(Excuse me for being a little punchy.   It’s just a touch of sleep deprivation.  But seriously, today makes it all worth it.  I’m a little excited.)

Today at Epic Change, we launched our new line of cards and gifts for the holiday season…and I can’t wait to hear what you think! Their sale seeks to prove our hypothesis: compelling stories of hope are assets that people in need can use to raise the income necessary to transform their own communities. If you believe that’s possible, and want to help us prove that it is, I hope you’ll make a purchase and help us spread the word.

We’ve called our inaugural line of cards and gifts the “Shine” collection, in honor of Mama Lucy, whose name is derived from a word that means “to shine.”  She does, and by purchasing Epic Change gifts and cards, you’re helping to expand her school, and shine her light into the lives of even more children.

Products include candles by West Hollywood designer Timothy Jay as well as stationery and holiday greeting cards that feature artwork by children at the school and photos by award-winning photographer Tim Llewellyn. Greeting cards and stationery will be printed on recycled stock using vegetable and soy based inks by GreenerPrinter. Each product shares the hopeful story of someone whose life will be directly impacted by its purchase.

Every purchase you make at Epic Change represents an investment in the education and future of children, like Alice, Damares, Pius, Naomi, Gideon, and many more who have the potential to change the world. Each package of cards you buy adds a brick to a new classroom, and each candle you purchase adds two bricks. A new classroom requires about 1,000 bricks.

To help us accurately forecast demand, and have your items included on our first ship date, please place your order today. The first 50 candle orders will be wrapped in a bow made from a khanga (i.e., traditional dress) donated by the mother of a student at Mama Lucy’s school.

I hope you’ll give the gift of hope this holiday season, and will share our unique catalog with your colleagues, family and friends.

Thanks so much!

Stacey

PS: Here’s a few other ways you can support Epic Change during the holidays:

* Create a gift registry to collect donations for Epic Change instead of holiday gifts.
* Give the gift of philanthropic travel by giving your loved ones the trip of a lifetime.
* Share Epic Change holiday cards & gifts on your blog or website.
* Make a donation to spread hope this holiday season.

I preface with that because I am completely consumed with hope and hard work, but got a couple of fabulous emails from Tanzania that I couldn’t wait to share, so I’m taking a welcome break from the grindstone to post a quick update.

The first was from Leah, a fourth grader who’s one of the brightest in her class.  She wrote me this short note:

I want to tell you that yesterday I did the national examination. I promise you that we will win the exam.  I love you.

Each year, students across Tanzania in grades 4 and higher take annual national exams.  Since our partner school in Tanzania just expanded this year to include Class 4, this was the school’s first opportunity to participate.  The day after I received Leah’s note, I got this one from Teacher Nancy Nashilu, the fourth grade instructor.  I was brought to tears when I read what she had to say in an email with the subject heading “STORM IS OVER”.  She wrote:

Is it real that class 4’s have done their national examination? Is it true that we’ve lifted the heavy luggage we had carried?  Unbelievable.

Shepherds Junior, with the help of Epic Change, has managed to make a big step in life by having their first Class 4 doing their National Examination. Great. I personally interviewed my students one day before that very day, and they thanked their teachers for the good preparation we had done for them. They promised me to do wonders. I saw the determination and the courage they had when I was interrogating them, and I felt something in them. Being a class teacher and having the first class at our school to sit for the national examination, made me struggle and surrender all my energies together with my colleagues to see our students succeed. I was chosen as the assistant exam proctor. On that very morning, 12.11.08, I was given the mathematics tests to take into the examination room.  Behind me was the lead proctor and the headmaster. I walked as a bride holding the papers on my hand.  When I reached in the room I looked on my beloved students and I felt tears rolling from my eyes. Not that I was sad, but because I had faith and trust that they will make it.

