The Business4Good Blog Think Good, Speak Good, Do Good.

My first article in an international journal: "Entrepreneurs: The World needs You!" in Special Issue of Thunderbird International Business Review

2012-01-24T04:34:00.001-05:00

It is with great pleasure that I am sharing with you my first internationally published article, in the Thunderbird International Business Review (TIBR) Special Issue on "The Fight Against Poverty", called "Entrepreneurs - The World needs You!". The fight against poverty is actually for me more a quest/path for a better world through more consciousness, inclusive and sustainable development.

I wrote this piece in personal capacity and I am an authentic believer in several global initiatives of the UN, its vision and potential of inclusive and conscious business for sustainable development. Therefore, I naturally mentioned several of UN's initiatives in this area I have been involved with such as the Global Compact, Growing Sustainable Business and Inclusive Market Development.

While this article calls on entrepreneurs and business people, in fact the world needs the full, authentic, conscious You, i.e. Essence/Potential/Soul of each of us. I hope its an inspiring article that you enjoy. Any feedback most welcome.

Abstract:
The way we see the role of business is changing dramatically. What have we learned from the recent and ongoing crises? Where does one look for guidance on the “right thing to do” now? In a world where we live on one globe, it is time to shift our energy to real responsibility and sustainability. This requires a new paradigm. As Albert Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” We are not separated from our environment, nature, and society; we are actually a part of it.

Therefore, let us unleash entrepreneurship and the power of business in a way to serve us more holistically. This new type of thinking, this expanding consciousness, is giving birth to all the new concepts of social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, corporate sustainability, inclusive business, conscious capitalism, and sustainable development.

On the global level, there are increasing numbers of business-oriented initiatives aimed at steering the power of business toward the public good such as the UN Global Compact and the Business Call to Action. Where to look for inspiration at the individual level? Within yourself. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “You have to be the change you want to see in the world.”

Continue reading the Full Article (PDF).

Exciting Inauguration of new Sterntaler Vocational School in Mali

2011-11-02T10:08:00.001-04:00

Last week I had the great pleasure to return to Mali, West Africa, in my capacity of founder and chairman of the NGO 'Sterntaler für Afrika' (and unrelated to my UNDP work). It was of great honor to inaugurate the biggest project so far of this 3-year old organisation driven by private initiative: a new Vocational School!

I am very proud and grateful for the great work of our Malian partners, Youchaou Traore and his team, and all Sterntaler and Mali Initiative supporters. It was a festive ceremony with over 400 people and the Malian TV covered it in their weekend news. Below you find the text of my passionate speech:

"Mayor of Kalabancoro
Officials of the Government
Representatives of the Community
Mesdames et Messieurs
Parents and Students

28 October 2011, Kalabancoro, Bamako, Mali

I am Jürgen Nagler, Chairman of Sterntaler für Afrika, the German NGO who has supported this important project. It is my honor to speak to you now and share the reasons for our support and also some words from my heart to inspire positive change.

Together with my three friends accompanying me, we represent the over 100 German supporters, from parents to students and companies, that have donated resources, from finances to laptops to time & effort to spread the news about the vision of this school.

Why have we come to Mali and invested our time and energy into this? When I first came to Mali in 2008 I was first shocked by the poverty and lack of infrastructure and opportunities. However, underneath the surface, there were signs of hope:

Malians are people with a big and peaceful heart, and a great sense of humor.
There is a strong network of family ties and people seem to help each other much more than in more urban, industrialized and individualistic cultures.
There are courageous people taking initiative, not only to develop themselves but also the wider communities around them.

One of the most courageous and inspiring people in the development field I have ever met, is also the visionary of this project: Youchaou Traoré. Coming from a small rural village, he was a former beggar in the street. A family member found him and he took his chances going to school. He learned reading and writing, first French than English, and through dedication and aspiration became one of the best students in school and university. He started his translation business and decided to give children the same chance as he received: education. His courage is proven by first starting all alone but – because self-help attracts help – he found partners from abroad such as Australia, USA and Germany.

I would like to suggest to the Malian or international TV and media to interview him and show his inspiring life story to the widest audience possible. Dear parents, tell his story to your children demonstrating that the ones who take initiative can achieve their dreams. Government officials, please fight corruption and mismanagement, and ensure a fair environment for entrepreneurs and private schools to unleash their initiatives.

Why is Youchaou’s story so important and what does it stand for? Is he just a man with luck, or can we learn something from him to develop our own lives, families and communities? My response is: there is no luck because everything has a reason even if we might not yet understand it. Nelson Mandela’s favorite poem Invictus explains why:

I am the Master of my Fate.
I am the Captain of my Soul.

Nelson Mandela never gave up to believe in love, courage, freedom and positive change, even after decades in jail, being trialed and abused. I do want to support these visionaries who show initiative and who believe in positive change, for themselves and the world. These people are inspired and do inspire me. Therefore, I decided to partner with Youchaou and his team.

Help yourself and you will be helped. This is a philosophy of myself and Sterntaler. Having travelled to over 50 countries all over the world, I have found the following 5 points on fulfilling one’s life potential:

Take full responsibility for your life, you are not a victim but the change maker in your life.
Do what you love and be courageous.
Listen to your heart, mind, conscience and soul.
Listen to ‘signs’ that might mark your way and continue walking your path.
Discover your life purpose and unique talents that every human being has.

Herby, as Mahatma Gandhi said: “Be the Change you want to see in the World”.

Together we are building a bridge of friendship between Mali and Germany, Africa and Europe. As we will be returning to Germany this weekend, we will take the positive pictures and inspiring stories from our visit here back to our friends and colleagues at Sterntaler and are committed to continue our support to this important new school.

As Nelson Mandela said: ‘Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world’. Therefore, I wish this school to become one of the biggest and best in Africa, and all of you a happy and fulfilled life.

Katile haere chaia (shall peace be with you)."

Enlightened Business Summit – Free Five Day Teleseminar Event

2011-11-02T09:34:00.000-04:00

This seems to be a very interesting event: Enlightened Business Summit – Free Five Day Teleseminar Event

The summit features over 30 leaders in the world of conscious business including Daniel Pink, Daniel Goleman, T. Harv Eker, Marci Shimoff, Marshall Goldsmith, eBay CEO John Donahoe, Meng Tan of Google and many more.

It happens November 7th - 11th, and there’s no cost to attend this virtual week-long event. You can register here: www.enlightenedbusinesssummit.com

My Journey from Money to Meaning: Personal Realization of the 5 P’s: Profit, People, Planet, Purpose, Peace.

2011-07-04T16:40:00.001-04:00

This is my story of how I got to know and realized the 5 P’s on my journey from a money-focussed business manager to a meaning-focussed human being. While being in the middle of each phase, I was not even aware of these dimensions, only now by hindsight do I see that the journey went through these various stages. The stage of the 5 P’s: Profit, People, Planet, Purpose, Peace.

P#1: Profit
Since my childhood I had a good ‘business-sense’. I managed my little pocket money as a kid, later traded computer parts, studied business administration and went for sales, marketing and business development jobs. I maximized profits for companies like Siemens and Palm, and aimed at increasing my own salary. However, after a motorbike accident and some years of search and reflection, I realized that ‘money cannot buy happiness’ and that something important in my life was missing.

P#2: People
After years of soul-searching I opened up towards a ‘social development’ dimension. My heart felt like split in two, on the one side my business-interest (profits), on the other a new (com)passion for social and development issues (people). I started to explore microfinance, fair trade and human development. Volunteering for NGOs in Peru and Mali, and studying International Development bridged my two areas of interest. A new career with NGOs and the United Nations began. I also started the Business4Good blog to share insights on CSR, Social Entrepreneurship and Social Business.

P#3: Planet
While sustainable profits require good relationships with people, similar this is true for people and the planet. I realized that we human beings are part of nature, and that the perceived separation of us from the environment is an illusion. In fact, we are all connected as humans and with all life on this one planet. If we could see the bigger picture, maybe seeing Mother Earth from the sky we would see the forest rather than just trees. If we hurt the planet and environment we hurt ourselves. From this realisation a new appreciation of nature and environmental consciousness arose in me.

P#4: Purpose
‘Profits, People, Planet’ can also be measured as a Triple Bottom Line for businesses. It is measurable and ‘worldly’. I began to discover the more ‘immaterial’ side in me. Always having been intrigued by practical philosophy and wisdom, I explored Buddhism, self-development, meditation, Tantra and various other spiritual paths to discover my life purpose. So far I can say it is to ‘build bridges’ between perceived separated issues, and hence contribute to the expansion of consciousness.

P#5: Peace
Knowing my purpose has tremendously increased my inner peace. I do no longer feel like a lone stranger in this world, overwhelmed by all possibilities and desires. My life feels like having meaning and a direction, beyond having fun and ending in the grave at the end. Knowing that the inner world creates the outer world, I hope that increasing inner peace will lead to more world peace that inner development, will lead to more human development.

The journey continues. We are living in times of extraordinary rapid change and on our path are plenty of obstacles but if we read the signs I am positive we will find the way. To me as an optimist the direction looks towards sustainable prosperity.

All the Best & Enjoy Your Journey
Juergen

The Pyramid of Conscious Capitalism - Abraham Maslow's hierarchy aplied to Conscious Business

2011-06-30T05:15:00.001-04:00

Via Scoop.it I came across various interesting articles on Conscious Business and Conscious Capitalism.

Especially, the following beautiful illustration reminds me of Abraham Maslow's famous needs-pyramid. I have always been intrigued by Maslow's pyramid and how to 'transcend' from basic needs all the way up to the elusive-sounding "self-actualization".

Wouldn't it be great to have a similar, clear hierarchy and pyramid for the evolution of business and capitalism?

See below the best illustration I have seen so far: Maddock Douglas' "Pyramid of Conscious Capitalism" outlining the hierarchy from society/environment, beyond profit, towards purpose - from survive to succeed to transform:

Read the full article at Maddock Douglas and explore more on the topic via Scoop.it where also my own article about Conscious Business is featured.

Apple most valuable company - Steve Jobs' most valueble advice? "follow your heart and intuition"

2011-06-14T16:14:00.000-04:00

Apple now has been named not only most valuable brand and most valuable tech company but by some even the most valuable company in the world. Beyond Google, Microsoft and the rest.

This is good timing to revisit a very inspiring speech by Apple founder Steve Jobs, to me a great example of authentic leadership with real reflections on life, death and love. It's not new but the timeless wisdom is worth reposting:

"I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much."

Source: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

Prosperity without Growth? 10 Little and Big Things You Can Do

2011-05-09T10:14:00.003-04:00

From the interesting The Story of Stuff Project (must-see video) come ten simple yet thought provoking tips to promote sustainability.

The 10 headlines are:

1. Power down!
2. Waste less.
3. Talk to everyone about these issues.
4. Make Your Voice Heard.
5. DeTox your body, DeTox your home, and DeTox the Economy.
6. Unplug (the TV and internet) and Plug In (the community).
7. Park your car and walk…and when necessary MARCH!
8. Change your lightbulbs…and then, change your paradigm.
9. Recycle your trash…and, recycle your elected officials.
10. Buy Green, Buy Fair, Buy Local, Buy Used, and most importantly, Buy Less.

Read the full list of 10 Little and Big Things You Can Do

I am especially intrigued by adding a conscious 'quality' dimension to our materialistic 'quantitative' measuring of wealth, success and our economies. Or on the words of The Story of Stuff: "Our current paradigm dictates that more stuff is better, that infinite economic growth is desirable and possible, and that pollution is the price of progress. To really turn things around, we need to nurture a different paradigm based on the values of sustainability, justice, health, and community."

These ideas and much more are also discussed by Tim Jackson, see his TED video, or read his Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet.

