International Development: September 2008 Archives

By David Russell 

There are as many questions raised, as answers I have found, in social entrepreneurship.

As a Reynolds Fellow at NYU, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to explore some of these questions as they pertain to the projects on which I am presently engaged.

How does one optimally prioritise scarce resources? What are the most effective means to secure support for a cause? Where can greatest value be added?

Such questions are not unique to social entrepreneurship, but they are just some of the issues that I am addressing on work with the Rwandan Survivors Fund (SURF) and HelpAge International (HAI).

With the 15^th Anniversary commemoration of the Rwandan genocide next year, the needs of the estimated 400,000 survivors in Rwanda are still great. SURF's approach to the support it delivers to survivors, through raising awareness and funds internationally, is defined by a holistic philosophy. It recognises that it cannot address any need in isolation - whether that be shelter, healthcare, education, employment. There is a necessity to develop programmes that are integrated to provide the comprehensive support that many survivors still require.

For SURF, how does one optimally prioritise scarce resources? By listening to the needs of the survivors, and prioritising resources dependent on the issues that are most pressing as determined by them. What is most effective to secure support? Giving a voice to the survivors, empowering them in the process to speak out for themselves. Where can greatest value be added? Through channelling funding through local grassroots survivor's organisations, to enable them to own and deliver the programmes.

With the UN International Day of Older Persons approaching on October 1^st, the challenge for HAI is how to engage the international community to address our aging society. The approach I helped to develop is an adaptation of community organising, to mobilise older persons across countries to empower them to meet with their respective Governments and call for improvements in national policies on aging - through a programme called Age Demands Action.

For HAI, how does one optimally prioritise scarce resources? By developing a programme of direct action, which for a minimal cost can deliver a maximum impact. What is most effective to secure support? By identifying and engaging those in policymaking positions, and empowering the older persons to demand action directly from them. Where can greatest value be added? By leveraging the Government to deliver services that otherwise would not be met by the private sector.

But often answers lead back to further questions. And when the questions relate to social entrepreneurship, they ultimately lead back to how the work is sustainable; scalable; pattern breaking?

And therein lies another question: How many socially entrepreneurial acts make a social entrepreneur? And another: Does it matter what the work is called, as long as it doing good?

By Tylea Richard

A year before I enrolled at New York University and the Reynolds Program, I entered a crash course in Social Entrepreneurship at the Nueva Vida Fair Trade Zone in Nicaragua. Most of the Fall was spent with my eye pressed into a tiny plastic magnifying glass, using the tip of a sewing needle to count each thread in a square inch of unbleached organic cotton fabric. Once Angel and Aguila, the men I worked with at the cutting table, gently unrolled the oatmeal colored cloth across the long surface, I would lean forward and adjust the magnifying glass until the tiny jersey knit came into focus. I would count, write down the results, and the process would begin again. This glamorous job taught me that it was easy to dream about a high quality, fair trade, organic cotton T-shirt produced in a cooperative. It was quite another matter to make that happen.

Several months later, I co-founded the Nicaraguan Garment Workers Fund with this knowledge in hand. At times, applying for 501c(3) status and negotiating with customs brokers felt more painstakingly tedious than counting threads. But with a little patience, the NGWF has blossomed. We sell the organic cotton tees made at the Fair Trade Zone to individuals as well as wholesale to organizations, businesses, schools, and artists. Proceeds from the sale of the shirts are used primarily for employee training programs, technical capacity building, and product development in the factory. We are in the process of investigating how to take the factory off the grid. With rolling blackouts wiping out power in Managua for hours everyday, solar panels would not only reduce the factory's footprint but it would also save money and improve productivity. 

The Worker-Owners of the Nueva Vida Fair Trade Zone are working tirelessly towards autonomy. My goal is to help them get there through the increased revenues and exposure that we can generate through the NGWF. But we are not designed to be a perpetual "crutch" for the Co-op. Because we are consultants and not factory managers, the NGWF will meanwhile work tirelessly to be superfluous. In fact, it was only under these conditions that the Fair Trade Zone and the Nicaraguan Garment Workers Fund agreed to work together. Amazingly, the NGWF has already received similar requests of support from numerous cooperatives around the world and from apparel companies wishing to source from them.

I strongly believe that viable alternatives to sweatshop labor are possible, but there is still a gap between consumers and producers of socially and environmentally responsible clothing. As smart shoppers, strong advocates and savvy businesspeople, together we can continue raising the bar for workers everywhere.

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Check out the NGWF in the Shop With a Conscience Guide and look for us soon on Ebay's World of Good!