The room was so quiet in such a way you could have heard intestines colliding in the stomach. And as I was opening the sealed envelope containing the exams, I knew to expect nineteen 100s in math from my class. After the examination, the students told me the paper was as easy as ABC!  I felt like flying because this first exam got such a positive response from my lovely students, but I had no wings.  The first day ended with this saying of “YES WE CAN” which reminded me of the current U.S.A. President and how he made it with the same words and I got even higher hopes for my students. The second day everything went on accordingly still with the same saying. Now we are eagerly waiting for their results to see whether they will win the battle…like Obama.

Whatever your politics, you can’t help but feel this fabulous teacher’s love, pride and hope for her students.  I wish I could explain to Leah, Nancy, and to you, just how much these notes mean to me.

I’ve heard a lot of talk at recent conferences about metrics for social innovators and socially responsible businesses.  So many seem to measure quantity.  How many people were served?  How much was donated?  How many donors participated?  How many people visited the website?  These are obviously critical metrics, but I believe we need to expand the discussion to focus not only on the scope of our impact, but on its quality and depth.  Test scores are one way to do that, as are surveys of targeted populations (provided you can obtain frank feedback, which is sometimes difficult).

For us, it’s more than how many students are we impacting, it’s the quality of the education they receive.  For our partners who are passionately committed to delivering the best possible education to the children in their care, that’s the pudding.  You know, where the proof is.

I can’t wait to share the school’s test scores with you when they arrive.

Check back tomorrow for the unveiling of our unique line of cards and gifts!

“WOW! THAT’S A SUPERB VICTORY!  MAY GOD GIVE HIM THE STRENGTH AND WISDOM TO LEAD AMERICA AND THE WORLD.  Everyone here’s very happy with the results.”

The world is, truly, smaller than we think.  In Kenya, the country just to the north of Tanzania, today was declared a national holiday in honor of Obama and his father, their native son. I won’t share my own political perspectives here, and Epic Change certainly has no political agenda given IRS rules governing 501c3 nonprofits, but I’d be fooling myself to think the world can think of much but the election today.  Regardless of political persuasion, last night’s vote was clearly historic, and sent an important message to African Americans, people of African descent, and people of color across the globe.  In Obama’s own words…”yes we can!”

I can’t imagine what that message must feel like to the children and the community of Shepherds Junior.  To Gideon, who dreams of discovering new planets, to Leah who wants to cure AIDS, to Edmund who aspires to protect the rights of women in his country and to Nihad, a budding environmentalist, Obama’s election seems much more than a political statement.  It’s an indication of all that’s possible for them, and for our shared future, if we work together, across party affiliations, races, nationalities and all our differences, to create a world that celebrates the remarkable potential of all people.

Last night over dinner, Sanjay asked me what I thought I might be like if I had been born here. I hope I would be like Mama Lucy. I fear, though, that I don’t possess her ability to succeed slowly and in small steps. She is able to relish (and appropriately so) the small miracles that she witnesses and inspires every day. While she focuses and builds upon those, I believe I might instead focus on everything that hadn’t yet happened, thus obscuring the magnitude of what had been achieved. I hope to learn from her and grow - passionate progress before perfection.

At Epic Change, we have so much room to grow, new ideas to discover and goals to achieve. And most of the time, I fix my gaze on all that’s yet to be accomplished. But today, since this paragraph about Mama Lucy came to mind (and as everyone around me will testify, I’ve been interminably humming this song), I’m focusing on what has happened, just this month, that’s bringing us at least a few steps closer. Today, I’m going to feel grateful. (Perhaps it’s a lesson from another great woman in my life, my sister Ashlee, who’s recently created a journal she calls “The Grateful Monk” in which she writes regularly about small things for which she has great gratitude - an idea so swell, I’m stealing it here. I’m sure she won’t mind.)

Here’s what October brought to Epic Change, besides beautiful crisp autumn weather in the sunshine state, and the opportunity to attend BarCampAfrica & SoCap08:

Feature Story

Check out this feature story about Epic Change from my alma mater, Carnegie Mellon, in the October issue of their quarterly magazine, Carnegie Mellon Today.