This article is posted on Business4Good. You can also follow me on Twitter @jjnagler

Online Teleseminar Series on Conscious Business: "Waking up the Workplace"

2011-04-04T11:29:00.003-04:00

If you have enjoyed my earlier post on Conscious Business, or wonder how business can be a force for positive global transformation, then this free online teleseminar series might be for you. The "Waking up the Workplace" seminars kicked off recently and still goes until 23 June 2011. From their website:

“What would happen if we saw the business of work, not just as a means for trade and profit, but as a vehicle for actualizing our deeper human potentials in a conscious and creative transformation?”

Join the conversation and explore answers to the following questions:

How can we design the workplace as a vehicle for transformation?
How can business include our human passions and purpose and yet retain its practical productivity?
What are the most powerful and cutting edge tools available to transform business?
What kind of workplace do we need to truly address the problems of the 21^st century?

Participation is completely FREE. All you need is a telephone or internet connection to be able to:

Contribute to the global conversation with world leading experts
Learn powerful conscious business tools to bring to your own work
Participate in a community of international conscious business practitioners
Help transform the way the world does business!

Join the conversation and find out how you can make business a force for global transformation! Register for free at www.wakinguptheworkplace.com

Chopra@Google: Video about the Soul of Leadership

2011-03-21T13:02:00.000-04:00

Deepak Chopra's 1h talk at Google about the content of his new book "The Soul of Leadership". He eloquently explains how consciousness creates reality, what good leadership is and what impact it has. He also talks about consciousness, the soul and much more... Who combines latest scientific discoveries with timeless spiritual wisdom as brilliant as Chopra?

Conscious Business: What is it? Does it matter? Uniting IQ, EQ and SQ for Global Sustainability

2011-03-10T05:25:00.704-05:00

Climate change, economic and financial crises, environmental disasters, nuclear risks etc. - how many more wake-up calls do we need? We are at an important crossroads where we decide on how we behave, consume and lead our lives - and how we do business.

As drastically as it sounds, the choices we make have a direct influence on the survival of large parts of society, the environment and the world at large. The bottom line is: Our individual and collective decisions determine our future and do affect all of us.

"Let us choose to unite the power of markets with the authority of universal ideals. Let us choose to reconcile the creative forces of private entrepreneurship with the needs of the disadvantaged and the requirements of future generations."
Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General

There is a (r)evolution underway, an expanding consciousness: managers meditating, people seeking for purpose and standing up for their rights, leaders shaken by unpredictable crises. The "winds of change" massively affect the corporate world, too, and foster new ways of doing business more consciously. Therefore, this article explores these new ways of conscious business, the related new leadership style and required integration of IQ, EQ and SQ (spiritual intelligence).

Why should we look into Conscious Business?

Several years ago, I realized that I wanted to change my career from money-maximising to a profession with a purpose. I wanted to feel my lifetime well invested in positive change, meaningful work and making a difference in the world. While working for NGOs and the United Nations, I kept my interest in business because I have always been impressed by business organisations' efficiency and entrepreneurs' innovative creativity and 'can-do' attitude.

However, I began to inquire into the what, why and how of business and my own actions: What are we doing? Why are we doing it? How can we do it better? So I started on the long journey of inquiry into myself, business and capitalism. I realized the importance of expanding our own consciousness to embrace positive change and achieve global sustainability. Also I recognized that there are old and new - more conscious - ways of doing business: From CSR, social entrepreneurship, inclusive business to conscious business.

"We are living in a phenomenal age... finding approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits and recognition for business, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce poverty in the world."
Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and philanthropist

Conventional versus Conscious Business

Here are some pointers to contrast the conventional way of doing business with conscious business. This is a simplification aiming to open up awareness by seeing an enterprises from different perspectives.

Some dimensions might seem like contradictions while others seem easier to be reconciled:

Money vs. Meaning
Ego vs. Eco(logy)
Compete/control vs. Cooperate
Profit vs. People/Planet
Fear vs. Freedom
Superiority vs. Sustainability
Shareholder vs. Stakeholder
Value vs. Values
Capital vs. Consciousness
Share vs. Sharing
Greed vs. Giving

Some might say that this sounds all nice but will question if conscious businesses are sustainable, profitable and competitive? Yes, they can. In fact some argue that they excel in the marketplace (see A Better Way to Win: Profiting from Purpose).

What is Conscious Business?
After having looked at some differentiators, how can we define a conscious business?
It is "a business enterprise that seeks to be aware of the effects of its actions, and to consciously affect human beings and the environment in a beneficial way." It is a value-based enterprise "where values represent social and environmental concerns globally as well as locally", i.e. go beyond economic value (see Wikipedia Conscious Business).

There are no universally agreed criteria on conscious business but some accepted principles include "Doing no Harm" and the Triple Bottom Line approach of aiming for "positive value in the domain of People, Planet, and Profit". One such example is "The Body Shop" founded by activist Anita Roddick and many more examples to be explored on this blog.

"We are running out of time to integrate the material and the spiritual worlds."
Peter Senge, MIT Professor and author of 'The Fifth Discipline'

What does Consciousness mean?
Let me try to demystify the word 'consciousness' which fills whole PhDs in various fields. There are different levels of consciousness such as universal, collective and individual consciousness. This article focuses onto the individual consciousness, however all these levels are connected and affect each other.

Your individual consciousness can be described as your awareness of your interconnectedness with everything within and around you: your own soul, co-workers, society, environment, planet, universe etc. The matrix of connections can also be seen horizontally (friends, family, colleagues etc.) and vertically ('Mother Earth" and 'Higher/God-like/Universe').

In simplified terms, consciousness is awareness and relates to your holistic, spiritual intelligence. It does not come from your knowledge or your mind, it is not determined by your IQ and it goes beyond your emotional intelligence (EQ). The closest to consciousness within the intelligence systems-thinking would be your spiritual intelligence (SQ).

Conscious Leadership

Conscious business requires conscious leadership which is based on all three main intelligences: IQ, EQ and SQ. SQ which is the spiritual intelligence quotient describes how well you live and lead with wisdom, compassion and peace (explore deeper at Deep Change).

Conscious leadership can also be seen as integrating the various leadership dimensions from paternal, humanistic, holistic to spiritual-based (read more at Spiritual-Based Leadership Research Programme).

Some key principles of conscious and enlightened business leadership include:

Know yourself
Do no harm
Take (self-)responsibility
Cultivate generosity
Live integrity
Act courageously
Be inspired and inspire
Embrace change

"The best way to begin an integral approach to business is with oneself...
How do body, mind, and spirit operate in me? How does that necessarily impact my role in the world of business?"
Ken Wilber, one of the most influential spiritual philosophers

Towards Conscious Capitalism and Global Sustainability

Does this all matter? Yes, it is required to meet the challenges of our century and our livelihood depends on it. A conscious business values its people and therefore requires conscious leadership that inspires and brings out the best of its staff.

With an expanding consciousness amongst business leaders, consumers, activists and policy makers, we are all part of a (r)evolution towards conscious capitalism. Let us jointly address the urgent issues on environmental sustainability, social justice and broad-based prosperity to ensure global sustainability. Join the movement and leave a comment.

Recommended Reading:

Conscious Business, Fred Kaufman
Spiritual Enterprise, Theodore Roosevelt Malloch
Good Business, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
One: The Art and Practice of Conscious Leadership, Lance Secretan

Additional Resources:

Waking up the Workplace (free online seminars 17 March-23 June 2011)
Conscious Business Summary (by Realize)
Conscious Leadership (by Gina Hayden)
Conscious Capitalism Institute
10 Conscious Companies (credit to Sean Murphy for top photo)

About the Author: Juergen Nagler, has worked and consulted for leading businesses, NGOs and the United Nations, blogging in personal capacity at Business4Good (biosketch).

Lions on the Move - a new Africa being born?

2011-02-12T03:53:00.013-05:00

Egypt freed itself from a dictator because people claimed back their power. Protesters shouted "we are the people", the same acclamation that brought down the Iron Curtain when people in former Easter Germany protested for their freedom. It also reminds me to the United Nations Charter starting with "We the People".

While Egypt culturally belongs to the Arab world, it is an interesting cross-roads also to Africa and the West. History is being written and it seems more and more people are awakening... what does it mean for Africa and the world?

As blogged earlier, since I arrived for a new project in South Africa last year, I felt that change is in the air. This was further confirmed during a trip to Ethiopia last month. A lot of development and construction is going on, the Chinese are building a new African Union complex and the diaspora is coming back from the USA to start businesses.

If we look at the bigger picture about events on and around the continent, the signs make up a puzzle, imperfect but nonetheless we can see a path, a journey towards freedom. Just some examples: independence of African states (mainly 1950s-70s), end of cold war 1989 (which affected many African countries), end of apartheid in South Africa 1994, "first African-American" US president Obama 1998, first FIFA World Cup in Africa 2010, South Sudan separation 2011, Egypt, Ivory Coast and Libya 2011. What next?

This list is of course incomplete to give a full picture of a very diverse continent with 53 states where poverty, disparity and dictators remain in several regions. However, with omnipresent communications technology and a rising collective consciousness the trend is clear: people increasingly take ownership and demand fair political leadership, jobs and economic opportunities.

Africa's economic and social outlook is positive: The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon just recently spoke about "winds of change blowing throughout Africa" and "the new narrative for Africa is a story of growth". Africa is expected to be the the fastest growing region in the world, only behind Asia. A recent McKinsey study paints a similar opportunity-rich picture calling African countries "Lions on the Move".

As the beginning 2011 is bringing change so rapidly, watch out for the rest of the year and 2012. Africa and the world are changing so fast, we better are open for it. As we have seen in the examples of Libya and Ivory Coast, the new era comes with some 'birthing pain' and old structures need to crack open for new energy to emerge. Rather resisting, can we embrace the coming change? As Mahatma Gandhi said: “You must be the change you want to see in the world”.

If you want to read more about the new, positive Africa emerging, you can for example follow Africa Good News, AfricanLoft and, of course, this blog Business4Good. Or best, see for yourself and visit the over 50 countries of Africa.

The "Social Entrepreneur Empowerment" Series

2011-02-10T05:45:00.005-05:00

Ever since my decision to use business acumen for higher development goals, I have been fasinated about sociel entrepreneurs. Thousands of hidden champions around the world combine business approaches with social, environmental and spiritual objectives.

This decade seems to bring out even more of inspired entrepreneurs and conscious business people. Ryan Eliason seems to be of them because he is organising the free "Social Entrepreneur Empowerment" Video Series.

"What if you could combine the love, integrity, vision, and leadership of Gandhi, Mother Theresa, and Martin Luther King, Jr. with the entrepreneurial business savvy of Sir Richard Branson, Bill Gates, and Oprah Winfrey?

What if you could download their wisdom into yourself? Imagine the bigger game you could play!"
From www.socialentrepreneurempowerment.com

The series started 8th February with Ashoka founder Bill Drayton (hear the replay at Everyone a Changemaker). Bill talks about what makes an social entrepreneur, the rapid change of our times and how we are all changemaker in this world. Clear, down to earth and inspiring. "We are right at the tipping point" and "what is the new paradigm?" There is a LinledIn Group called Social Entrepreneur Empowerment Network with follow-up dicussions.

There are live streams until 17 February 2011 and the talks are anytime available as replays at http://www.socialentrepreneurempowerment.com/replays/

The Top 100 Thought Leaders in trustworthy Business Behavior

2011-02-03T10:09:00.000-05:00

Via the World Business Academy's newsletter I came across the list of "The Top 100 Thought Leaders in trustworthy Business Behavior 2010" by Trust Across America.

The list seems to focus on US only, so dozens of international leaders are missing which is a pity in a globalized world where ideas and information spread across the globe quickly. Nonetheless this is a good start and many thinkers with global influence are among the ranks.

Some of the candidates I have found inspiring are Stephen Covey ("7 Habits of highly effective people"), Hazel Henderson (working on wealth metrics beyond GDP) and the leaders around Net Impact. I am sure you might discover many more authors of inspiring books, founders of institutes and companies.

Enjoy exploring the list at: The Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior

For 2011, I would almost expect Deepak Chopra with his new book "The Soul of Leadership".
Who have you found a most inspiring thought leader but missing in the list?

