or money, power or prestge. Creatng meanng s a very powerful motvator as t
mprovng somethng that already exsts. I’m sure some of you mght have allows entrepreneurs to focus on the venture’s prmary reasons for exstence
actually tred to mplement your dea even though your frends and famly - mprovng lves and makng the world a better place. Wthout such goals,
must have thought you were crazy for gong ahead. I’m sure very few of entrepreneurs can easly lose nterest n strvng to survve when the gong gets
you are stll n the mdst of strvng to realze your dream because you tough.
beleve that t works and wll change the world n some way or another.

23
CHAPTER THREE

Dr.Govindappa Venkataswamy (Dr. V) David Green
Aravnd Eye Hosptal and Aurolab
Madura, Inda
www.aravnd.org
Msson: Makng medcal technology and health care servces
accesble, affordable and financally self-sustanng
Dr. Govndappa Venkataswamy or as he s more famously known as “Dr. V” s the perfect
definton of a socal entrepreneur, one whose dea s hghly nnovatve, mpactful and
sustanable. Shortly after graduatng from medcal school, he developed rheumatod
arthrts whch crppled hs hands. Instead of gvng up, he went on to become an eye
surgeon, traned hmself how to hold a scalpel and eventually performed more than
100,000 cataract surgeres.

Startng out from an 11-bed hosptal has gven rse to the Aravnd Eye Care System whch
conssts of a network of hosptals, specalty clncs, tranng programs and a lens factory
(Aurolab). The goal of the system s dedcated to makng medcal technology and health
care servces accessble, affordable and financally self-sustanng.

The ncdence of cataracts blnd about 8 mllon people a year n Inda manly because
many cannot afford the smple surgery to restore ther vson. The Aravnd system
nnovatvely provdes top-qualty eye care to a hgh number of patents to keep costs
down. Today, Aravnd s Inda’s largest provder of eye surgery, treatng more than
1.4mllon patents a year. It remarkably provdes free care to approxmately 66 percent

Socal Entrepreneurs
of those patents because ther costs are covered through revenue generated from payng
patents.

Aurolab was a recent jont venture wth socal entrepreneur and “compassonate
captalst” Davd Green. All of the surgeres performed at Aravnd Eye Hosptal use
The social entrepreneurs profiled in this section have created unique solutions products made through Aurolab. It manufactures affordable ntraocular lenses, spectacle
for problems that they have identified in their local communities, native lenses, optcal lenses, suture needles, cataract kts and hearng ads now used n more
countries, and, sometimes in the world. than 120 countres around the world.

Davd notced that the number of surgeres the hosptal can perform could be greatly
Have you noticed a terrible wrong which needs to be corrected? ncreased f the costs of the lenses were reduced. After dggng deeper and dscoverng
that the actual costs of manufacturng the lenses could be reduced to just $10.00 a par,
The following sections of this book attempts to guide you through the process of he decded to pursue establshng Aurolab wth Dr.V to manufacture the lenses.
transforming your idea into an innovative solution and ultimately a social startup
that can create long-lasting impact. It s often sad that the gft of lfe s sght. Dr. V and Davd Green have both proven
through ther reslence that mracles can be manufactured and t s possble to eradcate
needless blndness.