Challenge Grant

Late last year, Epic Change was challenged by a potential funder to raise $25,000 through small contributions from ordinary people within one year. This month, with your support, encouragement and donations, we exceeded that goal and, by doing so, were awarded a $5,000 grant that we will use as part of our next loan in Tanzania, which we expect to make before the end of the year.

Holiday Cards & Gifts

We’ve been working feverishly on this season’s holiday products. Early in November, Epic Change will launch a beautifully designed line of holiday cards and gift items that feature stories of the children of Shepherds Junior school. Not only will these items incorporate artwork by the students and beautiful images like these by photographer Tim Llewellyn, who joined us on our last trip to Tanzania, each purchase will also make possible one or more of 1,000 bricks that will be needed to build the school’s next classroom.

New Partners

We’ve just established an exciting partnership with Appfrica International to assist us with improving our website and blog. Appfrica International is an incredible organization based out of Uganda that incubates, facilitates and mentors entrepreneurs in software from the region. These are often recent computer science graduates or students who can’t find opportunities because of low job prospects. Appfrica works with them to help expose them to new skills, to collaboratively work on projects that earn them money and to help them develop strong business plans. Find out more at Appfrica.org.

Additionally, Exquisite Safaris will begin offering opportunities for travelers to visit Mama Lucy and her school as part of their safari excursions to Tanzania. The Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel experience integrates indigenous local culture into every personalized experience they recommend. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide. Exquisite Safaris was mentioned in a recent article published in the New York Times. If you or a friend are planning a trip to the region, we hope you’ll consider booking through Exquisite Safaris and incorporating a visit with Mama Lucy.

I know it’s not perfection - but it’s progress. A ton of it. And for that, and so much more: today I am grateful.

PS: My favorite member of the canine species, Millicent the Magnificent, is feeling festive today & wanted me to wish you a Happy Halloween!!!

PPS: If you’re on twitter, don’t forget to play #TrickorTweet today, and suggest Epic Change as a recipient of the funds the game will raise by adding us to the comments on this post about the effort. If you’re not on Twitter, what are you waiting for? Register here, read this and follow me. Trust me and jump in, the water’s fine ;)

I recently attended the first-ever Social Capital Markets conference held in San Francisco - a jam-packed 3-day event that was billed as:

“Bringing together the investors and entrepreneurs who are accelerating the flow of capital to good.”

It was an amazing inaugural event, so hats off to Kevin Johnson, who founded the event, Amy Bezinger, its associate producer and Halloran Philanthropies, the event’s principle sponsor. I jotted my initial thoughts from the conference in a previous post and in my live tweets onsite, but now that I’ve had a few days for my experience to truly set in, I thought I’d share some additional feedback…so here’s the skinny:

THE GOOD (actually, Great)

The UnConference: To me, the third and final day of the event, led by facilitator extraordinaire, Jerry Michalski, was by far the most useful, engaging portion of the conference. Dubbed the “unconference”, the day was comprised of over 50 sessions proposed and led by participants, facilitated, like BarCamp Africa, in an open space style. As a former management consultant with my fair share of facilitation experience, I’d wholeheartedly recommend this format to anyone looking to surface and explore great ideas that might otherwise go undiscovered, develop collaborative teams, and create a fun, truly engaging environment that enables each participant to contribute meaningfully. Not only did this day result in some of the most interesting conversations and topics of the entire conference, but it also pulled together people with similar interests and provided, IMHO, the single best networking format of the event.

Live Pitching: During this session, four social entrepreneurs gave 8-minute pitches to a panel of VCs & potential funders who provided meaningful real-time feedback. Apart from the unconference sessions, this was by far the most useful breakout session because it focused on hands-on, real-world scenarios.

