Defining our changemaker
The changemaker spotlighted here is a visionary, who is motivated to achieve professional success while integrating a larger social, cultural and environmental cause into their mission
“What do a group of school children, truckers, and a Nobel Peace Prize winner from Bangladesh all have in common? Each is a changemaker - part of a growing movement that demonstrates how anyone, young or old, can make a difference from anywhere in the world. In Haiti, students are creating new traffic safety systems, American truckers are becoming leaders in preventing human trafficking, Bangladeshi bankers have redefined finance in way that tackles poverty, and the list doesn’t stop there.”
This befitting excerpt is from a research published by Ashoka Changemakers in February 2016 titled “More than Simply “Doing Good”: A Definition of Changemaker What Children, Truckers, and Superheroes all have in Common”. This research pretty much sums up everything we are looking for in our changemaker. In fact it nudges us to expand our definition much more by not restricting our framework just to entrepreneurship and make it an inclusive space for anyone doing good for the society at large.
With the help of the above and for the purposes of our developing repository of resources, we distill our definition down to three most important traits that sets a changemaker apart from the rest -
- 1) empathy towards others’ issues
2) motivation to take action to help alleviate them for the greater good and
3) an inherent knack to innovate constantly to find creative solutions to the existing problem and the next and then the next….
….which brings one back to 1) and the cycle begins again.
If one observes any changemaker’s life from this 3-step lens - they will often find that a changemaker doesn’t stop at one groundbreaking idea that they had and executed. They are often on a journey to innovate and move to the next challenge to tackle the next problem. These people are remarkably agile and not married to one cause alone, as they understand the practical meaning of intersectionality and how it translates into our lives.
Intersectionality of causes
Cameron Humphrey explains this concept succinctly in a brilliant explainer by the Yale Office of Sustainability in July 2022. He says that -
“Intersectionality is a way of examining issues to understand how characteristics such as race, place, age, gender, and geography intersect with each other and interact with power structures to create and reinforce power, privilege, disadvantage, and discrimination..When we take time to understand the compounding identities that people have and how that may or may not compound the impacts of climate change, the solutions we design become much more nuanced and complex. If we do not account for compounding identities and the more subtle impacts associated with climate change when designing social climate policy, we cannot consider our solutions to be just or equitable.”
He elaborates his point with two poignant examples in this explainer.
First, he encourages one to think critically about the intersections between climate change, race, class, and gender identity. And explains that LGBTQIA+ communities experience social stigma, higher unemployment, and housing insecurity, making them more vulnerable to environmental disasters.
Second, he takes the fossil fuel industry as an example as it worsens the climate crisis by emitting heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and by worsening air and water pollution. He highlights the point that in this situation low-income and/or communities of color are more likely to live in areas immediately polluted by these industries and experience the health consequences of this environment more frequently than the others. He explains that “Frontline communities, communities of color, women, the LGBTQIA+ community, marginalised and poor communities: these folks are just as much of an expert on the intersections between the climate crisis than any academic. For too long, these communities have been shut out of decision-making processes or have been denied resources. We should be working to provide infrastructures and the platforms that will allow their strategies to be acknowledged, their policy proposals to be accounted for, and their vision for their community implemented.”
Impact-driven
It is easy to get daunted by the ideal metric of ideating, executing and then maintaining an impact-driven business. In that sense, impact could also become a guilt inducing burdensome word for any entrepreneur, capable of having a negative impact by itself!
But the reality of impact driven ventures is not so grim for someone who has clarity on their intentions ab initio. As mentioned earlier, a changemaker for the purposes of the LOCSTALK Newsletter, can be a founder or key member of a technology-driven venture whose primary goal is to create positive social or environmental impact, and not just financial gain. Here are some key characteristics that further refine this definition for you:
Technology focussed: They utilize technology as a core component of their venture to address social, cultural or environmental challenges. This could include areas such as:
AI-powered solutions for education or healthcare.
Sustainable agriculture technologies.
FinTech solutions for financial inclusion.
Platforms promoting civic engagement or environmental monitoring.
Impact driven: Their underlying intention and motivation is to create positive change in the world, addressing issues such as :
Poverty, inequality, and economic development.
Climate change and environmental sustainability.
Access to education, healthcare, and other essential services.
Human rights and social justice issues.
Entrepreneurial spirit: They possess the drive and resourcefulness to build and scale their ventures, often facing resource constraints and navigating complex challenges.
Strong legal and communication support: They bolster their ideas by getting expertise in intellectual property protection, data privacy, legal compliance, and effective communication to achieve their goals.
Growth mindset: They seek to learn, adapt, and scale their impact, recognising the crucial role of storytelling and developing a strong narrative in this journey.
Mark Twain figured it out long ago when he said that “the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why”.
The crux of the matter is that for a human being, having a positive impact is what breathes life into anything that they do in life. Getting clarity on the positive change we are capable of having, no matter how big or small, is the ultimate metric that defines our purpose on earth.
We at LOCSTALK are determined to bring you stories of purpose and impact driven changemakers from across the globe and from all walks of life, to help you in your entrepreneurial journey. Driven by impact ourselves, we endeavour to give wings to every single entrepreneurial effort made in the right direction.
In our next newsletter, we deep dive into one of the most impact-fully and biutyful-ly sung stories of our times. Stay tuned!