Inclusive Business Guide: How to Develop Business and Fight Poverty

2010-12-29T09:21:00.001-05:00

Fresh research and advice on how to develop business and fight poverty - or better foster prosperity - comes from the same authors that have been part involved in various leading reports by UNDP's "Growing Inclusive Markets" initiative. The new Inclusive Business Guide is the first comprehensive compilation providing cutting edge know-how and inspiration for newcomers and experienced practitioners alike. Mainly addressing a business audience, it features 20 case studies from around the world, relevant know-how and is packed with well selected recommended reading.

"It is the absence of broad-based business activity, not its presence,
that condemns much of humanity to suffering."
Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General

I know both authors personally, Christina Gradl and Claudia Knobloch, and it's good to see the progress on the learning journey since Prahalad inspired so many companies to look for fortune at the base of the economic pyramid (BoP), estimated at over $5 trillion (!) local purchasing power. "Inclusive Business" seems to be the new mantra of a new generation of initiatives. It's broad enough to include various hybrid concepts combining sustainable business development with poverty reduction.

Some ideas stress the role of low-income segments (not to use the word "the poor") more on the consumer side, some more on the supply side; some come from the public sector while some are more business driven. As the overlap of these concepts can be quite confusing, the illustration below can help with some overview:

The large and growing BoP markets are the major opportunity for new ways of doing business good for people, the planet and profits. To untap this potential, innovation and a new awareness are required. This guide furthers the knowledge and takes readers through the 12 step business process from development to implementation to growth:

Read the full Inclusive Business Guide (PDF). All figures copyright endeva.
Happy new year 2011 with lots of success!

Starting new UNDP Africa Project - a dream comes true

2010-11-13T12:58:00.003-05:00

I have just moved to Johannesburg to start a new United Nations development project. This blog post covers the project and my first week back with Mother Africa from two perspectives: 1) professional and 2) personal.

1) New UNDP Africa Project on Private Sector and
Inclusive Business/Market Development
Together with my Mozambican colleague Tomas Sales, we are starting UNDP's first Pan-African project on developing vibrant private sectors that create jobs and enhance incomes by including low-income people into value chains. This can mean offering specialized and affordable products/services to them as customers (demand side) or working with them as workers, suppliers or entrepreneurs (supply side). Such business models at the "Base of the Pyramid" are also called inclusive business models contributing to poverty reduction and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The track-record so far and prospects to achieve the MDGs by 2015 are mixed. 10 years have passed and only five more to go. The recent financial and economic crises plus environmental challenges (foremost climate change) have not helped either. But the goals can still be achieved and increasingly the important role of the private sector - business and entrepreneurs - is realized. The project covers Regional Economic Integration, Value Chain Projects, Partnerships and Inclusive Finance. It's too complex to describe here in short, so I leave it with a slide carrying the spirit of the project.

2) Dreams do come true
Some years I had a dream: Using my business background for social human development. I wanted to make a change with my life and work for a better world, not just donate some money to ease my conscience. My heart was burning for big adventures and taking on big challenges. My aspiration was to work for the United Nations in Africa.

The road there has been winding but if things are meant to be and we believe in our aspirations and potential they do become true. My multi-stages path after leaving the " corporate rat race" included: unpaid volunteer at a Microfinance NGO in Peru (FINCA), grass-roots work in Mali (Mali-Initiative), an unpaid internship at the UN (Global Compact), earning Masters in International Development (UNSW) and getting a chance to work for UNDP in New York, hanging in there as a serial short-term consultant...

Now my dream to work for the UN on "business & development" in Africa is coming true. And the best is that it is just starting :) Imagine next? I already feel a sense of deep change here in Africa and globally consciousness is growing. Change is in the air, we can make it! Some inspiration to listen to your own heart and unleash your inner potential:

"Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!
Live the life you've imagined.
Henry David Thoreau

The Enlightened Business Summit - October 25-29th Teleseminar - Conscious Capitalism

2010-10-14T14:37:00.005-04:00

Via the World Business Academy newsletter comes an open invitation to "The Enlightened Business Summit", a virtual global event that features around 40 top CEOs, bestselling authors, pioneering entrepreneurs, and provocateurs – for free. To cite from the World Business Academy:

"The Summit features leaders such as Tim Ferriss, Tony Hsieh, John Mackey, George Zimmer, Christine Comaford Lynch, Tony Schwartz, Roxanne Emmerich, Stephen M. Covey, and Mihaly Csikszenmihalyi. It’s designed with mainly 30-minute talks interspersed throughout the day so you can stay on top of your work while learning the best insights from the world’s top business minds.

If you’re like us, you recognize that conscious capitalism can become the single most powerful engine for good on our planet. But what it takes is having a great guidebook and wise advisors.

Most of us have been raised in a war-zone approach to business that actually doesn’t work very well – it leads to unhappy employees, uncreative teams, burned out leaders, and stagnant sales. Recent financial crises are forcing all of us to get far more creative in harnessing the best science, insights, and wisdom for creating businesses that liberate our creative potential and truly succeed – on all levels.

That’s why this event can be so valuable for you and your organization – it gives you unprecedented access to world-class advisors for transforming the way you do business.

You can participate live on as many calls as you like and interact with both the featured leaders and other participants via a state-of-the-art MaestroConference platform, which will connect you to participants from around the world.

The Enlightened Business Summit runs from Oct. 25-29th as a free offering from The Shift Network and it will be hosted by Chip Conley, author of Peak and one of the most popular speakers at this year’s TED conference."

I only know a few of the speakers so far, such as Stephen Covey ("7 habits of highly effective people"), Lance Secretan (read his ONE book on conscious leadership), Hazel Henderson. A very intersting topic and line-up. Being 'free' the value for money is hard to beat, so I will selectivly tune in.

For more information & registration see: www.enlightenedbusinesssummit.com

Accelerating the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through Inclusive Business

2010-09-20T18:56:00.003-04:00

UPDATE with resources from 22 September 2010 at the end:

Can you create business and social value through the same enterprise? Does sustainable development and good business go hand in hand? Yes, it can! I have been working on these issues for the last 18 months at UNDP and am happy that tomorrow - coinciding with the UN MDG Summit - a number of the world's leading business networks and initiatives are coming together to rally business energy and expertise around inclusive business models.

What are inclusive business models? These are business models that involve poor people as consumers, employees, suppliers or distributors, and offer a powerful and sustainable way to fight poverty. There is a strong overlap with the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) and Social Enterprise concepts. Separating these different perspectives can be an academic exercise, however more convincing are hearing real cases. So let's hear what the leaders in the field report.

Audio, video and other resources from the workshop will be posted at Business Fights Poverty over the next few days. So follow there, and I will post some key take-aways here.

UPDATE from 22 September 2010:
There is a wealth of valuable information coming out of this event, here some selected highlights:

Reflections on the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit 2010 (by the Gong Man)

2010-07-23T12:24:00.005-04:00

Where is the tipping point for a new era of sustainability? This was one of the key questions of the promising UN Global Compact Leaders Summit 2010 last month in New York. 'Official' Summit blogger Dirk Matten has well covered the Summit and its wider CSR context. Therefore, I focus here on my personal reflections and listing the official new resources launched.

Firstly, it's great to see the growing momentum of the Global Compact and the whole sustainability movement. The compact itself grew from a 30-40 company club 10 years ago, into the largest CSR network with over 8.000 participants in 2010. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon talked about a new era of sustainability seeing the Compact with 20.000 participants by 2020. Frankly, this looks like linear growth and I'd like to see exponential growth reaching 50.000 or even 100.00 participants.

I actually had the funniest (and toughest) job at the Summit helping out my Global Compact friends as the 'Gong Man' and time keeper. The mandate passionately delivered to me by Global Compact director Georg Kell gave me two sleepless nights. How to keep an 1.200 people event on time with dozens of VIPs, CEOs, ministers on stage which are not used to be interrupted? Getting real and being unimpressible by titles and status was my only resort and I even had to gong the moderator once. People told me that this is the 'toughest job' and appreciated very much that the Summit was on time, start to end.

The big clock around my neck mainly saved as funny ice breaker for some 'stiff' and serious energy. I actually enjoyed being the 'clown' between the many VIPs and it showed the human and humor side of ministers, CEOs and alike. (Lesson learned is to wear something funny at a conference, a huge facilitator to get to know people :)

Happy 10th Birthday, Global Compact! Wishing you 10 more years with exponential success. Time is ready for the tipping point of a new era of sustainability.

You can watch the webcast of the Summit and below a list of new resources and initiatives launched:

Assessments:

UN Global Compact Annual Review – Anniversary Edition. Download.
A New Era of Sustainability: UN Global Compact-Accenture CEO Study 2010. Download.
United Nations Global Compact Local Network Report 2010. Download.
Role of Governments in Promoting Corporate Responsibility and Private Sector Engagement in Development. Download.
A Greener Tomorrow – How Caring for Climate Signatories are Leading the Way to a Low Carbon Economy. Download.
Moving Upwards: The Involvement of Boards of Directors in the UN Global Compact. Download.
Coming of Age: UN-Business Collaboration Since 2000. Download.
Innovating for a Brighter Future: The Role of Business in Achieving the MDGs. Download.
Global Compact Participants in Latin America and the Caribbean: Contribution to the Millennium Development Goals. Download (English), (Spanish).

Principles:

Women's Empowerment Principles – Equality Means Business. Download.
Principles for Social Investment (PSI). Download.
Launch of Process to Develop Children’s Principles. More Information.

Tools & Guidance:

Blueprint for Corporate Sustainability Leadership within the Global Compact. Download.
UN Global Compact Management Model. Download.
A Global Compact for Development. Download.
Guidance on Responsible Business in Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas: A Resource for Companies and Investors. Download (English), (Chinese).
Supply Chain Sustainability: A Practical Guide for Continuous Improvement. Download.
Sustainable Supply Chains: Resources and Practices. Access Website.
Lawyers as Leaders: The Essential Role of Legal Counsel in Corporate Sustainability Agenda. Download.
An Introduction to Linkages between UN Global Compact Principles and ISO 26000 Core Subjects. Download.
The Global Compact Self Assessment Tool. Access Website.
Global Compact Network Management Toolkit: Version 1. Download.
Human Rights and Business E-Learning Tool. Access Website.
Guide on How to Develop a Human Rights Policy. Download.
Human Rights and Business Dilemmas Forum. Access Website.
The Labour Principles of the United Nations Global Compact: A Guide for Business. Download.
Human Trafficking and Business: Good Practices to Prevent and Combat Human Trafficking. Download.
Environmental Stewardship Strategy – Overview and Resource for Corporate Leaders. Download. Access Website.
Framework for Responsible Business Engagement with Water Policy. Download.
Low Carbon Leaders – Transformative Solutions for a Low-Carbon Future. Download.
Reporting Guidance on the 10th Principle Against Corruption. Download.
Fighting Corruption in the Supply Chain: A Guide for Customers and Suppliers. Download.
E-learning Tool: Fighting Against Corruption. Download.
Collective Action – Building a Coalition Against Corruption. Download.

Best Practices:

Doing Business While Advancing Development and Peace. Download.
Dialogues on Integrating Human Rights – Testimonials by Business Leaders. Access Website.
From Principles to Practice: The Role of SA8000 in Implementing the UN Global Compact. Download.
Implementing the United Nations Global Compact in China: Inspirational Case Examples. Download.
GRI and UN Global Compact Forge New Alliance. More Information.

Photo credit: UN Global Compact/Michael Dames

Global Compact Leaders Summit 2010 and other things to look forward...

2010-06-21T22:01:00.005-04:00

Let's start off with a positive note... I am happy :) out of several reasons: Summer is here, I am going on holidays soon and my 'new' work-life approach does make sense: Following my heart to explore timeless wisdom and to expand consciousness in my daily life and work. Might sound airy-fairy but it is actually very practical. It not only feels right but also bears fruits regarding work satisfaction and efficiency with very positive feedback from colleagues.

