The following article, written by YesKidzCan! Co-Founders, Lisa Novick and Julie Chapman (and published in Philanthropy News Digest), emphasizes why we have made social entrepreneurism a priority.
Who among us hasn’t looked at our kids sitting across from us at the dinner table and wondered, “What will they be when they grow up?” Haven’t we also thought, “What can we do so our kids get the best in education, resources, and life experiences to help guide them to their life’s calling?” As parents, educators, and community leaders, we are doing a disservice to our kids by not exposing them at the elementary school level to an important field – social entrepreneurism. Our definition of social entrepreneurism is creating a venture or business that can help solve social problems or benefit society. For children, this can mean creating things to sell, providing a special service, or organizing an event to earn money for a cause to result in what many experts call “social value.” Take Alex Scott for example. She was only 4 years old and fighting cancer when she started her lemonade stand to raise money for cancer research. After one year, she raised $2,000. By the time she was 8, she had raised $1 million through Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.
Let’s be clear about a few points. First, many kids (like Alex) are motivated to pursue a social entrepreneurial activity because they have been touched by something serious or significant and are moved to take action. Whether or not our kids are natural change makers — any kid would be hard pressed to implement a venture of this kind on their own without the support of an engaged and enthusiastic adult. We are not suggesting that we teach elementary school kids to run businesses on their own or learn to balance a spread sheet. However, we do feel that we should impart the basic concepts of social entrepreneurism at early ages, teach simple activities to reinforce these concepts, and lay the groundwork for more substantial action as our kids enter into middle school, high school, and beyond. In these ways, we are helping our kids open up their minds to all they can be.
What’s the Value?
Social entrepreneurial ventures have become an important part of today’s economy. In the past, charitable organizations and government agencies focused on addressing our world’s many challenges such as poverty, the environment, education, and health. Over time, it became clear that more ideas, resources, and approaches were needed to help tackle the growing number of issues around the globe. Businesses began to emerge that were dedicated to finding solutions to today’s problems – bringing with them a new generation of innovators and problems solvers using the social entrepreneurial model. Simply put, “social entrepreneurism is as vital to the progress of societies as entrepreneurship is to the progress of economies.” (So say Roger L. Martin and Sally Osberg in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Spring 2007.) The field of entrepreneurship has been incorporated into educational curriculum at all levels and has been shown to result in numerous benefits including greater awareness of personal talents and skills, enhanced creativity and problem solving skills, improved academics and attendance, and grasping basics about economy, finances and social responsibility. If we place value on teaching elementary school kids about entrepreneurism, our hope is that social entrepreneurism is not too far behind.
Need for Action
Many reputable organizations such as Ashoka, EchoingGreen, and the Skoll Foundation are inspiring and supporting teens and young adults to be social entrepreneurs. Thanks to these organizations and others, the field of social entrepreneurism has expanded significantly. However, little to no attention is being giving to teaching our nation’s youngest talent – our future problem solvers. Rather than just talk about this topic, we should act. That’s why, we launched our Social KidPreneuerz Awards Program. The program makes $100 awards to kids (grades 3-8) to inspire them to undertake an entrepreneurial activity that benefits society. While modest in size, each award brings with it a substantial feeling of responsibility and ownership and requires a commitment to complete the task. Our intention is to plant the seeds of social entrepreneurism among younger generations — instilling in them the belief that they can shape their world. In addition, we have developed learning tools for parents, teachers and community/faith leaders to use with students in grades 3-8. These tools can be used independently or in conjunction with applying for an award.
The Shape of Things to Come
Not every child is suited to be a social entrepreneur. Not every child is suited to be an entrepreneur, scientist, mathematician, or artist. However, elementary and middle school aged kids have the natural curiosity, imagination, drive, and ability to come up with innovative ways to change our world for the better. By exposing our kids to a variety of disciplines, including social entrepreneurism, we are teaching them they may have what it takes to “be the change” as Gandhi said. One social entrepreneur expert, David Bornstein, writes once an individual has been experienced the power of a social entrepreneurism, he or she will “never go back to being a passive actor in society.” Don’t we owe it to our kids and our future to do more than what we are currently doing?
© YesKidzCan!, 2012
Here’s a must-read story about the Lewis Family — Jackson (age 14), Buck (age 9) and their father, J.D., who committed themselves to volunteering in a different country every month for a year. Inspired by Jackson’s question, “Why aren’t we doing more to give back?,” J.D. went from thinking about taking local action to global action and then came up with his 12 in 12 concept — 12 projects in 12 countries in 12 months. The family circled the globe, starting their first project in Russia helping homeless youth in St. Petersburg. Their philanthropic voyage took them to Thailand where they worked with children with Down syndrome, to Kenya where they spent time with kids with HIV, and to India where they taught English to Tibetan refugees. Their travels included Antarctica, Australia, Peru, Haiti, and of course other countries to meet their goal of 12. To learn more about how they selected places to visit, how they funded their trip, and how the experience left a lasting impression, take a moment to read their story.
