Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Getting Our Arms Around Social Impact Investing
Introduction
I have been a member of a volunteer Think Tank since 2007
that is wrestling with a lot of complex issues related to exploring new methods
of delivering service through Rotary in a meaningful and sustainable manner
with the ultimate goal of eradicating poverty. I recently spoke at Kathy Stutzman at TEDxHoracePark about some of my experiences related to our work.
A statement which I wrote at the beginning of my involvement
in this was “Think Big, Stay Focused” since we were dreaming of
changing/impacting the world. Since then several sayings that have been helpful
to me are to remember also include: “You eat an elephant one bite at a time”,
and “Pick the low hanging fruit.”
I am currently in the process of writing a “Lessons Learned”
book which will describe many of the experiences and lessons that we
encountered during this process, and there are many articles and presentations
written about the work we are doing that I will reference as we go along.
The purpose of this particular series of articles is to
process and interconnect the work of the Think Tank and a class that some of us
from the group are taking from Acumen Acumen
called “Making Sense of Social Impact: Acumen’s Building Blocks for Impact
Analysis.” There are nine of us taking the class as a cohort, each week; we get
our lessons and study materials from Acumen, work on our own to prepare for the
class doing homework and then we meet weekly for four weeks. At the end of each
lab or cohort class, we write a report and submit that report to +Acumen so
that we can receive our certificate at the end of the class.
As I was writing my report I realized that many of the
concepts and thoughts I was reflecting on and writing about relate directly to the
work that I am doing in my professional life and so will post my reports and
thoughts about Social Impact here. Enjoy, ask questions, and send feedback. I
invite vibrant discussion!
Making Sense of Social Impact Report from Lab 1
Our group is a volunteer, committed, think tank that has
been working on new models of delivering service through Rotary in a meaningful
and sustainable manner following emerging concepts and ideas resulting from the
introduction of “The End of Poverty, the UN Millennium Project and then
subsequent study, activities and research.
We know very clearly what we do not want, after seeing years
of our strategic priorities imposed upon others, “doing” project to others, and
not engaging the community on which we were focusing in the planning,
implementation and evaluation. We have seen millions of dollars thrown at
projects that made us feel good when we created them, but ultimately, were not
grounded in true sustainability. What we don’t want is often used as a baseline
to describe what we are doing although we have created a vision and goals; they
are ever evolving as we learn more and engage new partnerships complete with
new sets of lessons learned.
1.
One of the first lessons learned is to develop a
common set of definitions to describe our visions, dreams and ideas and that is
one of the goals for this class: our group will work to develop some common
definitions to better describe the breadth, depth and focus of the work in
which we are engaged and the concepts we will define include:
·
Capacity Building
·
Sustainable
And then – what are we evaluating
(evaluation measures) when looking at:
·
Breadth of Impact;
·
Scope of Impact and
·
Focus of Impact
Several aha’s from the class this week included:
2.
Each “partner/group” needs to come to the table
with their own set of goals and visions and then work together to explore and
define the intersection of those visions on which they will move forward
together. Developing a common set of goals where within the intersection does
not mean letting go of each individual set of goals, but enhances and
strengthens the partners’ goals.
3.
Each individual brings to the table their own
perspective and frame about how we are measuring success and all are important
and need to be acknowledged and captured; understanding that some successes
support the individual partners’ goals and some demonstrate successes of the
intersection.
4.
Capacity building is the foundation of
sustainability. We need to get very clear about the components of capacity
building that are driving the sustainability of the project because both
concepts are often mis-represented and mis-used.
5.
Several of the key components of capacity
building include:
·
Being detached to outcome;
·
Supporting resources, tools and skill
development for empowerment of the focus community;
·
Patience to give time and opportunities for the
focus community to learn, develop and practice new skills for empowerment and
sustainability;
·
Creating choices and opportunities in a manner
that supports dignity, and does not undermine established empowerment;
·
Developing relationships by being present;
·
Coming to agreement as a group about timelines
and evaluation measures;
·
Delivering, engaging in and creating resources,
skills and tools that can be left behind and continue after the
interventionists are gone.
6.
This is complex and difficult work and there are
no easy fixes; even listing the components implies simplicity, which would not
be accurate – each component is a study within itself.
7.
We are on the right track, there are huge
successes and extremely important lessons learned that we have captured, now
the task is sifting through the seven years of work and sharing the stories in
ways that are meaningful, replicable and sustainable.
8.
There is much left to be done. Just because we
are seven years down the road and have achieved a high level of success, this
is our time to continue to press forward and this class provides a great
foundation to do just that.
As a group we came to consensus about tabling what to “name”
ourselves. The initiative with which we have been engaged needs a more clear
identity and it is hoped that through the course of this study we will be able
to determine a name that best describes our work.
No big conclusion here, lots of work left to be done and
yet, there are many committed, talented people prepared and ready to do so –
can’t wait for next week.
