We are happy to be teaming up as a media partner with the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford’s Said Business School for their inaugural Skoll: Emerge. Our friend, Alexis Ettinger, Head of Strategy and Marketing at the Skoll Centre, reports.
I need to be honest. We’re hosting a pretty big event here tomorrow, and I’m not even that excited.
It’s not what you think. It’s not that it’s not going to be great (because trust me, it is). And it’s not that Skoll: Emerge, the first and only student conference on social entrepreneurship in the UK, isn’t long overdue or desperately needed (because trust me, it is). And it’s not like we don’t have an amazing line up of global practitioners who are going to inspire and teach and mobilize (because trust me, they are).
So why so somber?
Well, it’s just that tomorrow isn’t what excites me –it’s what’s going to unfold the day after. And the month after. And five years down the road.
Skoll: Emerge (and all student conferences for that matter) is where we plant the seed in emerging leaders’ minds about what they are capable of achieving through entrepreneurship. It’s just the spark – the fuel that greases the engine of change. I’m not underestimating the power of that moment (You know what I’m talking about- The epiphany moment that tickles every nerve in your body to leap out and say “Yes! Yes! This is what I’m passionate about!”).
It’s just that I can’t wait until the real change starts to happen. But that’s just my impatience talking. So, first what’s happening here in Oxford at the Said Business School: We’ve worked with Student Hubs to gather 300 students from across the UK to connect and share their interest using entrepreneurship for social and environmental impact. We’ve asked some of our favorite entrepreneurs from across the globe (including Rodriggo Baggio, Caroline Casey, Laila Iskandar Kamel, and Naif Al Mutawa,) to share their stories. We’ve gathering leading experts in social finance, pioneers in the art of intrapreneurship, and how-to gurus of building social enterprises. We’ve teamed up with UnLtd and Barclays Capital to invest £15,000 in the best new social venture ideas and to provide students support throughout the year to turn them into reality. And we’ve deliberately made this about students, for students, by students.
What’s amazing to me is where these students are coming from. And I don’t mean in the geographical sense (although that is pretty spectacular as well: 48 different countries in this year’s MBA class); I mean in terms of their professional backgrounds. We have medical doctors, looking to change entire health systems. We have development economists, creating more effective and efficient ways to address poverty. We have corporate leaders, no longer content with seeking profit without principle. We have teachers, wanting to revolutionize the way we learn. We have designers, bringing their craft to create more inclusive and sustainable public services. The list goes on and on.
This is a remarkable trend – the increasing breadth and diversity of those affected and inspired by the social entrepreneurship movement. The challenge for us, then, is to ensure that the broad rallying cry of social entrepreneurship is more than just talk and serves as a core pillar in the career pathways of these emerging leaders. I don’t doubt their enthusiasm; I don’t fear that their commitment will fade. But I do worry that the structures and systems currently in place now will not provide (and could even undermine) the real supports they need going forth. What would you do, faced with £50,000+ in student debt – if a safe and secure job offer came your way? How would you advise turning down temptation when the alternative – lack of funding, lack of resources, lack of understanding – seems so daunting? How would you ensure that once the safe walls of scholarship come tumbling down, that our young leaders have the same freedom and boldness to innovate?
I’m hoping that Skoll: Emerge stirs this conversation. And that it proves to be an electrifying first spark for some participants and a significant catalyst for others. Let’s just ensure we don’t leave that spark to burn out after the conference closes.
Follow Skoll: Emerge Conference on Twitter at #emerge09 from 9am-7pm GMT, Sunday November 29th.