25
CHAPTER THREE

Paul Meyer Vikram Akula
Voxva SKS Inda
Washngton D.C. USA www.sksnda.com
www.voxva.net Msson : Empowerng the poor to become self-relant through affordable loans
Msson: Provdng practcal technology
solutons for montorng dsease outbreaks
Vkram Akula first encountered poverty whle vstng relatves n Medhak, Inda. In 1998
he returned to Inda and founded SKS n one of the poorest parts of Inda - Medhak, Nal-
gonda and Nzamabad Dstrcts of the Telangana regon of Andhra Pradesh, wth the ms-
Not all nnovatons created to address socal, medcal and envronmental challenges have son of empowerng the poor to become self-relant through a communty-owned bankng
to be hgh tech. At least Paul Meyer, the founder of Voxva, thnks so. Before venturng program that provdes poor women wth loans for both ncome-generatng actvtes as
nto Voxva, Paul was nvolved n settng up the nfrastructure to launch nternet servce n well as for emergences.
postwar Kosovo and also a Whte House speechwrter. Very smply, Voxva s a tech
company that helps montor dsease outbreaks and other health nformaton. It has helped Tradtonally, the poor find t dfficult to access credt as t commonly nvolves hgh nterest
officals n Afrca track epdemcs by settng up an alert system n whch local health rates and the compulsory provson of collaterals. In many parts of rural Inda, the poor
officals can key n data on a phone whch s then fed nto a central database. have to borrow from mands (rural money-lenders) who sometmes charge nterest rates
on loans up to 1500 percent. As a result, the poor become locked n a vcous crcle of debt
Voxva’s databases collect nformaton from doctors n remote vllages and map t out so and have to resort to becomng bonded labor to pay off ther debt. SKS provdes small,
health officals can dentfy potental dsease outbreaks. Accordng to Paul, n the past the low-nterest loans prmarly for emergences and ncome-generatng actvtes.
documentaton of trackng dsease outbreaks was done on paper and the dseases usually
spread fast across an entre regon before the health mnstry can respond to prevent Recently, SKS ntroduced the Smart Card Project as an nnovatve approach to drastcally
deaths. Instead, the use of smple and low-cost technology lke cell phones has proved to lower the costs of delverng financal servces to the poor, partcularly those n remote
be a better soluton than settng up an nternet-based trackng and alert system. and solated areas. By brngng affordable bankng servces to the doorstep of the poor,
SKS hopes to reduce the number of poor people n Inda whch amount to around 400
How s nformaton collected and dspersed n places where computers and sometmes mllon people today.
electrcty s far behnd modern-day nfrastructure? Health workers send ther findngs by
dalng a toll-free number and enterng prearranged codes nto an automated voce menu.
They can leave a voce mal wth nformaton about patents’ condtons, or lsten to a
message wth the latest medcal advce and nformaton.

27
CHAPTER THREE

Jeremy Hockenstein Jeroo Billimoria
Dgtal Dvde Data (DDD) Chldlne Inda Foundaton
Phnom Penh, Camboda Mumba, Inda
www.dgtaldvdedata.com www.chldlnenda.org.n
Msson : Provdng IT jobs to the dsadvantaged and dsabled

Walkng nto the offices of DDD, you find people from varous walks of lfe sttng n UNICEF estmates that there are around 800,000 street chldren n the urban areas of
front of ther computers, busly workng away. DDD provdes job opportuntes for the Inda. Street chldren reman the ultmate testament of the ndecency of socety n whch
underprvleged and dsabled who are tradtonally excluded from socety and more nnocent chldren are left to fend for themselves wthout any sort of protecton. Street
mportantly from partcpatng n the tradtonal economy whch n Camboda has bleak chldren have lttle or no access to basc rghts, shelter, famly tes, and are vulnerable to
growth prospects. varous knds of abuse.

On vacaton to Camboda n November 2000, Jeremy Hockensten realzed that for a Jeroo Bllmora was pursung a post-graduate course n socal work at the Tata Insttute
populaton that s very eager to learn, there were very few opportuntes for work. A year of Socal Scences (TISS) when she receved regular phone calls from chldren at a nearby
later, he returned to Camboda wth an dea of creatng a data entry company smlar to ralway staton, urgently askng for her help at random hours of the day. The dea for
those found n other developng countres such as Inda, but employng the dsadvantaged Chld-lne arose as the soluton to provde a 24-hour toll-free hotlne backed by an
and dsabled. extensve round-the-clock network of groups that can respond to provde emergency and
support servces for the street chldren.
Today, DDD s Camboda’s bggest IT employer that promses to delver hgh-qualty data-
entry servces to ts outsourcng customers whlst promsng to facltate the human devel- Chldlne s manned by the street chldren themselves as t contnues to spread across In-
opment of ts employees through far wages, health care, educaton, and career advance- da. Untl recently, t has reached out to over 4.5 mllon chldren across the naton. Jeroo
ment opportuntes. As a result, the organzaton s able to generate more than enough plans to collaboratvely replcate the model n 158 ctes wthn the next ten years based
revenue to cover ts costs whle achevng ts socal msson. on her experence n Mumba.