Live Tweets: Peter Deitz (@SoCap08 and @peterdeitz) was a madman tweeting the event live; it was truly incredible to watch him engaging in conversation while simultaneously typing 140-character microupdates on Twitter. Mark Grimes (@neddotcom), Glenn Strahan (@glennstrachan) and several others enhanced his coverage with their own insights. I believe the Twitter backchannel enriched the participation of those of us attending the event, and certainly broadened the conference’s reach beyond boundaries demarcated by the geography of Fort Mason and a healthy registration fee. (For those wondering, I didn’t use Epic Change donations to cover a dime, but instead used my trusty personal credit card, coupled with hotel points and airline miles, to foot the bill. It was certainly a worthwhile expense, but until we get a little more established, we simply can’t afford to divert funds from mission-critical objectives. To their credit, there was a much-needed 50% discount for non-profits. Kudos for that!)

Incomparable Catering: Perhaps to some it’s a small detail, but not to me. Food counts - and if my chub earns me nothing else, I hope it grants me some authority on the subject. Truly, the catering throughout the event was scrumptious, healthy beyond compare and served 100% guilt-free on totally recyclable ware with a splash of Honest Tea and Adina. I believe the caterers were Acre Gourmet, and they were perfetto.

THE BAD (or just not as Good)

Keynotes: Many of the keynote speakers were extraordinarily insightful, and their business acumen was beyond compare; in particular Katherine Fulton of the Monitor Group and Matthew Bishop, author of Philanthrocapitalism and columnist at The Economist were quite interesting and informative. That said, I was waiting to be truly inspired. While there was an extremely talented viola performer who wordlessly connected the audience to the humanity of our mission, few speakers really touched on the purpose of our work, but seemed to gloss over it as a foregone conclusion.

I was twice reminded in the context of the conference of this potential problem. During the Building a Business Plan breakout on the first day of the conference, the presenters pointed out (and I tweeted) an irony often seen in the business plans of socially responsible businesses: in an effort to overcompensate for the perceived “softer” side of our efforts, or because we mistakenly believe our audience is as connected to our cause as we are, we ironically underplay the power of our mission. Likewise, in a Calvert Foundation discussion during the unconference about a forthcoming documentary, one participant heartfully explained that very few in the room are actually in this for the money; it’s the passion and the purpose behind our work that gets us up in the morning. I couldn’t agree more - which is why I think that at least one of the keynotes should have been by an entrepreneur with compelling stories of communities and causes transformed by their work or, better yet, someone whose life had been impacted by the efforts of those in the room.

Networking Opportunities: First of all, let me say that the Connection Concierge tool offered by assetmap.org was a great service, and I think it may become even more useful as we move forward. As for the networking sessions, the one on the first evening that had grouped us by interest area had the potential to be fruitful, but was cut tragically short. In its place, I’d definitely propose a lengthier networking session on the first afternoon or evening so that we have time to make connections that will last throughout the event. Perhaps some version of the unconference, a connection & conversation cafe, might be an alternative for the first day. Smaller conversations on topics proposed by participants, with drinks and snacks, could prove very successful - like a lengthened version of speed dating: 30-45 minutes per topic, 3-4 topics.

THE UGLY (yep, actually not pretty at all)

Inclusivity & Diversity: On the final morning of the conference, Jerry Michalski asked us to look around the room and think about our experience at SoCap08. As I did, I noticed something: I was sitting in a sea of white people, many of us seeking to “help” communities around the globe, very few of whom seemed to be represented in the room. Earlier that morning, I had posted a note to the blog from our Tanzanian partner, Mama Lucy Kamptoni, explaining her thoughts on poverty. She wrote:

“[Sometimes people] think that because Africans are living in poor countries, therefore they cannot think about themselves. They think that since they don’t have money, so they can’t be able to plan, implement, monitor and supervise anything even if given chance or supported. They should know that, even if a person/community is poor, the best way to help is to listen and give chance to the beneficiaries to know what really is their problem, and what they think is their priority. You may think they need good road first but their priority is school, hospital or water. If you’ll not give them chance, you’ll end up doing their last thing at first. Poverty cannot be eradicated by just the ideas of one side. Sharing ideas of both sides can help and bring changes easily.”