A break-through at work is that the major project I have been designing the last months is being approved and therefore I am going to move to Johannesburg in September 2010 for about two years! It's a big Africa UNDP project aiming at developing a vibrant private sector in multiple African countries. Why is this exciting? It's the first of its kind for UNDP in Africa and 'fresh' compared to traditional aid project as it intends to unleash people's inherent potential, specifically on entrepreneurship, which then leads to job and income generation. More as soon as the project is officially launched.

Already happening this week is the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit 2010 in New York City. The last Summit which happened 2007 was very interesting, see my article about it's outcomes. This week, more than 1,200 executives from nearly 100 countries are confirmed to attend this historic event. Registration is closed (and was invitation-only to mainly CEOs), however you can follow it live via live on the UN Webcast site or read about it on the Global Compact blog or Crane and Matten blog.

Last not least, I just received confirmation that an article I wrote for the upcoming Thunderbird Business Review special issue on Entrepreneurship and Sustainability got accepted and will be the opening piece. This is great news as it is the first article for me of this kind and motivates me for more. Will link as soon as published...

Good luck and peace!

First Explorations into Conscious Business: How to integrate Money and Meaning?

2010-05-26T16:54:00.008-04:00

As I have hinted at in earlier posts I want to take this blog onto the next level: From social and doing-good business to 'conscious business'. This is a journey as I do not have a fixated definition of conscious business nor capitalism and even the Wikipedia description is more a starting point. You are invited to join and explore this emerging new field... (which I am considering to do my PhD in).

Let's start with excerpts from one of the very few articles that aim to bring together business and spiritual thinking. Brian Whetten writes in The Huffington Post about "What Does it Mean To Practice Conscious Capitalism?:

"When we open to spiritual reality, our experience is one of abundance. In contrast, modern economic theory is based on scarcity. One of the definitions of economics is "the social science of choice under scarcity." With this comes fear, denial, greed and addiction. There's a reason why economics is called the dismal science.

This does not mean that economics is wrong. What it means is that the world changes as we lift in consciousness. At the physical level, the world looks like it's based in scarcity, win/lose, either/or, and survival of the fittest. But as we're able to see things from a higher perspective, we realize that things are based in abundance, win/win, both/and, and love. ...

We all have a challenge integrating money and meaning, and it shows up in our lives and in society. Notice how we have two types of organizations, for-profit companies that focus primarily on money and non-profits that focus primarily on service. Relatively few groups do both at the same time, because conscious business requires learning how to embrace and heal the conflicts inside ourselves.

In other words, conscious business starts by recognizing that it can't be measured just by the mission of the organization. It also requires focusing on the consciousness of the members in the organization. In other words, it's not enough to focus just on what we do, it also requires focusing on how we are as we do it."

Read the full article here or visit Brian's website www.consciousbusinessnow.com
What an interesting start, thanks Brian. What do you think?

The Top 50 Sustainability Books?

2010-03-27T21:59:00.016-04:00

Interested in the most prominent sustainability books? Greenleaf Publishing has an interesting publication summarizing the thinking of new and timeless classics. "The Top 50 Sustainability Books" is written by Wayne Visser, founder of CSR International and very active in the field. Like with every ranking you could argue about the criteria but anyway there us much inspiration in and to learn from these books. You can order at a 20% discount at Greenleaf.

The Top 20 in order with some excerpts accessible:

An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, by Al Gore, 2006
Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, 1962
The Economics of Climate Change : The Stern Review, by Nicholas Stern, 2007
Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, by E.F. Schumacher, 1973
Capitalism as if the World Matters, by Jonathon Porritt, 2005
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive, by Jared Diamond, 2005
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins, 2000
Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, by James Lovelock, 2000
Our Common Future, by The World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987
Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business, by John Elkington, 1999
The Limits to Growth, by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows and Jorgen Randers, 1972
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, by William McDonough (A) and Michael Braungart (A), 2002
Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits, by C.K. Prahalad, 2004
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, by Jeffrey Sachs, 2005.
Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning, by George Monbiot, 2006
Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, by Janine Benyus, 2003
The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability, by Paul Hawken, 1994
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the battle Against World Poverty, by Muhammad Yunus, 1999
The Turning Point: Science Society and the Rising Culture, by Fritjof Capra, 1984
Development as Freedom, by Amartya Sen, 2000

Enjoy catching up with your reading list :)

Video: Eckhart Tolle, Spiritual Master, on the Economic Crisis and Change

2010-03-13T17:31:00.007-05:00

Ever since the recent crises, namely climate, financial and economic I have been contemplating about the reasons and what to learn from the challenges. On a professional level, I have been learning through my consulting work at the United Nations and my honorary work for the Mali Initiative. On a more personal level, I have been on a journey of in-sights and in-tution through personal development and meditation.

Through these ways, I have experienced to appreciate challenges as 'signs' that change or transformation is required. I find the connection between our own state of consciousness (inside) and state of economy and environment (outside) intriguing. Therefore, I am going to increasingly share with you content on 'conscious business' and 'inspired leadership'. Hope you are open-minded and interested?

Eckhart Tolle, bestseller author and spiritual Master, talks in the following video about the current economy, its crises and the underlying reasons. He describes why the collapse of ego-based institutions is necessary for the planet and for humanity to survive.

Watch on YouTube or embedded below:

Search and Save the Planet: Green Google Alternatives

2010-03-04T18:46:00.007-05:00

Short and sweet, I want to bring to your attention two real Business4Good candidates. Both are 'eco-friendly' search engines giving you the choice of saving rainforest and making you 'googling' CO2-neutral.

1. Ecosia: www.ecosia.org
Eevery search saves about 2 m² of rainforest, according to Ecosia which cooperates with the WWF. It's results are based on Bing and Yahoo.

2. Znout: www.znout.org
Accordning to Znout, you can make your Internet searches CO2 neutral. Based on Google.

Next two these two, there are more green search engines in the market. Even they don't have built in some fancy Google features the green alternatives are certainly good enough for usual searches. Computers are a significant and growing consumer of electricity and therefore producer of CO2 and climate change.

"Electricity generation required for information and communication technologies is currently responsible for 2% of global CO₂ emissions" (Techcrunch)

I just switched to green 'googling' and made one of them my default search engine. Just waiting for the moment when giant Google wakes up by searchers walking off green and then starts greening itself. Goliath, the green Davids are coming.

Happy green searching.

Video: The Story of Stuff

2010-02-13T17:13:00.004-05:00

After several people told me about a video "The Story of Stuff" I finally watched it. The 20 minute video is a refreshing, eye-opening mix between documentary and story-telling. Watch it, spread it and decide for yourself how to react to the 'inconvenient truth' of consumerism.

What is The Story of Stuff?
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Haiti: How you can help rebuild a better future

2010-01-18T12:15:00.005-05:00

Heavy hearts at the UN. Just coming back from staff briefing on Haiti. A colleague I know survived but the disastrous earthquake is the biggest single loss in UN history and probably the biggest disaster the UN has dealt with.

A video showed shocking damage in Haiti and first hand reports of Haitian colleagues were heartbreaking. Secretary-General called the international response overwhelming and an act of love. It will take years for the people to get back on track.

You can help, too, here a couple of suggestions:

UN Foundation: UN including the World Food Program is the first responder
Betterplace: Good for smaller, direct projects with regular communications
or if you are a Business, donate and help reconstruct: Business.un.org

Businessmen, the Planet Needs You

2009-12-14T12:52:00.006-05:00

Summary of a New York times op-ed by Georg Kell, my previous boss and executive director of United Nations Global Compact, a U.N. initiative to encourage businesses to adopt socially responsible policies.

"As negotiating teams labor at the U.N. climate change conference, a rising chorus of business leaders is chanting “seal the deal.”

Though notions of hammering out an actual climate treaty in Copenhagen have been put to rest, many captains of industry are nonetheless urging governments to agree on the core elements of a climate framework that can serve the basis of a treaty. ...

But given the level of inaction and the counteracting forces of organized opposition, further steps will be needed to truly tip the scale in favor of positive business action.

First, progressive businesses must take their case to the industry fence-sitters through an active outreach campaign that includes a number of key messages:

1. climate change is the test of business leadership in the 21st century;
2. the future of the global marketplace hangs in the balance;
3. addressing climate can trigger an era of sustainable prosperity;
4. transformation is possible and viable; and
5. climate change is an urgent ethical issue for the broader role business in society.

Of course, it would be naïve not to acknowledge that there will be industry losers in the end. There will be those companies and sectors that are just too entrenched in the high-carbon economy to adapt and change.

A second action must involve the further mobilization of key stakeholders — most notably civil society, consumers and the investment community. ...

Achieving the low-carbon economy of the future will not be possible without the active role of business. Some have taken up the challenge. It is time for the fence-sitters to join this effort."

Read the full op-ed at New York Times.

Today is UN Day - video message from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

2009-10-24T16:04:00.004-04:00

Today is UN-day celebrating the anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations, as which "shall be devoted to making known to the peoples of the world the aims and achievements of the United nations and to gaining their support for" its work.

The UN is doing work in many different areas from peacekeeping, health, children and women, environment, human rights to sustainable development. Currently, I am myself involved in facilitating partnerships with companies to create jobs and income opportunities in developing countries, most of them in Africa.

See a video message from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

"The United Nations is doing its utmost to respond — to address the big issues, to look at the big picture. We are forging a new multilateralism that can deliver real results for all people, especially those most in need."
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Message on UN Day, 24 October 2009

Let's transcend the obsession with economic growth - Stiglitz et al. recommend to go beyond GDP

2009-09-14T15:25:00.007-04:00

"Well-being is more than money", a saying that could come from the Dalai Lama but in this case it is the essence of a recent report done by a group of 22 leaders. The group comissioned by French president Sarkozy included Nobel economics prize winner Stiglitz, and Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen who helped create the U.N. Human Development Index.

"The report, delivered to Mr. Sarkozy on Monday, recommends shifting the emphasis from GDP, which measures economic production, to well-being and sustainability. "GDP statistics were originally introduced to measure market economic activity," Mr. Stiglitz said. "But they are increasingly thought of as a measure of societal well-being, which they are not. … Our economy is supposed to increase our well being; it is not an end in itself."

The report suggests looking at household income, consumption and wealth rather than production in the economy as a whole for a better reflection of material living standards... More prominence should be given to the distribution of income and wealth, as well as to access to education and health, the report said, adding that attention should also be given to whether countries are over-consuming their economic wealth and damaging the environment.

The report also recommends that indexes should integrate complex realities, such as crime, the environment and the efficiency of the health system, as well as income inequality."

Read on at Wall Street Journal

Personally, I believe we would benefit tremendously by 'updating' our 'success metrics'. How can we continue to count car accidents, bombs etc. as a positive on our national production measurement? How can we continue to believe that the more and faster the better? Let's support this more holistic way of measuring our well-being!

If you think the recommendation from the Stiglitz-commission doesn't go far enough, maybe we should go to adopt Bhutan's GHI, Gross National Happiness.

Social Entrepreneur example: Oliberté Footwear from Africa!

2009-08-21T16:33:00.011-04:00

Working at UNDP in my professional life... I do have a passion for Social Entrepreneurs in my private life. Despite all the red-tape and challenges, they are the ones who push for development with business spirit, in many cases with social rather profit goals.

So when I heard that Tal Dehtiar started "Oliberté Footwear" I was curious. I know Tal from founding and running MBAs without Borders until starting Oliberté. This footwear venture is positioned as "1st Urban Brand from Africa", so hopefully it will show Africa's "Yes, we can" attitude.

"Oliberté is a new revolution showcasing the true potential of Africa. Every time someone buys a pair of Oliberté shoes, they are showing to the world that Africa is more than just poverty - that it is full of pride, power and liberty" said Tal Dehtiar. "All the attention on Africa is focused on alleviating poverty, but the only real way to alleviate poverty on this beautiful continent is to build a middle class that includes fair paying jobs. The more shoes sold, the more fair jobs will be created at local factories where Oliberté works, which ultimately changes lives for the better."