29
CHAPTER THREE

Nick Moon Martin Fisher Dr. Victoria Hale
KckStart (formerly known as ApproTEC) One World Health
Narob, Kenya San Francsco, USA
www.kckstart.org www.oneworldhealth.org
Msson : Develop and promote the use of practcal technologes by grassroots Msson : Development of pharmaceutcals for the developng world
entrepreneurs to run profitable small scale enterprses

Dr. Vctora Hale s recognzed by many as a leadng soco-economc nnovator. Her
KckStart, formerly known as ApproTEC was founded aganst the tradtonal vew that poor organzaton, One World Health, s the first ever non-profit pharmaceutcal company that
people needed charty. The founders of ApproTEC, Nck Moon and Martn Fsher beleve develops drugs for neglected dseases of the poor world.
that the poor are eager to mprove themselves and needed concrete opportuntes to
Dr. Hale wanted people n developng countres who were sufferng from varous tropcal
buld on ther entrepreneural abltes.
dseases to gan access to low cost, safe and effectve medcnes. Most of the new
KckStart desgns and manufactures practcal technologes that help people work more medcnes for tropcal dseases dd not exst because establshed pharmaceutcal
productvely. Its technologes nclude manually operated mcro-rrgaton pumps and companes dd not find t profitable to produce them.
sunflower and sesame seed ol press. The company markets these technologes at
Utlzng a unque busness model, Dr. Hale has led an effort to buld a pharmaceutcal
sgnficantly low costs to local entrepreneurs so that t can be used to start new small
company that would cater towards global need nstead of financal return. As a result
busnesses and ncrease the productvty of exstng farmers.
varous new therapes for tropcal dseases such as malara, darrhea, and schstosomass
What s the mpact of KckStart’s practcal technologes? It’s latest research shows that are beng developed.
35,000 new busnesses have been started wth the company’s tools and 35 mllon dollars
of annual profits and wages have been generated by local entrepreneurs n both Kenya
and Tanzana.

31
CHAPTER THREE

Ashok Khosla Trevor Field
Development Alternatves Playpumps Internatonal
www.devalt.org South Afrca
www.playpumps.org

Ashok Khosla s known for expermentng wth nnovatve deas and actons that have
often been thought of as unfashonable and unconventonal. In 1972, he became the When Trevor Feld retred as an advertsng executve, he teamed up wth an nventor,
foundng drector of Inda’s first envronmental agency and was a poneer n the desgn named Ronne Stuver, to come up wth the concept of a play pump. Ronne, who was
and mplementaton of the basc structures requred to ntegrate the envronment wth a known for drllng boreholes for wells n South Afrca, practcally mplemented Trevor’s
developng economy. nnovatve way to tackle South Afrca’s water woes.

10 years later, he founded Development Alternatves-a non profit Indan agency that deals A play pump s a chldren’s merry-go-round that pumps clean, safe drnkng water from
wth furtherng sustanable development and the envronment wthn rural areas. Here, a deep borehole to a hgh level water tank, every tme chldren start to spn t. Ths tank
he successfully exploted commercally vable technologes and set up a range of projects, s connected to taps n the communty to provde a source of clean, cold drnkng water.
from vllage power plants that use rural agrcultural waste as fuel to mn factores that Play pumps are cheap and easy to nstall and are a better means of supplyng and storng
recycle paper and local enterprses that make low-cost roofing tles. water than the former expedton that people would take to obtan t. Nearly 700 Play
pumps have been nstalled n South Afrca and they are true examples of an nnovatve
Development Alternatves has set up a mn enterprse system to create jobs n the rural nstrument that s ‘Serous Fun’-gvng the chldren an outlet for ther energy, whle
communty. By ntegratng nnovatve deas, ICT’s and management support systems, provdng safe water to more than a mllon people lvng n rural communtes.
they have been able to acheve financal, socal and envronmental sustanablty n these
once undeveloped areas. These development programs have allowed the rural poor to In hs true ad-man style, Feld’s next dea was to use the play pump’s water towers as
stand on ther own feet and rase ther standard of lvng as well as the qualty of ther makeshft bllboards, sellng ad space to help pay for the upkeep. The advertsements are
envronment. often trggered at creatng awareness n the youth, and Trevor n partcular, has reserved
a spot for the natonal ‘loveLfe’ campagn, whch helps educate chldren about HIV and
Khosla’s masterstroke les n nvolvng the government, to buld partnershps that last and AIDS.
rural programs that endure. Hs work has had a rpple effect, and has not been lmted to
Inda. He has gven tme to envronmental causes on a global scale, by playng an actve Stll, over 1 bllon people do not have access to clean water. Furthermore, drnkng
role n envronmental organzatons lke the WWF, IUCN, IISD, champonng the wdespread unsafe water takes the lves of 6,000 people daly, and s responsble for 80 percent of all
use of envronmentally sustanable development. Wth, age posng no barrer, Khosla sckness n the world. Trevor now ams to expand hs play pump dea to encompass more
stll actvely pursues envronmental ssues and s currently workng on TARAhaat.com, an Afrcan countres, n an attempt to try and eradcate water scarcty.
Internet portal for Rural Inda.