It was a profound disconnect for me…and she’s right: the communities we seek to transform absolutely must have the power to participate in the decision-making that impacts their lives. And yet, there we were, absent their input, at an incredibly exciting conference that would benefit “them”.

Let’s face it, the people who have the most power and who reap the most significant rewards in any marketplace are the investors and entrepreneurs in the market. They have the power to determine where funds will be invested and receive the lion’s share of the income from transactions. If that power and potential profit remains concentrated in wealthy white hands, I think we’ve missed at least part of the point.

If we are, as it seemed at the conference, in the early stages of developing a socially beneficial marketplace, the market makers must be diverse. If those with power in the marketplace remain a sea of white faces, we’ve missed a key opportunity to build a system that brings benefits - and equality - to people across the social & geographical spectrum.

In short, I believe people from many communities, and especially those who would be impacted by our efforts, deserve both a voice and access to the capital they need to transform their own communities. To Mama Lucy’s point, many times the best ideas for healing a community come from within - or at least in partnership with those whose lives are impacted by poverty, pollution and other social ills. So, my challenge for SoCap09 would be to find ways to give a voice to entrepreneurs & people with great ideas from communities we seek to impact, and to drive capital in their direction. At the unconference, I led a discussion on the topic of inclusivity & diversity (I know, perhaps not my primary area of expertise, but someone needed to say it). During the conversation, we came up with two ideas for ensuring that SoCap09 is more inclusive & diverse than this year’s event. Thanks to Sergio Almarza Alamos and Sergio Almarza Grez from Chile of RedAlmarza, Uganda-based Jon Gosier of Appfrica, Steve Vitka of Blacklight Ventures, Marianne Bellotti of the Small Hands Fund, Justin Bean of Sustainable Initiatives, and consultants Jennifer Carter-Scott and Marian Doub, who participated in this conversation and helped to develop these ideas.

• Pitches from Abroad: Either pre-recorded, fed live or held onsite, the opportunity for entrepreneurs from across the globe to share their ideas with an audience of potential collaborators and investors would be both incredibly interesting for the audience, and a rewarding experience for the presenter. To ensure non-native speakers of English, and those who may be unfamiliar with the art of pitching, could participate successfully, presentation preparation may need to be supported, so I’d recommend that entrepreneurs be paired with partners who have attended the conference previously, or who have some expertise in the field.

• Fellowships: Amy Bezinger explained at the conference that the price was intentionally set high to ensure that only the highly-motivated would attend. While I think the decision was likely wise in many ways, the $1,195 price tag was quite high and, with travel costs for traveling from places like Africa, Asia and South America, and hotel, the cost would be absolutely prohibitive for entrepreneurs and, especially, potential entrepreneurs from developing countries. I’d recommend that a fellowship, including, if possible, travel expenses, be offered. To fund it, paying participants could opt-in to give an additional $25 donation to cover the cost (or an additional fee could be baked into the conference price for paying participants, as their presence would certainly improve the overall conference experience), sponsors of future events could be required to donate to fund fellowships and hotel/travel partners could be sought to defray costs.

This year’s participants would likely have access to potential candidates in their networks for either opportunity. I know I do.

I’m sure there are many other brilliant ideas for ensuring a more diverse pool of participants at next year’s event - what are yours? If you attended SoCap08, what feedback would you add? I’ll be sending a link to this entry to the conference team, so please leave your comments and suggestions.

Today is Blog Action Day 2008.  According to the site, “Today thousands of bloggers will unite to discuss a single issue - poverty.   The day aims to raise awareness, initiate action and to shake the web!” 

Since many bloggers will likely be posting on the topic of poverty from an outsider’s perspective, I thought it would be interesting to supplement their coverage with the views of people, like Mama Lucy and Baba Gidori (the father of Gideon, one of the students at Mama Lucy’s school), who have been directly impacted by poverty and have lived their entire lives in one of the poorest countries in the world.  I’ve also included a link to a previous post that explores some of my own perspectives on poverty, which happens to be about Baba Gidori’s son, Gideon. Check out our diverse perspectives on the topic of poverty by clicking on the links below:

• From Mama Lucy: “I don’t consider myself as a poor person. I’ve no good sources of income but I’ve the ability to think and utilise the little I’m having so as to bring change to my community…”  Read more.