Useful Group Exercise
After our lab class watched the video of Sasha Dichter http://youtu.be/KzdrRqXswas about Acumen’s
investment model, our group was asked to share a little about what social
impact meant to us and when we had experienced/learned about it. We are a
diverse group with a broad perspective of life and educational experiences and although
we are all focused on the topic that drew us together, we each described our
first experiences of observing social impact. Interestingly, our perspectives
covered the gamut of the 3 parts of social impact; breadth, depth and focus.
From storytelling, school-based learning and the beginning
stages of volunteer engagement – all of us shared what social impact meant to
us and how we learned about it. I can’t wait to plot each of the experiences
and stories into a chart of the 3 parts and start looking at that (I am a
visual learner).
For organizations and groups that are beginning to talk
about social impact; the lives reached, jobs created, the impact on the lives
being served, and increases in well-being – a great “get-to-know-you” exercise
is to watch the Acumen video http://youtu.be/KzdrRqXswas
, reflect and then share your experiences. This exercise helped me understand
the framework from which each participant drew upon. Of course, the best thing
you could do is to register for the class the next time it is offered, but
until then – enjoy the lessons learned of those of us who are currently
participating.
For me this contributed to the greatest ah-ha moment: an
understanding about why it is so hard to capture the impact in one or two
sentences – there are so many measures (successes) within each of the
components of social impact, that coming to a common understanding and
definition of the components of the framework and then charting those
successes within the framework – will create a broader impact understanding;
first among our group, and then the greater community.
Respectfully submitted – Kathy Stutzman, M.A., M.A.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
What do you do when the going gets tough?
 |
| This reminder to breathe hangs in my office... along with a little note from one of my daughters...thanks Shannon! |
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Start Your Strategic Planning Today
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Choose from 3 Strategic
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Start somewhere, set up a consultation, pick the strategic planning package that best fits your needs and get your organization moving forward today.
Kathy Stutzman, M.A., M.A. Consulting
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Saturday, March 1, 2014
The Power and Responsibility of One
Here's my TEDx HoracePark talk - enjoy!
To View The Power and Responsibility of One at TEDxHoracePark Click Here
To View The Power and Responsibility of One at TEDxHoracePark Click Here
TEDx HoracePark,
March 1, 2014
The Power and
Responsibility of One.
Why patience is the most critical component in
successful, sustainable poverty eradication efforts.
By Kathy Stutzman
Before I share with you a new paradigm for
eradicating poverty I have a few questions for you…
I’d like you to take a moment to think of a pivotal
time in your life, think about the person involved and the essence of what that
person said or did that made it a pivotal moment…most people remember a time
when someone believed in you more than you believed in yourself…Now I am going
to ask you to think about the last time you were that person for someone else…
This new paradigm which was informed and inspired by
a think tank I am part of…this new paradigm…gives us plenty of opportunities to
believe in someone before they yet believe in themselves.
Now I know we all like to get big returns on our
investments, so I am wondering why when we invest in poverty eradication
efforts we are so willing to invest in projects instead of people? Why are we
so willing to invest in building buildings instead of building skills? This new
paradigm offers a sustainable method of investing our capital, our abundant
wealth that will yield immeasurable returns.
Lest you think I am not talking to you, let me be
clear…I am…the wealth wherever you are, is abundant. When investing our
capital, I am talking about more than money; I am talking about developing and
maintaining relationships while sharing resources – that’s our social capital.
So how do we leverage that social capital, that abundant wealth that you have,
that I have…to make a difference in the world?
I was in Ghana, West Africa recently helping to
build the capacity of Street Girls Aid, an organization working with the 61,000
street children living, working and sleeping in the streets of Accra. 61,000
street children. That could be pretty overwhelming and instead we leveraged
social capital in a way that is making a sustainable difference in the world,
making a difference for those children…
I’m also working on a poverty eradication effort in
Nicaragua, inspired by economist Jeffrey Sachs who in 2006 challenged us with
this - “We are the first generation that not only has the capacity but the
responsibility to end extreme poverty”. Now
that’s a challenge that I can get into especially knowing that 43% of the
population in Nicaragua lives on less than $2/day. Of course I want to invest
in eradicating poverty, but only if I know that my investment will make a
meaningful difference…
And that’s where this gets tricky…of course I want
to make a difference…but this new model of investing social capital in poverty
eradication requires us to be bold and be patient – kind of like hurry up and
wait…
I work with a lot of type A people…I might even be
one myself…fixers, kind do-gooders who haven’t seen a problem that we can’t fix
or solve, and we can McGyver our way out of any situation, sometimes even
creating new problems to match our solutions…
And when faced with overwhelming challenges like
61,000 children living in the streets, or half of a country in poverty…it feels
much better to be able to see immediate results - we dig wells, we build roads
and homes because we can quickly see and measure the outcome of our actions…but
to what end our investment?