33
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CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER THREE
Young Socal Entrepreneurs Young Socal Entrepreneurs STARTUP AND CHANGE THE WORLD

Rahul Raj Jennifer Corriero
Meal Exchange TakngITGlobal
(founded n 1993) Canada Canada
www.mealexchange.com www.takngtglobal.com

Meal Exchange s an nnovatve socal enterprse that began 13 years ago, whle ts
founder Rahul Raj was stll attendng unversty. He recognzed that hunger n Canada was Jennfer Correro s a lvng example of the youth-quake that shook busness to ts core
a serous problem that had to be addressed. Currently, there are 5.5 mllon Canadans at n the last five years. Whle stll a hgh-school student, she mastered the sklls of the
rsk of hunger and 19 percent of Canada’s populaton lves below the poverty lne. Internet and has snce become one of the leadng proponents of youth nvolvement n the
onlne world. A few years later, she co-founded TakngITGlobal, a non-profit socal venture
Meal Exchange allows students to transfer unused meal plan ponts nto groceres, whch that connects and supports many young, asprng socal entrepreneurs.
can then be delvered to local communty organzatons and food banks. The dea of Meal
Exchange came about when Rahul realzed that he, lke many other unversty students, TakngITGlobal.org s an onlne communty that connects young people to find nspraton,
had money left on hs unversty meal card at the end of the school year. access nformaton, get nvolved, and take acton n ther local and global communtes.
TakngITGlobal tres to create a sense of self-belef n the youth, by showng them how to
Meal Exchange s run based on a franchse concept, where each campus runs a Meal make a dfference n the world they lve n. It s currently the world’s most popular onlne
Exchange Chapter. Today, up to 45 post-secondary and 5 secondary educatonal communty for young change-makers and has over 115,000 members across 200 coun-
nsttutons across Canada hosts a Meal Exchange program. It s estmated that n the year tres.
2003 alone, over $260,000 worth of food was donated to communty organzatons.
TakngITGlobal encourages the youth to express themselves by means of a blog or a
Rahul Raj s currently n the process of creatng a socal change practce for a leadng short profile. In ths way, young people from all over the world become cognzant of the
marketng and brandng firm n Toronto. He now ntends on nfluencng governments, dfferent problems plagung our socety. Ths form of expresson also consoles the youth
busnesses and NGOs to partcpate and contrbute to profitable socal causes n both n that they are not the sole wagers of a war aganst the destructon of the world.
Canada and lesser developed countres.
Jennfer has also made some valuable contrbutons as an ambassador for the Canadan
Foundaton for AIDS Research and as a poneer n the ICT4D ndustry for socal
entrepreneurshp. She s currently organzng the Youth Employment Summt wth the
ntenton of provdng jobs to youth who are keen to shape the future (young socal
entrepreneurs).

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CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER THREE

Sombat Boongamanong
Mrror Arts Group (MAG)