• From Baba Gidori: “Life could be better and simpler for me and my children if poverty were not an issue…”  Read more.

• From Me: “All too often, our portrayals of African children focus on their lack, and implicitly convey that their poverty is somehow their core attribute, their essence. Not only is our portrait radically incomplete, it is, perhaps worst of all, self-perpetuating…”  Read more.

I invite you to comment and share your own views on the topic of poverty, and to visit the Blog Action Day 2008 site to further explore this important topic.

Of course, if you’d like to take real action, we’re still looking for a few more people (just 5 more $25 donors!) to donate to receive the $5000 challenge grant that expires this Friday.  Donate Now.

What is Poverty?

• Lack of something which otherwise could be of great importance for you. For example: basic human needs, good sources of income, or ability to think well.
• Not having enough to meet basic needs.
• Having something but not in a good quality which is supposed to be.

According to my first and last definition, I don’t consider myself as a poor person. I’ve no good sources of income but I’ve the ability to think and utilise the little I’m having so as to bring change to my community.

When talking about poor people, others’ minds go straight to not having money, shelter, food or clothes. For me, it’s more than that. Anyone who has money but their thinking capacity is poor/low, is poorer than the one with no basic human needs. This is because, what you are having can easily perish if you’ll not know how to use it.

What I think some wazungu (foreigners) misunderstand about poverty (which is good for them to know) is:

• Lacking basic needs does not mean your thinking capacity must be low.
• They sometimes think that because Africans are living in poor countries, therefore they cannot think about themselves. They think that since they don’t have money, so they can’t be able to plan, implement, monitor and supervise anything even if given chance or supported.
• They should know that, even if a person/community is poor, the best way to help is to listen and give chance to the beneficiaries to know what really is their problem, and what they think is their priority. You may think they need good road first but their priority is school, hospital or water. If you’ll not give them chance, you’ll end up doing their last thing at first.
• Poverty cannot be eradicated by just the ideas of one side. Sharing ideas of both sides can help and bring changes easily.
• Not the ways which has eliminated poverty in another country or community can be applied to every part and bring success.

For me to be rich is good thing if, you’ll be rich and happy. I’ve seen some people who are very rich but not happy at all. That is nonsense to me.

Education is the key to life. If good Education could be offered to all children, from their early years up to colleges, with time, poverty could not be an issue anymore. EDUCATION HAS POWER! This is why I’m among the people who are trying to bring even a slight change to this sector.

I hate the effects of poverty. Some of them being:

• Diseases which mostly are caused by low standard of living, which has connection to Edudation too.
• Death at early ages
• No say to your properties. Those being just few I’ve mentioned.

Let’s join hands to fight POVERTY.

Regards,
Mama Lucy.

When you look at the dictionary you will find the word poverty being explained as scarcity, shortage, deficiency, lack, and poor quality.

The main poverty for most Africans is in their mindset/worldview. That is how someone sees himself and the the world surrounded him/her. When someone says “I can’t do, I am weak, I am finished, I am being colonized, etc.”, the way people “spiritualize” their circumstances has contributed a lot to the poverty of this land. Lack of understanding and knowledge, contentment of who you are is another factor to poverty. When people are exposed to the other side of the world they may be surprised to see how poor they are and they may be awakened!

I am not poor, I could say. Since I am physically and mentally fit and I have a hope and determination for my good future. I can work with my hands and my mind to sustain me and my family. The level and standard of education I got did not fulfill what I wanted to become. Because of the poverty of my parents, I was not able to go further in my education as I desired. My father failed to pay for college fees which were high.

The continuity of poverty in Tanzania is affecting our children in the sense of poor infrastructure, poor education system, and poor income to many families.