By 2015, Oliberté looks to work in over 10 countries in Africa to source material, accessories and manufacture its shoes that will be sold from Canada to USA to Europe to Australia to Japan. "If we wanted to make cheap shoes, we'd simple go to Asia, but this is NOT about cheap shoes or labour. This is about premium quality and fashionable footwear that creates fair paying jobs in the poorest countries of the world. Pride. Power. Liberty. This is the real Africa. This is Oliberté."

Changing the world to the better with every shoe!?
www.oliberte.com/shoes

The Necessary Revolution - Climate Change boils our HOME

2009-06-11T21:44:00.011-04:00

"20% of the world population consumes
80% of the world resources."

Business as humans are part of wider systems, we all share the same home, one planet. Unfortunately, the way we do business, the way of our cherished materialistic development has been seriously bringing these systems out of balance.

"We spend 12 times more on military than on aid to developing countries"

Personally, I have struggled the last 10 years to bring the puzzle pieces of my life experiences together to see the bigger picture. And the picture is ugly. Despite being an optimist: 'we f*cked up'. Sorry for my language but our limited consciousness of the timeless universal truth - everything is linked is everything - has separated us from nature. This led to our "extract, make, waste" approach.

"We only have 10 years to revert the greenhouse gases trend"

Climate Change is real, it's right in our face... and we can do something about it. Recently, a book and a movie have helped me to see the bigger picture clearer and today I want to share them with you:

1. HOME - In my view the best documentary movie since Inconvenient Truth and Baraka... amazing footage (watch in high quality) I am still holding my breath, it even features Mali.

2. The necessary Revolution - A timely book by management guru Peter Senge, Bryan Smith et al. It gives inspiring examples on how individuals and organizations are working together to create a sustainable world.

'Systems thinking' illustrations paint a clear picture on how we need to change our 'exploit, make, wast' consumerism. A great follow through after you regain your breath from the HOME movie.

"We all have the power to change.
So what are we waiting for?"

Business and Development: UNDP's Growing Sustainable Business Initiative

2009-05-28T12:38:00.007-04:00

I have been quite about my latest assignment so far... but since a Financial Times article came out yesterday, it’s time to talk about UNDP’s Growing Sustainable Business (GBS) initiative:

Enterprise introduces a whiff of revolution

In her book Dead Aid, Dambisa Moyo calls for the end of aid to Africa within five years. Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda – which has halved aid as a percentage of its gross domestic product in the past decade – recently argued in the Financial Times that aid creates instability and dependency while failing to reduce poverty or disease. Ms Moyo and Mr Kagame are among those questioning traditional models of development. While not all favour the pure for-profit approach, many argue that there is a greater role for market-based approaches to global problems. If such models prevail, the question for big non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international public sector institutions is how to fit into the new development landscape…

“Business and society have to go through this utterly profound management transformation to move away from a few people running everyone else,” says Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka the pioneering social entrepreneurship non-profit. “Because that model can’t function in a world with rapid change coming from all directions.” In contrast to the more nimble social entrepreneurs, organisations such as the World Bank and the UN can seem lumbering and out of touch. Some believe this stems from outdated management processes and sprawling bureaucratic structures…

Some institutions are also recognising their potential convening role in market-led initiatives. This is something the United Nations Development Programme is doing through its Growing Sustainable Business initiative. The idea behind the GSB is that the UNDP can broker partnerships between companies and NGOs or local government agencies to accelerate the provision of goods, services and employment in poor countries.

In Africa, one of the GSB partnerships – between Unilever, the consumer products group, and social and environmental institutions – is developing the Allanblackia tree into a new crop that will be a supplementary source of oil for Unilever products as well as an additional income stream for farmers…”

12 Simple Things You Can Do to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

2009-05-12T21:19:00.007-04:00

Some of these tipps might sound trivial but I do scratch my head when colleagues in my office do not turn off their PCs in the evening or car drivers let their engine run while waiting in their car for long...

Let's lead by example, therefore 12 Simple Things You Can Do to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint from UNDP (see full ad here):

Turn it off
Turn off lights, televisions, videos, stereos, heaters, cars and computers when not in use - they can use 10 to 40% of the power when on standby. Also, unplug chargers as soon as they have finished charging.
Be exact
Fill the kettle with only as much water as you need.
Close it
Don't leave fridge doors open for longer than necessary.
Check your tires
Properly inflated tires can improve your car’s fuel efficiency.
Use no plastic
Use cloth bags when going shopping and avoid buying products which use too much plastic.
Fan up
Instead of using air conditioners in the summer, wear cool clothes, and use a fan.
Drive less
Do your weekly errands in a single trip or pay your bills online. Walk, bike, ride the bus or carpool.
Optimize your speed
You will consume up to 25% less fuel if you drive no more than 90 km/hr.
Drive hybrid
A hybrid or other fuel-efficient car emits less carbon dioxide.
Replace them
Replace your incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). CFLs cost 3 to 5 times as much but use less than a third of the power. Also, replace old fridge and other appliances with energy-efficient ones.
Watch what you eat
Choose food produced close to your home.
Recycle
Consume less, and re-use old products.

Refer this site to a friend: www.12simplethings.org

What else is missing? I'd add:
13. Insulate your home, so you need less heating... and snuggle more ;)
14. Plant a Tree!

Yunus: The Authenticity and Simplicity of a Noble Peace Winner

2009-05-01T17:32:00.006-04:00

Recently I attended an inspiring talk by peace noble laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus. This blog has covered him extensively because ever since I am exploring the cross-roads of business approaches to social and sustainable development Yunus has been an idol for me. The talk - which was facilitated by Jeffrey Sachs - was inspiring on two fronts: scale of achievements and his personal charisma.

First, how many example in the development are do you know having positive benefits for millions of people? Frankly, I do not know many. Even now working for UN's Development Programme, I see how even multi-million programmes of the largest development agencies and biggest brands in the world struggle to deliver tangible results, let alone of that scale. Now he has already touched nearly 8 million lives, mainly of marginalized women.

Second, I am touched at heart how humble and authentic Yunus is. A man sitting in Bangladeshi textile with a near Dalai Lama smile talking about over 30 years of his life with such an empathy for his country women and simplicity. He doesn't use any jargon, theories or buzz words. Yunus says, he just wanted to be of use for at least 1 person. Isn't that an example to follow?

Let's make a difference to at least one person and the world will be a better place. Yes we can! A wise man said once "If Not Me, Then Who? If Not Now, Then When?".

Natural Entrepreneurs: Following the flow to find the career of your dreams?

2009-04-06T19:00:00.005-04:00

Does business need to be profit-greedy and your work hard? Of course not. Instead, your career is part of your life and we are no victims but creators of our own circumstances along the path we decided to walk.

"This economic crisis may be just the push you need to find the career of your dreams." is the subtitle of an interesting article in Ode Magazine. Author Dave Pollard contrasts the "natural entrepreneur" to the hard-working factory or office laborer. I myself did feel like an assembly-line worker in a factory with the only difference that I was chasing my email inbox.

So it it very refreshing to see Pollard's six points on how Natural Entreprenerus are different:

"They had found their sweet spot, the work where their gifts, their passions and their purpose intersected.
They had found the right business partners, people who shared their purpose and whose gifts and passions complemented their own.
They did world-class research to identify real needs that weren’t being met by any other enterprise in the marketplace.
They used a rigorous, continuous process to invent and commercialize products and services that met those unmet needs.
Instead of planning for the future, they had learned how to improvise, to adapt easily to changes in the economy and demographics.
They acted with integrity, operating in a way that resonated with their values, and made principled decisions, not opportunistic ones, in the long-term interest of their partners, employees, customers and communities."

Read the full article here, including the reference to his book.
Which side are you on?

Social Entrepreneurs make it into The Economist: Global heros saving the world?

2009-03-26T21:33:00.007-04:00

When the conservative economic magazine The Economist is picking up a trend then it can't be a hype anymore. They run specials on (Social) Entrepreneurship and - wow - their titles even go overboard: "Global heros" and "Saving the World".

The first hero-article describes how - despite the downturn - entrepreneurs are enjoying a renaissance the world over. It brings back the famous phrase of “creative destruction” by Joseph Schumpeter from 1942. Then it busts five myths on entrepreneurs and covers the who-is-who o (American) entrepreneurs.

The second article 'Saving the world' covers how entrepreneurs are trying to do good as well as make money. Key messages resonate much with me such as "Social entrepreneurs often blur the distinction between making money and offering charity. Some use the profits from their main business to cross-subsidise their charitable work." (This mix I have lived the last two years). With dozens of comments it's a hotly debated article.

Also interesting: "In the long run, however, the best thing that entrepreneurs can do for the poor may be simply to see them as workers and customers." This - in an empowering, integrating way - is what UNDP's Growing Sustainable Business Initiative, who I am currently working for, is trying to do. Stay tuned...

A social technology to connect to the future: "Presencing"

2009-02-27T08:05:00.006-05:00

Do you want to know how to create your future out of the present moment? Sounds like a spiritual question but MIT lecturer Dr. Otto Scharmer has formulated a ‘technology’ called “Presencing” that describes the process how creative leaders give birth to the future that wants to happen.

Recently I attended the first online class of Otto and his Presencing Institute. Out of the MIT he gives interactive lectures accompanied with group work with like-minded people from all over the world. I was very impressed how Otto describes 'soft' and spiritual processes in a language that “mind-people” can understand.

Otto has German roots but lives in the US and has extensively described the process and examples of Presencing in his ‘Theory U’ book. You can read the executive summary here. As illustrated below, the U stands for going down into the source with an open mind, open heart and open will, and then coming up by sensing and letting emerge visions of the future:

I have tried similar techniques in an ‘inspiration coach’ training and must say that this stuff actually works! ‘Going with the flow’ has been one of my recent mantras and plays a new major role on my work and private life. Have you made any experiences in this area?

World Economic Forum on Businnes & Climate Change

2009-02-04T02:01:00.002-05:00

"UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underscored this connection in his address. "Climate change threatens all our goals for development and social progress," he stated. "On the other hand, it also presents us with a gilt-edged opportunity. By tackling climate change head-on we can solve many of our current troubles, including the threat of global recession." The Secretary-General cited the UN Global Compact, a voluntary initiative for companies vowing to uphold social and environmental principles, as a prime example of efforts to solve simultaneously multiple problems. He called for a new phase of the program – which he dubbed Global Compact 2.0.

The key, according to Ban Ki-moon, is credibility - which Compact companies earn and maintain through annual Communication on Progress reports. Recent polls - for example the Edelman Trust Barometer - show that only a third of people in the world trust business to do the right thing: "half what it used to be," Ban Ki-moon says. ...

While few trust business now, Ban Ki-Moon points out the irony that two-thirds of the world's people "think business should be fully engaged in tackling our common problems."

From CSRWire

Spirit in Business: The Expanded Consciousness of Inspiring Leaders and Entrepreneurs

2009-01-26T12:32:00.005-05:00

Global crises such as the climate crisis, the poverty crisis or the financial crises are also “value crises” and symptoms of a “consciousness crisis”. Our motivation and capability to address such issues depends on our awareness of the bigger picture and our consciousness how we individually are linked to these issues. New leaders and entrepreneurs in the fields of Social Entrepreneurship, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability have become aware of this bigger picture. They have an expanded consciousness and followed their life-mission to be change agents and leaders in changing the world.

Change due to expanding consciousness can be seen in various academic, economic, societal and political fields. In economy, change can be seen in social and spiritual entrepreneurship, CSR and new forms of visionary and conscious leadership. In medicine, it is the trend towards holistic medicine including the growing acceptance of alternative healing. In physics, it is quantum-physics and in politics the election of Barack Obama is energizing globally.

There are many open questions: For instance, how has peace nobel-prize laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus seen potential rather poverty in Bangladesh when establishing Grameen’s micro-finance scheme? Why did Microsoft founder Bill Gates change his life mission from for-profit seeking towards fighting global illnesses? How are we transforming capitalism to make our global economy sustainable?