Rahul Nainwal
(founded n 1998)
Thaland
www.bannok.com
MITRA Technology Foundaton Sombat’s search for other pursuts began when he became frustrated by the fact that
www.vonda.com every actvty n school seemed to depend only on achevng good grades. He was never
a top student and was even stopped from pursung a unversty educaton because of the
lmted spots avalable. But, Sombat had developed a lkng to theatre and whle n hs
In the year 2000, after graduatng from the Insttute of Rural Management, Anand, (IRMA), teens, co-founded a theatre company called MAG—The Mrror Arts Group.
Rahul co-founded MITRA, a non-profit socal venture, wth 2 of hs batch mates. MITRA
focuses on promotng volunteerng n Inda, and s the flagshp of the “Volunteer” In February 1999, Sombat and hs organzaton moved to a rural part of northern Thaland
program. to try and acheve a practcal means of reflectng the problems n ther socety. He geared
the theatre company to concentrate ts efforts towards socetal change, n the hope of
Volunteer s a volunteerng platform that connects and recruts volunteers and presents yeldng long lastng and far reachng results. After workng wth the local schools for
them wth the opportunty to provde ther servces both n Inda and abroad. Volunteer some tme, Sombat realzed that one of ther major deficences was the short supply
s Inda’s largest e-volunteerng program and has placed over 1600 volunteers. It s also of books. Captalzng on the ncreasng access to the Internet n Thaland, he created a
the sole overseas volunteerng program n Inda and currently places an average of 120 webste (www.thebangkok.com) to solct book donatons from Internet users. Wth over
volunteers a month. 120,000 book donatons, the communty has been made to buld a warehouse for them!
Volunteer s not an onlne communty servce and s n fact a long-term volunteerng Sombat has also created an educatonal system and a prototype school that knocks
servce that funds selected volunteers to help out n depressed areas for a mnmum down the barrers between dfferent parts of the communty and uses the nternet to
of 2 years. In an attempt to gve back to the communty, volunteer hopes to create a mplement a varety of nnovatve teachng approaches. The system lnks the nterests of
volunteerng movement where Indans take charge of ther country’s destny and buld a chldren, teachers, and parents and enables everyone to partcpate n the educatonal
stronger, more vbrant and more developed Inda. process. The school has been connected to the “wred” world and engages students at
all levels, and not just the hgh-performers. Sombat has used the nternet to address
Rahul s the man reason behnd wdespread volunteerng n Inda and s the Indan the socal needs of the communty by creatng both an onlne petton, requestng the
poneer of overseas volunteerng programs. Rahul s an engneer and also has an MBA government to provde the hll trbes wth a Tha ctzenshp and to overcome the regonal
to hs credt. He makes extensve use of ICT’s n all hs socal ventures and often defines poverty by usng a web-ste to sell the rurally produced handcrafts such as beads,
them about the ICT tself. But what makes hm so well rounded s the fact that he s a embrodered bags on local, natonal and global markets.
specalst n networkng, thereby makng hm a formdable young socal entrepreneur.
MAG s now a non-profit organzaton that undertakes projects to help people, n the rural
areas of northern Thaland, to make a better lfe for themselves whle stll retanng ther
cultural denttes. It s recognzed by the Unted Naton’s Conventon as an outstandng
youth organzaton and has been apponted as a centre for chldren’s rghts n the
northern regon of Thaland.

37
37
CHAPTER THREE
STARUP

Nawee Nakwatchara
Grassroots Innovaton Network (GIN)
Thaland
www.chaobaan.net
Marielle Punzalan Nadal Nawee Nakwatchara, one of the founders of Grassroots Innovaton Network (GIN),
Idea!s s runnng a workshop on the use and benefits of drp rrgaton for farmers from a
Phlppnes neghborng communty. The farmers attendng the workshop, generally walk n not
www.deals-creatves.com expectng to learn much. A couple of sldes later, they are left awestruck by the results
they wtness from other communtes that have utlzed smple low-cost solutons to
Marelle, wth lke-mnded frends Bernce de Leon, Dan Matutna, Dang Serng and Rhea overcome ther agrcultural challenges.
Alarcon, sees a great need to mprove communcaton tools and strateges n the non-
profit sector. Together they formed Idea!s - a communcatons and desgn organzaton for Accordng to the UNDP, one of the hghest ncdence of poverty n Thaland orgnates
non-profits, foundatons, and development agences. As a socal enterprse, Idea!s has a from the Northeastern regon. Most people lvng n the Northeast of Thaland are farmers
unque busness model that supports and subsdzes projects crafted to the needs and and for many years have been challenged by poor weather and sol condtons. Through
capactes of non-profits whle mantanng qualty of servce. GIN’s workshops, Nawee s not only educatng a growng number of farmers, he’s also
makng these smple agrcultural solutons avalable to the communtes for mmedate
Based n the Phlppnes, Idea!s provdes communcaton consultancy servces, conducts applcaton.
needs assessments, and develops communcaton plans and creatve meda solutons.
Idea!s beleves that effectve and creatve communcatons wll drve the messages and Farmers utlzng some of these solutons are reapng sgnficant ncreases n the yeld
advocaces of non-profits to the heart of ts target communtes, rase awareness, and of ther crop. In the past, the annual average ncome of farmers n the regon was
attract and rase more funds. In short, better communcatons can holstcally mprove the approxmately USD 160. Today, those who have joned GIN are earnng up to USD 200
mpact and productvty of non-profits. monthly based on sales of excess crops.

Idea!s organzes the seres Desgn to Make A Dfference, a venue for young desgners
(whether n fields of the arts, graphc desgn, archtecture, photography or ndustral
desgn) to share ther works and deas among other desgners, and possbly network
and collaborate on projects that wll hopefully result n postve change. It wll serve as a
platform for deas, nspraton and acton, encouragng a culture of creatvty that ams for
socal mpact.

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