In case Wazungu (foreigners) need to help, I would suggest they follow this kind of slogan:

“Give a man a fish and he has food for the day!” – Relief

“Teach a man to fish and he has food for a lifetime!” – Development

“Empower a man to think about fishing and his life will be changed forever!” - Transformation

When you talk about becoming “rich” I have to think of the levels of richness. I can consider myself to be rich by having my own house, motor bike, food and clothings for my family. Some people may say Gidori is rich and some may not see it that way. The villagers in Moivaro (my village) may see me as one of the rich people in the area, but when I go to Arusha town I may be seen as one of the poor people.

Life could be better and simpler for me and my children if poverty were not an issue. Local people are fighting poverty by working hard. The main problem is that there are no tools to simplify their work. I think if you could help in that area for providing those tools and knowledge, that would be great!

To hear more of Gidori’s perspectives on Africa, be sure to check out this interview.

If greed got us in, maybe generosity will get us out.

As I did, I was watching the Dow melt away nearly 800 points in a single day. For a minute, I must admit, I was a little panic-stricken. After all, after a year of working for free, my savings have nearly evaporated and I could really use what’s left to cover the tiny $600/month apartment I now split with a friend and buy kibble for Millie. When I get stressed, I eat, so I’ll need a little cash for some Chunky Monkey too if the situation spirals (get it? chunky monkey, a pun, in honor of my chubbiness and surname and a delicious flavor of Ben & Jerry’s - clever, eh?) .

As I thought more about what I’d written, I realized I might just be onto something - and I’ve been pitching the idea ever since. You can’t imagine how many folks have asked me about the perils of fundraising and nonprofit work during an economic downturn. Here’s my theory, though: Epic Change might be in the best possible business right now. In a market where consumers are jaded, in which they fear and mistrust Wall Street and consumer confidence is abysmal, perhaps aligning your business with good is the only strategy that really makes sense. In an economy that’s dominated by fear, hope seems to me quite likely to sell.

As I attended the first day of SoCap08 today, both the keynote speaker, Kevin Jones of Good Capital, and Karyn Barsa of Investors Circle separately mentioned a theory along these same lines, essentially saying that given that our economy is currently in collapse, perhaps the next logical step is to rebuild it with a focus on creating sustainable, socially responsible businesses. Aside from obvious social benefits of such an approach, the economic benefits may well be significant too. I met some very successful business leaders today (like Jeff Mendelsohn of NewLeaf Paper, Xavier Helgeson of Better World Books and Jim Fruchterman of Benetech) whose missions are socially conscious, and have recently read research like this from Harvard that suggests that consumers, when offered a choice, prefer dogooder goods even, remarkably, when they’re priced substantially higher than competitors without a cause.

Over 600 people, including several investors and venture capitalists, turned out for SoCap08 today - a conference that originally planned to max out at 250. I don’t think this is coincidence. I think it’s evidence of the direction the market is headed…away from greed and toward good. It’s about time.

What do you think?

I thought I’d quickly post my perspectives after BarCampAfrica, although some of the conversations we had are still sinking in. The conference was held at Google and gathered about 150 people from several continents to discuss issues and ideas related to Africa - it was billed as “building the connections between people and opportunities in Silicon Valley and Africa.” Attendees represented many different perspectives, but most seemed to believe, as we do, that investment in Africa may be a significantly more successful path for the continent ahead than pureplay charity.

Media Coverage of Africa

Perhaps the most interesting conversation in which I participated was a discussion, with representatives from YouTube, Google, the Commonwealth Club and NEED Magazine - some from the US and some from Africa - about media images of Africa. While we could all agree that a more positive media portrayal of Africa was an essential element in moving the continent forward, we seemed to disagree about the causes of the stereotypical imagery and coverage that seems to dominate Western media. While some insisted that Africans (yes, I know, this is a radical oversimplification of a vastly diverse continent) themselves must protest negative imagery and storytelling and insist on approaches that depict “the whole truth,” others insisted that media consumers or old-school media producers drove common portrayals. Still others in the room, including me, suggested that aid organizations and NGOs have much to gain from perpetuating hopelessness and fear. One very bright contributor actually went so far as to say that aid organizations have no choice but to propagate such imagery to raise support for their efforts. I couldn’t disagree more. Unlike some, I believe hope is a strategy…and a winning one at that.