My thesis is that they have in common an expanded consciousness which is the foundation for extraordinary mission-motivation, leadership and achievements. What do you think?

Berlin: Becoming Europe’s new Social Entrepreneur Hub?

2008-12-23T13:56:00.007-05:00

Recently I had the chance to attend the Xmas gathering of betterplace.org in Berlin. I have blogged about them before and during this visit a new ‘scene’ of social entrepreneurs in Berlin came to my attention.

Ever since I decided to combine ‘business’ with ‘social’ some years ago I felt about lonely in Germany. Sure Ashoka has an office and there are initiatives such as start social. However, in big business cities such as Munich and Frankfurt there are still plenty of people who don’t know what CSR stands for or how sustainability can make business sense.

Therefore, it was a positive surprise to meet real people behind social business ventures in Berlin. Next to the betterplace team there were people form the Bertelsmann Foundation and social entrepreneurs form smaller, upcoming initiatives such as:

Genisis Institute: A think-tank to change charity thinking towards social business. Under the patronage of Muhammad Yunus.
Good Root: helping foundations, NGOs and social investors to track and improve social impact.

Why does Berlin have this new social entrepreneur scene? Sure, Berlin hosts the German government and the German Global Compact network but there are neither strong industries nor big employers in Berlin, if not to say eastern Germany overall. So where does the new entrepreneurial spirit come from? Maybe it is “Die Not macht erfinderisch” (A German saying meaning “If you don’t have much, you are forced to become creative”). Certainly Berlin’s openness and international flair contributed significantly to this ‘new scene’.

Many ventures are relatively new and in there start up phase. I wish them all the best and hope that traditional corporate decision makers and politicians support these valuable ventures. I am going to move to Berlin in March 2009 to write my dissertation on Responsible Tourism. Will keep you posted.

Marry Xmas and a happy new year!
Juergen

UPDATE: Also selfHUB is an interesting center of and for Social Entrepreneurs in Berlin.

Video of Project in Mali: School construction in Niamana, authentic African Village

2008-11-12T05:45:00.006-05:00

"Initsche" (hallo) and Bonjour out of the middle of Africa. After blogging about "high-flying" CSR topics, it's time to write about the "down-to-earth" development project I have dedicated most of my personal time and energy of 2008: the construction of two class-rooms in Niamana, Mali, West Africa.

Niamana is an ultra-authentic African village in rural Mali, about seven hard-rocking car hours away from the country's capital Bamako in the direction of Timbuktu. It is a place that - by Western measures - suffers extreme poverty of subsistence farming, without electricity, running water, cars etc. However, from a less materialistic and more romantic viewpoint it has its wonderful sides to it, as blogged here from my first visit.

The project is part of the Mali Initiative and includes the construction of two class-rooms to allow the education of up to 200 children per year. It is based on a needs assessment undertaken early this year showing that many hundreds of children of Niamana and surrounding villages have no chance to receive any proper education. Education is key for a better future including finding a job and caring about your family's health etc.

"Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world" (Nelson Mandela)

At the core of the project is the friendship established between Malian community leader Youchaou Traore and the Mali Initiative. Youchaou has been raised in Niamana and thanks to this, international visitors from Australia and Germany have had incredible authentic immersion experiences in the village. Friendships and hospitality are very important for Malians which means that we always been received much more as friends than as faceless aid-donors.

Youchaou and Niamana's mayor Karim Traore are both visionaries with aspirations. They motivate communities and give them confidence and guidance to unleash their potential for positive development. A key success factor of the Mali Initiative is to partner with exactly these kind of visionaries and leaders who translate their talk into action. This approach could be termed "aspiration-based" development. It is insofar different from needs-based or rights-based development that it's a paradigm change of seeing people with potential to develop themself seizes rather beneficiaries receiving aid. Therefore, this approach leverages opportunistic and entrepreneurial elements from Social Entrepreneurs.

"A vision is the right balance between realism and utopia. It is the just achievable"

During my stay in Niamana in Jan. 2008 (as described here) I got the vision to make Niamana's dream of two new come true with support raised in my home country Germany. I was inspired by the amazing support by Australians around Elise Klein and was sure to be able to awaken (com)passion with friends, former colleagues, businesses and organizations back home. Soon some friends raised their hand to found a charitable organization. We organized event, spread the word, got press coverage and made the target of raising the required 25000€ in time.

Currently, I am in Niamana together with two German supporters. The first concrete-brick was laid on 24th October 2008 and construction is fast under-way. 250 people and several donkey-carts helped to remove the rubble of the mud-bricks of the old, decayed rooms. Construction will be finished soon in November and then up to 200 children each year will have the chance to for a better future.

Compared to my corporate jobs at global players or my time at the UN Global Compact this might appear as a tiny grass-roots project. However, driving a project end-to-end and seeing real impact on the ground has been a great experience. I am looking forward to combine Social Entrepreneurial approaches to link Niamana with international visitors.

If you want to support this project or visit Mali email me at juergen.nagler@mali-initiative.org. See photos of Niamana construction or watch the following video:

Book "The Difference Makers": Jane Nelson from Harvard’s CSR Initiative and more

2008-10-13T04:23:00.006-04:00

Africa-born Jane Nelson is an inspiring difference make in the field of Corporate Responsibility. Through the friend of a friend (the power of networking) I got connected to her allowing me to ask for some advice which I am sharing below. Currently, Jane is the Director of the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and she is involved in numerous other organisations.

Recently, Jane also got featured in the book “The Difference Makers” published at Greenleaf Publishing (leading in CSR and sustainability books). The book tells the stories of how social and institutional entrepreneurs created the Corporate Responsibility movement. It’s an inspiring read to see how the personal stories formed these leaders’ life paths and allows the reader to identify with them.

Author Sandra Waddock uses an interesting style interweaving the personal background of 23 leaders with how they came about to create their organizations and initiatives including the UN Global Compact, Global Reporting Initiative, Millennium Development Goals, SustainAbility, Human Rights Watch and many more.

In the case of Jane, she grew up in South-Africa and Zimbabwe surrounded by rural poverty and racial tension. Early she developed a strong passion around issues of peace, non-violence, and sustainability. After Masters at Oxford she worked for Citibank and took a Sabbatical to attend the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. She never returned to the bank but then work for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in Africa and went onto her Corporate Responsibility career.

Despite being an eminent person, Jane has remained humble and doesn’t overlook simple things. Jane realized “that that the poorest people in terms of income have an incredible spirit, even though they lack a lot materially and they also have major problem-solving skills and entrepreneurial skills”, an experience that I can confirm form village visits in Mali.

Are you interested in making a difference in the field of Corporate Responsibility?

Jane believes that “there’s an increasingly essential role for social entrepreneurs to serve as bridge builders between large companies, foundations, governments, and communities in tackling social problems. There is a new kind of leadership required…”

When I asked her how someone young and passionate can make a difference, she responded with these five main areas as key options:

Key Intermediaries: such as WBCSD, ILF, WEF
Major Corporations
Development Agencies and UN: such as World Bank, DFID, GTZ
Academic Institutions and Think Thanks
Consulting Firms: such as McKinsey, BCG, Dalberg

Of course, as bridge builders, it's also our task to form new partnerships between these areas and all kinds of innivative hybrids. Finally, she encourages all of us to follow our heart and passion by saying “be an explorer!”

Unleashing the Potential for Sustainable Development in Mali

2008-09-11T05:22:00.009-04:00

Thanks to a recommendation from my friend Mike Smith I got interviewed by A Developed World:

Juergen Nagler was enjoying successful career in the business world a couple of years ago when he was almost killed in a motorbike accident. He realized then that he wanted to do something more meaningful than sitting in an office cubicle and contributing to a corporation’s bottom line.

He started the Mali Initiative in February 2007 with a young Australian Elise Klein and a Malian community leader Youchaou Traore. Together, they have built a not-for-profit network of committed individuals and organizations to provide access to quality education in Mali, in order to break the cycle of poverty.

Education in Mali
Mali is one of the least developed countries in the world according to the United Nations, which estimates that its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita was only US$1000 in 2007. Its young population of 12 million people, of which 50% are under the age of 15, comprises of Muslims, Christians and other ethnic groups living side-by-side. However, the lack of access to quality education have left the people in Mali felt disempowered.

Juergen explains: “The challenges in Mali were almost incomprehensible for a Western-mind: 7 out of 10 people in Mali cannot read and write, poverty and unemployment are dire and the country is dependent of foreign aid.”

Juergen strongly advocates Nelson Mandela’s belief that education is "the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world”. Education can enable a child to improve his chances of finding a job and providing for his family, to exercise his choices as an inform citizen living in a democracy, and then to finally pass on the baton to all future generations.

Local networks, local knowledge
The Mali Initiative takes a unique approach by developing local networks and partnerships and using local knowledge to build their projects focused on education and empowerment. All projects are lead by locals in order to create sustainable results. By taking time to understand local aspirations, Juergen and his team has been able to mobilize the community and use their raw energy and motivation to drive the projects.

Since 2004, they have raised $200,000, which have gone towards multiple projects such as launching a micro-credit organization for women,establishing a health center, getting street children to learn French, and establishing the Youchaou's School to provide quality primary and secondary education in Kalabacoro (on the outskirts of Mali’s capital Bamako). The school is considered one of the best in Mali and will be used for teacher-training in partnership with local representatives of the Ministry of Education.

"One World"
Backpacking through Africa and South America, it dawned on Juergen that the divide between the West and the rest of the world was just an illusion. “At the core, aren’t we all striving for our families to live in peace with proper shelter, education and healthcare?” This belief has fueled his commitment to work towards healing the divisions and creating "one world".

“Connecting heart to heart with the people of Niamana, a rural community in Mali without roads, electricity or running water, has made my sacrifices worthwhile,” he said.
Juergen’s vision for the Mali Initiative is to develop “a million of projects rather million-dollar-projects” that are sustainable and provide opportunities for the locals. He believes that everyone has the responsibility, in any decision they make, to direct their energies towards positive social change.

Make it Happen!
The Mali Initiative is registered as a charitable organization in Mali, Australia and Germany. They are looking to build an arm of the organization in the United States. If the initiative resonates with you and you would like to bring this organization to North America please contact Juergen Nagler at juergen.nagler@mali-initiative.org.

There are also other ways to get involved:
Participate in the Mali Initiative’s fundraising events
Join one of their Goodwill Trips to Mali
Volunteer in Mali or from home- Volunteers that speak French are definitely an asset to spreading the message and volunteering in Mali.
Donate to the cause:
-US$100 buys learning materials -US$200 a year of street child education sponsorship -US$2000 buys furniture and teachings aids for a classroom -US$7,000 secures a year of street children education for 35 kids -US$13,000 builds a classroom

For more information see: http://www.mali-initiative.org/

A Developed World is "an action-oriented social publication that uncovers the stories behind the work of social entrepreneurs and visionary leaders, who are changing lives around the world": http://adevelopedworld.com/

Refreshing Reflections on Ethics and the Process of Making Things Happen

2008-09-02T07:41:00.009-04:00

Max Oliva has refreshing reflections on ethics on the CSR blog of the Instituto de Empresa (IE). Max and I have blogged a lot about the "down to business" side of CSR but this article is different because it goes beyond ethical reflections and adds "the process of making things happen". It stimulates questions like 'should I try to make a difference?'.