Be bold... let’s hurry up and make a difference!! Be
patient...STOP let’s think about how to do this right…let’s take the time to
build relationships and invest in people and that all takes time…why does it
take so much time?
Investing in people and relationships is not easy, nor
is it a quick fix…actively believing in someone who does not yet
believe in themselves takes patience, creating confidence takes practice, and
dreaming about the possible infinite opportunities is NOT about fixing, or problem-solving, or telling, it is about
patiently listening and connecting.
In “Bridging the Class Divide” author Linda Stout
suggests that people born into generational poverty have limited exposure to
options outside of their experience…so when we work to create a framework for
visioning, we have to believe in the capacity of all, understanding that not
all been exposed to the same opportunities to articulate their dreams, or think
about the future…and that takes time…
Last year I was facilitating a focus group in the US
with parents in poverty with young children and reached the final question “do
you have anything else that you would like to add…” and a young mom in the back
jumped up and said “I want everyone to know that just because I am poor does not mean I am stupid”
I keep that mom’s lesson in forefront of my mind at
all times. When working to eradicate poverty, we need to humbly remember that
the people with whom we are working are the experts, they know best…they are
the experts of their realities and so who are we…who am I to impose my own
strategic priorities on others???
All we are as investors of social capital are
conduits, sharing resources, connecting people, providing opportunities to try
and practice new skills and tools and then… we need to get out of the way and
let the magic happen …without us.
This may well be the most difficult part for us in
this new paradigm of eradicating poverty, yet until we are willing to be
detached from the outcome, our efforts will not be sustainable.
It is a beautiful moment - when people gain
confidence in their competence, are vested in their work and are realizing
their dreams. I have seen it happen time and time again when it all comes
together and a community says - we’ve got this, we can do this, we can make
this happen…
People, relationships and dreams – that’s the new
paradigm.
People, relationships, and dreams – that is where
our sustainable investments lie.
As philanthropists with abundant wealth, with tons
of social capital at our fingertips…we have within us the power to change the
world. We can invest in building
relationships and capacity, we can create opportunities for others to dream and
confidently move forward, or we can invest in others who will willingly put
their sandals on the streets. The power and responsibility of changing the
world lies in our hands…I know how I am investing my social capital…I invite
you to consider investing your abundant wealth in people, relationships and
dreams. Thank you.
Citations:
“The End of
Poverty”, by Jeffrey Sachs
“Bridging
the Class Divide”, by Linda Stout
“Census on
Street Children in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana” Ghana 2011
“The
Community Leadership Handbook” James Krile with Gordon Curphy and Duane R. Lund
The WHO
data bank for Nicaragua
Random
House Dictionary of the English Language (1981)
Resources:
www.KathyStutzman.blogspot.com
BIO
Kathy
Stutzman is a world citizen who is passionate about creatively connecting
people around the globe. A consummate traveler, she has actively sought to
build relationships and connect people around the world and within the United
States. After working in the non-profit
sector for more than 25 years she now uses her experience in her consulting
practice to build capacity within communities, organizations and businesses
facilitating strategic planning and resource and skill development. Her recent work in Nicaragua and Ghana
informs much of her current practice.
An author,
she has published 2 e-books; “One Hundred Days of Giving” and “From The Eye of The Hurricane”, publishes several blogs: www.MamaCarusoCooks.blogspot.com, a
food and travel site, www.csksghana.blogspot.com, a site about her recent work
in Ghana, www.onehundreddaysofgiving.blogspot.com and her professional site:
www.KathyStutzman.blogspot.com.
Kathy
recently hosted a series of public television shows for KSMQ TV, On Q Latitudes
celebrating the cultures, tradition and heritage of people from other countries
who live in our communities. Co-owner of Words Unlimited, a professional
writing business, Kathy has authored countless articles, grants, and published
works. Look for some of her more popular pieces at
www.kathystutzman.blogspot.com.
A Rotarian
for 23 years and an active community volunteer Kathy has a legacy of making
connections, listening and helping make magic as she demonstrates the practice
of her talk today. Be bold, be patient and believe in the capacity of others.
Ms.
Stutzman received her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado at
Boulder, she has a Master’s Degree in Health and Human Services Administration
from St. Mary’s University and a second Master’s degree in Management also from
St. Mary’s.
Kathy
currently resides in rural Minnesota and is proud of the contributions of her
family within the world, her husband, Stan, daughters Alison and Shannon,
son-in-law Ben and grandchildren Trillian and Harkr. You can learn more about
Kathy’s passions, or to contact her to work with your group or organization visit
www.kathystutzman.blogspot.com, on Twitter at @KathyStutzman, e-mail
kastutzm@smig.net or find her on Facebook or LinkedIN - she’d love to hear from
you.
Monday, February 3, 2014
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