Personally, I believe that images and stories that emphasize our differences and disparities only serve to divide us, while stories and photos that evoke our common hopes and humanity bring us closer together. I believe we have far more incentive to help those to whom we feel personally connected than those whom we consider radically different from ourselves. Empathy, IMHO, is a far more powerful motivator than sympathy. I’d love to get your thoughts on the topic.

The discussion reminded me of an incident that occurred during our most recent trip to Tanzania. As we were requesting photo releases from the parents so that we could include their photos in our marketing and fundraising efforts, one of the parents insisted to Mama Lucy that it never be implied that her daughter, Faith, is an orphan. She’s not. Mama Lucy was saddened by the feedback, because obviously she would never misrepresent the truth, and knows we wouldn’t either. It is, however, a vivid portrait of how skewed our media coverage of the African world has become. Imagine fearing that your child would be portrayed as an orphan - when you’re a parent who works hard to provide the best possible life for your kid.

The Missing Middle

According to the New Yorker, “It’s easy for really big companies in poor countries to tap the markets for funding, and now, because of microfinance, it’s possible for really small enterprises to get money, too. But the companies in between find it hard. It’s a phenomenon that has been dubbed the ‘missing middle.’” Because SMEs (small & medium enterprises) can be the engines of economic growth in developing countries, it’s critical that this segment of the market grow and flourish. Few lenders, though, focus on this segment of the market, as Epic Change does by providing loans that exceed typical microfinance loan amounts. Our first loan, for instance, was $35,000, far greater than the average KIVA loan of just $458 - an amount which some would argue is not nearly enough to move an individual out of extreme poverty, let alone an entire family or a community.

At BarCamp, I anticipated meeting many more organizations who were evolving in the macro- or mezzo-finance niche but Linda Jenkinson, founder and CEO of WOW investments which is currently operating in Senegal, was, I believe, the only person I met there whose model attempts to address this critical gap. That said, while her model attempts to provide financing to profitable small-to-medium businesses, the Epic Change model aims to fund similarly-sized ventures that are not-for-profit, making our approaches radically different. While in the case of WOW, repayment will come directly from the profits of borrower-run businesses, our repayment model requires building partnerships with manufacturers and distributors who will produce and sell goods infused with the stories of our borrowers. The profits from the sale of these goods will be used for repayment.

The Power of Storytelling

At the conclusion of the conference, Tom Rielly of TED shared the story of William Kamkwamba, a young man from Malawi who, when he was only 14, built a windmill from a picture he saw in a library book that provided electricity to his home and village. If you haven’t seen this short film, you need to.

The presentation underscored for me the power of hopeful stories and of heartfelt personal connection in bringing about change. Tom’s passion for William’s efforts as he told the story was palpable.

Connection

It was an incredible experience to have the opportunity to connect with so many thoughtful individuals so passionately committed to evolving the conversation between Africa and the rest of the world. The diversity and talent of the people present was humbling, and I was proud to be a part of this inaugural event. As just one example, Sanjay raised his hand during one of the panels and Emeka Okafor, Program Director for TEDGlobal2007 and TEDAfrica (yes, that TED) approached him to hear more about our ideas. That’s huge. We had the opportunity not only to contribute our ideas in a pool of some amazing individuals, but to learn from some of the very best and most innovative in our field. Thanks to Ellen & Kaushal for all their work organizing a tremendous event.

PS: Check out the children on the header of the BarCampAfrica blog - notice anyone familiar? Yep, they’re our own Pius & Glory and their images were requested as positive, hopeful images of African children. To say I was honored for our imagery to be recognized as particularly positive is an understatement - thanks to one of the organizers, Kaushal Jhalla, for requesting the photos to be used both on the blog and at the event.