I find this highly interesting because it's thought-provoking to bring a fresh awareness of how we actually have the potential to bring change (rather focusing too much on the obstacles). Can you think global and go for new ideas? Have you unleashed your potential yet? These types of questions are touched by the statements below and the ones I am personally working on. I hope you, too, find the article inspiring:

"If ethics is the choice for the common good (global reach and including all living beings):

Deciding to act small because it is more comfortable… is not ethical;
Deciding to hold back (your proposals, ideas and actions) because you don’t want to go against “the group” … is not ethical;
Deciding to doing the possible instead of trying to make the impossible possible… is not ethical;
Deciding to use just a part of your potential (to “save” it for self interest purposes) … is not ethical;
Deciding not to act, to stay silent, letting fear stay in the way… is not ethical;
Deciding to conform to the “letter of the law” instead of persisting on the path defined by the “spirit of the law” … is not ethical;
Deciding not to try because nobody tried it before… is not ethical;
Deciding not to pursue the perfection and conform to what seems “negotiable” … is not ethical;
Deciding to postpone bold actions again and again “waiting for the right moment” … is not ethical;
Deciding to “play the game” and pretend that you are not seeing the manipulations underway… is not ethical;
Deciding to live in the realm of ideas, diagnosis and theories instead of taking the risks and going for actions… is not ethical;
Deciding to act only when all is scientifically proven, even when the truth is self evident… is not ethical;
Deciding to reject all radically creative ideas (yours including) when the “traditional-not-so-radical ideas” have not been working… is not ethical;
Deciding to reject every proposal that looks “idealistic” or “utopic” … is not ethical"

From: Corporate Responsibility Blog, IE

Why focussing on "the End of Poverty" reinforces Poverty - Energy follows Attention, so let's aim for Sustainable Prosperity

2008-08-24T02:54:00.011-04:00

Some years ago my attention in a bookstore was caught be Jeffrey Sachs' book titled "The End of Poverty". Later at the UN I even had the chance to meet Jeffrey Sachs and his intelligence and passion are amazing. Doesn't ending poverty sound like a cause worth fighting for? It certainly does, the real question is how to achieve this.

Other passionate and intelligent people, such as William Easterly, strongly disagree with Sachs' grand UN-plan. Millennium Development Goal 8 "Develop a global partnership for development " goes into the right direction Easterly has a point. He argues that one big plan for so many different cultures and countries have never worked and in fact have done damage. In fact when you study international development there are no clear examples where 'aid' actually really helped a country to develop. In Mali I even have found cases where aid reinforced dependency and created a corrupt aid system.

Energy follows attention, this means that by focussing on poverty and pitying the 'poor' Africans (for example) and trying to 'help' them, it is actually contributed to reinforce the situation. The more we try to fix poverty the more energy it gets... why not talking about potential and sustainable prosperity?

I have blogged many times about examples how CSR and especially Social Entrepreneurship can contribute to sustainable prosperity, rather ending poverty. These concepts tap into potential, they unleashing entrepreneurship and responsible business pratcices by an increased awareness that there is 'more' than profit or poverty only. For example, I am sure Yunus is not running around in Bangladesh pitying 'the poor' but has been their potential and unleashed it with microcredits.

Fundamental problems such as poverty can not be solved until a shift in awareness helps our consciousness to go beyond the we-versus-them paradigm. We need to see the bigger picture, i.e. that we are all connected and therefore part of one whole (call it the planet, the universe etc.). Peter Senge, Otto Scharmer et. al., leaders in organizational learning, describe this well in their book Presence (more on this in a separate article).

Finally, there are certainly enough resources on earth to happily feed the planet's population. Why do 20% of the world population need 80% of the world's resources? So it's not about ending poverty but about sustainable prosperity for all. How can it be achieved? With real partnership with 'aspiring countries', it's about fair trade (hallo Doha round), it's about sharing and collaboration, it's about expanding consciousness. So let's give energy towards sustainable prosperity which will end poverty along the way.

As Ghandi put it: "The earth has enough for man’s need but not for man’s greed"

What do You think?

Copenhagen Consesus Ranking: Doing Good Efficiently

2008-08-05T12:33:00.003-04:00

Recently a group of five Nobel laureates and three distinguished economists came together to answer the question: "if we had, say, an extra $75 billion to spend, where could we achieve the most good?"

For each issue examined, thy focused on benefits relative to costs. The latest Doha round just collapsed (again) and some are happy... but it ranked second in this. So what's #1? Climate Change? Nope that came last. Micronutrients is their #1.

In summary, their top-ranked solutions were in areas that we don’t hear much about, "unglamorous interventions". Certainly inspiration to look deeper... Read on here and their ranking below.

Copenhagen Consesus Ranking 2008:
1. Micronutrient supplements for children (vitamin A and zinc)
2. The Doha development agenda
3. Micronutrient fortification (iron and salt iodization)
4. Expanded immunization coverage for children
5. Improving agricultural technology
6. De-worming and other school-based nutrition programs
7. Lowering the price of schooling
8. Increasing and improving girls’ education by paying mothers to send them to school
9. Community-based nutrition promotion
10. Support for women’s reproductive role to reduce gender inequity
11. Low-cost heart attack drugs for developing countries
12. Malaria prevention and treatment
13. Tuberculosis identification and treatment
14. R&D in low-carbon energy technologies to combat global warming
15. Bio-sand filters for household water treatment
16. Pumps and wells to improve water coverage in rural areas
17. Conditional cash transfers to increase the number of children receiving education
18. Peace-keeping in post-conflict situations to reduce the risk of civil war
19. HIV “combination” prevention package
20. Total sanitation campaign to reduce the number of “open defecation” areas
21. Improving surgical capacity at district hospital level
22. Microfinance to women to reduce gender inequity
23. Improved stove intervention to reduce indoor air pollution
24. Large, multipurpose dam in Africa to improve water coverage
25. Inspection and maintenance of diesel vehicles to reduce outdoor air pollution
26. Low-sulfur diesel for urban road vehicles to reduce outdoor air pollution
27. Diesel vehicle particulate control technology to reduce outdoor air pollution
28. Tobacco tax to reduce heart disease and cancer
29. A package of R&D and mitigation to combat global warming
30. Mitigation of carbon emissions to reduce global warming

UN Report: Doing Good Business with the Poor

2008-07-02T08:38:00.005-04:00

The United Nations Development Program just released a potentially groundbreaking new report on how businesses may include the global poor as potential customers--and how the global poor might benefit from collaborating more closely with businesses. Creating Value for All: Strategies for Doing Business with the Poor is part of UNDP's Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative and explores 50 case studies of local and international companies successfully integrating the poor into their business models to "create wealth, spur growth and spark social change." Here are a few highlights from the report:

* In Colombia, the Juan Valdez company is offering higher, more stable incomes to over 500,000 smallscale coffee growers.

* In China, Tsinghua Tongfang markets computers loaded with distance education software to the rural population both for primary and middle school education and for minority language education.

* In the Russia Federation, over 80 percent of Forus Bank's clients are women, most of them in retail businesses; in 2006 the bank helped create 4,250 direct
and 19,950 indirect jobs.

* In Senegal, healthcare organization Pésinet provided an early warning method for monitoring the health conditions of children under age five from low-income
families--the infant mortality rate fell by more than 90 percent between 2002 and 2005--from 120 per 1,000 live births to 8.

* In Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, the liquefied petroleum gas supplied by VidaGas improves the sterility of medical instruments used to deliver babies.

* In the Philippines, Smart, whose network covers over 99 percent of the population, offers low-cost, prepaid mobile phone airtime cards and eases financial transactions through the option to send remittances using short messaging service (SMS) technology. In the full report there are many, many more examples of companies helping countries reach the millennium development goals while not sacrificing on the bottom line.

Cross-posted from UN Dispatch

Mali Initiative launches Website

2008-06-18T06:00:00.006-04:00

The Mali Initiative has been busy raising funds to build two schools in rural Mali. The Australian team just had their annual "Mali breakfast" with the record number of 400 people!
Check out the Mali Initiative's website: www.mali-initiative.org

The German team has been busy setting up their organization and is organizing the first German Mali Initiative event in Munich on 1st July 2008. Malian ambassador Excellence Diakité is coming from Berlin and Munich's mayor Hep Monatzeder is patron. If you speak German this is your version: www.sterntaler.org

Also you can read this article in the Munich Merkur "Vom Siemensianer zum Schulenbauer" (leaving Siemens to build school):

Mali Ambassador for Germany supports the Mali Initiative

2008-05-20T05:56:00.005-04:00

Earlier in May I met with Malian Ambassador for Germany Madame Fatoumata Siré Diakité in Berlin. Objective was to seek her support for the German information and fundraising activities of the Mali Initiative (MI). Together with other committed people in Munich and Berlin I have founded the MI's carrier organization 'Sterntaler für Afrika e.V.'. It's inspired by brothers Grimm fairy tale Sterntaler, in English The Star Money.

The meeting with her "excellence" went very well, thankfully she looked over my faux pas when not addressing her with "excellence" as the diplomatic protocol would require. Fortunately, she is down to earth and hands on. She herself has founded a Kindergarten in Kalabancoro, the same are where the Mali Initiative runs a school and a street kid education program.

I presented her with the Mali Initiative's activities, and she was pleased that projects where successfully delivered over the last 4 years. When I mentioned that - next to building schools - I have a "crazy idea" to add, she corrected me by saying this is a dream and dreams are there to make them happen... what a woman:

„I fully support the Mali Initiative's work of improving access to quality education in Mali. Let the Mali Initiative be a bridge between the people of Germany and Mali. I join you in your dream of bringing a modern University of Timbuktu to life”.

The best is that Madame Diakité will fly in from Berlin to give the key-note speech at our photo and information event on 1st July in Munich! So if you are in Munich or know someone there, join in!

Social Intrapreneurs Promote Sustainability From Within Corporations

2008-05-06T02:07:00.000-04:00

Another formula: Social Entrepreneur (SE) + (within) Corporation (MNC) = Social Intrapreneur (SI).
I have wondered for long where the cross-road of these two concepts is and the following article from CSR Wire hits the nail on it head:

An Inside Job: Social Intrapreneurs Promote Sustainability From Within Corporations

In 1978, Gifford and Elizabeth Pinchot coined the term "intrapreneur" to describe innovators who create change from within corporations, obviously riffing on the term "entrepreneur." Almost a quarter century later, the Pinchots co-founded ... the first MBA program to integrate sustainability at its core. This bold move exemplifies "social entrepreneurship," a current buzzword for applying innovation to promote social and environmental sustainability that is the focus of a new book (The Power of Unreasonable People co-authored by SustainAbility founder John Elkington), a foundation (The Skoll Foundation established by eBay's first president Jeff Skoll), and annual awards (Fast Company Social Capitalist Awards.)

Now, a buzz is building around social intrapreneurship. John Elkington just co-authored a report (sponsored by the Skoll Foundation and others) entitled The Social Intrapreneurs: A Field Guide for Corporate Changemakers. The guide profiles prominent social intrapreneurs from multinational corporations such as Unilever, Nike, BP, Cemex, Coca-Cola, Dow, and Shell, among others. It also proposes a playful taxonomy of tactical and strategic characteristics: the stamina of a donkey, a "lone" wolf, a giraffe with head in the clouds and feet on the ground, and beaver who transforms landscapes...

Thanks to CSR Wire. Read on with SustainAbility's Report.

CSR a necessity - not a choice

2008-04-23T11:25:00.004-04:00

Is the discussion about if to do CSR over? Another 'yes' says the latest Grant Thornton International Business Report. Now the main question is how to implement CSR policies?

While most studies I have read so far have a 'one size fits all approach' regarding company size, Grant Thornton have made a useful distinction between a) privately held businesses (PHBs) and b) multinational companies (MNCs):

"PHBs are ‘the economic engine of the world’" and they are adopting CSR policies "not just to save the planet but because they are having to in order to survive and prosper."
"For privately held businesses, the pressure to act can stem from the demands of the supply chain, with large multinationals increasingly demanding that suppliers conform to ethical business practices."
In comparison to PHBs, large multinationals have a far more powerful stakeholder group to consider and have, in many cases, adopted an holistic approach to CSR."

Top CSR drivers for PHBs identified are:

In summary, "while ‘saving the planet’ is a concern, by far and away the main drivers for action on corporate social responsibility are recruitment and retention issues followed closely by cost management."

To me this looks pretty pragmatic but also reactive. It appears that these comapnies are lead by their staff rather their CEOs. Where is forward-looking leadership? Where innovation for new products and markets?

Social Entrepreneurs + Web 2.0 = betterplace.org

2008-03-11T06:54:00.017-04:00

What do you get if you combine the functionality of web 2.0 with the objectives of social entrepreneurship? Probably a platform similar than betterplace.org.

I have blogged about social entrepreneurs several times. Using business acumen (economic development) for the public good (social development) is a hybrid I have centered my interest on for years. Imagine you add the outreach potential and functionalities of web 2.0 using the internet as a platform for web-based communities. The outcome might be a social platform to make the world a better place: connecting people who want to help with people who need support.

How does betterplace work?
Signing up is as simple as onto Facebook or match.com, however, at the center of this platform are development projects. On the one side, individuals and organization post projects which they are looking for support, while on the other side, individuals and companies offer their donations or in-kind contribution (see illustration below). A bit like match.com but rather a computer matching you, you are selecting suitable projects yourself and, rather going for a blind date, you can check the projects through a 'web of trust'.

The Web of Trust
How do you know which projects and project carriers are trustworthy? Trying to trust big brand names such as UNICEF has its limitations. Many local projects are directly posted by small organizations from developing countries. Therefore, people you know who have visited the project or have a relationship with the project carriers help to build up a trust relationship with the project. It is a bit like business networking where you would only recommend someone you trust. Below an illustration.

New generation of Social Entrepreneurs
A few months ago I met betterplace' CEO Till Behnke in Berlin and it is great to see a new generation of young social entrepreneurs emerging in a 'conservative' country such as Germany. Till, for example, left his well paid job at DaimlerChrysler Financial Services to set-up betterplace. He uses business skills not just to develop the platform but also to link it to Corporate Social Responsibiliy (CSR) by offering betterplace as a platform to companies allowing them to integrate their employees into the corporation's CSR activities.

Furthermore, recently the co-founders of betterplace visited us in Mali on their travels around the world meeting searchers and featuring projects. Joana Breidenbach is very active on the betterplace.blog and a helping the Mali Initiative a lot to spread the word, especially in Germany where we work on a joint event in May.

What are the benefits of betterplace' approach?

New ways in development are much needed as success stories of the last 60 years are hard to come by. Moreover, the aid system is full of fundamental flaws as I have observed in Mali and blogged about in "How corrupt is the development aid system?"
William Easterly, author of White Man's Burden, states, a platform such as betterplace "would bypass the narrow administrative funnel in the recipient government... it would avoid the strategic manipulation of aid by donor governments and the corruption of recipient governments."
Ultimately, my field observations in Mali and at renowed Ugandan Rural Development and Training Programme (URDT) support the argument that the so-called 'poor people' are key to their own development (rather the patronizing and often dependency-increasing efforts of us 'whities'). As Easterly states "Only the self-reliant efforts of poor people and poor societies themselves can end poverty, borrowing ideas and institutions from the West when is suits them to do so".
Therefore, it is great to see how different social entrepreneurs working together, from the betterplace founders in the heart of Europe to local searchers such as Youchaou Traore, the Mali Initiative's social entrepreneur in Africa.

Read an article about betterplace in Die Zeit (in German).
Check out the Mali Initiative's projects on betterplace.

How corrupt is the development aid system? Eye-openers from Mali

2008-01-26T08:48:00.001-05:00

I have to share a few secrets with you from the reality of the 4^th poorest country in the world which is also one of the highest receivers of development aid: Mali. This is not about the lovely people of Mali but about the development aid system which Mali and so many donors are part of. Studying development is great to set-up up the theoretical framework but seeing the reality on the ground is a different story. Read four case stories from the field:

1. World Bank pump diverts community water

My first eye opener was already on the way from the airport into Bamako, Mali’s capital. We passed a recently built water pump on our way into the commune Kalabancoro where our Mali Initiative’s school is and where we lived the last two month. The water pump is a neat little building surrounded by a fence, built by the government and financed by the World Bank. It pumps water out of the ground for the more central suburbs of Bamako – a great idea if only the pump would not dry out the water resource of the population-increasing commune Kalabancoro.

Thanks to this project, now there flows no more water out of the tabs of many people in Kalabancoro and our school. Instead, water needs to be carried in containers from a more distant well.

Has the World Bank still not implemented sustainability and environmental impact assessments?

2. Top-down Aid Money does not reach Bottom

Having tried to source money for the Mali Initiative I have spoken to many development agencies of the big international donors, including Germany, Netherlands, Canada etc. Result: Frustrating. Their approach has shifted from working with grass-roots NGOs (the civil society) to “sector-budget support” of the government. This basically means billions of tax-payers’ Euros and Dollars are dropped into the Ministers’ pockets and hope that the money will be passed down the pyramid until it reaches the community level. Has this “trickle-down effect” happened in the last 10 years? Unfortunately: No. Any signs that the poor will benefit any time soon? Also, nope.

The aid money gets lost somewhere in the Bermuda triangle between Ministers, regions and commune. This was mentioned to me by the people who are handing out the aid money. Let me illustrate the effects of this: We met the mayor of Kalabancoro (with a good reputation, in contrast to many corrupt government officials). The commune would need many more schools with about thousand of children having no access to any education. The commune made its need clear to the Ministry of Education. The ministry promised money to build 13 schools which was later reduced to 3. Unfortunately, not even the money for the 3 schools has trickled down yet.

Have the donors not yet heard that the “trickle down” effect might be myth? Have they not read William Easterly’s fascinating and important book “The White Man’s Burden”?

4. The Aid Game and the dependent Patient

The donors and recipients are part of an interesting political system. Both play ‘the game’ because there is something in for them and no one gets in trouble due to lack of accountability. The only problem is that the main objective of development to help the poor people is completely missed. Some people in corrupt elites divert money into their own pockets and the donors will not admit that tax-payers money is wasted. The development aid experts I spoke to are all reasonable people which happily tell the truth “off-the record”. They continue to play the game because it would be political incorrect to speak out and criticize the current aid system of donor countries and their recipient counterparts.

A big donor’s director summarized the picture of the development aid game picturesque: Mali is like a patient in a comfortable intensive care bed in a hospital. It is in a comfortable position where it receives care from outside and is not forced to address its own problems itself. They can accept or deny treatments because doctors (donors) queue up.

5. Cooking the Numbers: Quantity versus Quality in Education

During the analysis of the education sector we found some interesting cases of statistical manipulation. Last month we visited the rural communes of Niamana and Konosso, near Mali’s second largest city Segou, for our needs assessment. Speaking to the mayor, school directors and teachers revealed that 99% pass the test between primary and secondary school. We were instantly impressed with the number because we wanted to use the result of this official government test as a benchmark for our schools in Kalabancoro.

The catch is that the numbers are cooked to appease the donors’ statistics. When asked how many children after the primary school (in Mali grade 1-6) can speak French (because secondary school is in French) the answer was "meager 5%"! This speaks a lot for the challenges of education quality due to lack of means (due to missing class-rooms, too big class-sizes, lack of teacher and educational material etc.). But sadly this also confirms the saying “never trust statistics that you have not forged yourself”. The government lowered the test so much and gave instructions to schools to let everyone pass the test, so Mali would be able to show a high secondary school-enrollment rate.

When I then saw this World Bank success story about Mali, I wondered when the World Bank staff writing this have actually been on their last field visit?

So what is the way forward? “Find solutions - not problems”

There are certainly no simple answers or quick fixes to the underlying problems of these case stories but there is a way forward. I do not want to become a never-ending criticizer finding problems but be a pathfinder for solutions. Firstly, we need to analyse and learn what in development has (and has not!) worked in the last decades. I haven’t found any better book that The White Man’s Burden doing so.

Secondly, we have to work with what is and therefore my personal focus lies on education in Mali and social entrepreneurship as a model for the Mali Initiative. Education because educated children will find solutions to their countries challenges, will be able to check their government, find and create jobs etc. Social Entrepreneurship because we use entrepreneurial approaches searching for local solutions rather vague utopian plans. Our objectives and progress are tangible and measurable. Being inspired by Peace Nobel Prize Winner Prof. Yunus and the Microfinance concept, we aim to find local micro solutions that we then facilitate to scale up.

Finally, we also hope that the big donors read the White Men’s Burden (all donors I spoke to, have not yet!) and realize that working with smart NGOs on the ground can provide them with feedback and solutions. Then the West’s taxpayers billions of aid will be spent more efficiently on real development to alleviate extreme poverty.

The Mali Initiative launches to make Change through Education

2008-01-04T11:08:00.002-05:00

(5 January 2008 Bamako, Mali) - The Mali Initiative, a not-for-profit network of committed individuals around the world aspiring to make change through education launches with the start of 2008. Nelson Mandela said “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world” stressing the fundamental importance of education for development.

Therefore, the initiative aims at improving the education of children to become an active generation for a better future. It facilitates global partnerships for local development projects which communities drive and own themselves. It focuses on improving access to quality education for the children in Mali where around half of all children have no access to schools at all.

Activities include facilitating the construction of new class-rooms as well as significant improvement and equipping of existing class-rooms, enabling an effective learning environment. Furthermore, teacher training and ongoing support is provided empowering teachers to use engaging and effective techniques, including laptop computers.

Education is seen as a priority at national and village levels in Mali, with good reason. Many children have no access to any schools at all. Class-rooms hold up to over 100 children where most children do not have tables and chairs or books and pens. With 81% illiteracy rate, 4 out of 5 adults can not read and write, according to UN data.

“How shall you learn or find a job without being able to read and write? Education holds the key for sustainable development in action, you see the difference child per child” says Youchaou Traore, Director of the non-governmental organization (NGO) that has been officially registered to undertake activities in Mali.

Youchaou was a street-child himself, without access to education for many years. He decided to leave the begging in the streets behind him when he got the chance to go to school where he learned enthusiastically. Education pulled him out of poverty and allowed him to become a renowned translator for international organizations. Now he runs the flagship school of the Mali Initiative in Bamako.

“A world is possible where all children have access to quality education” believes Elise Klein, Managing Director. “We know it is a long way but bringing together local communities in Mali with passionate individuals from Australia and around the world is powerful. Step by step we have been building friendships, developed class-rooms and given children the gift of education” she continues.

The Mali Initiative is based on the success of a project by young people and Malian Youchaou Traore who have fundraised and invested over 200.00$ since 2004. The pilot school in the outskirts of Mali’s capital Bamako has been expanded to now 12 class-rooms, a library and computer-room. The school is a quality-reference and considered one of the best in the country. Furthermore, a pilot with street children successfully educates these marginalized children.

By 2020 the Mali Initiative wants to have developed 1.000 class-rooms, trained 10.000 teachers and have facilitated the education of over 500.000 children in Mali. “Young people are the future. We are going to need a lot support to scale up the successful pilot schools. Individuals and organizations, please join the initiative!” calls Elise Klein, Managing Director who also is a UN Youth Spokesperson.

“Help is especially needed in raising funds for additional class-rooms which each costs up to 13.000$ in poor but expensive Mali. Adopt a class-room which is more than a donation, you get a great social return on investment: enabling quality education of 30 children per year” says Program Director Juergen Nagler.

So far the growing network consists of some dozens of committed individuals bringing in their passion, skills and time; Corporate supporters include National Australia Bank and Telstra. Express your interest to support the Mali Initiative by emailing to elise.klein@mali-initiative.org. For more information see www.reachmaliproject.org.au. To make a donation use PayPal, please.

About the Mali Initiative

The Mali Initiative is a not-for-profit network of committed individuals around the world aspiring to make change. We facilitate global partnerships for local development projects which communities drive and own themselves. We focus on improving access to quality education for the children in Mali. A non-governmental organization (NGO) is officially registered in Mali. Tax-deductibility status is also given in Australia through the Reach Foundation. Fore more information, please visit www.reachmaliproject.org.au.

About Mali

Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the 4th poorest country in the world with over 70% living of less than 1$ per day according to UN data. It has a population of 12 million people, of which over the half is under 15 years old and 81% are unable to read and write. However, Mali is also a positive example for African countries and the world as a stable democracy where Muslims, Christians and different ethnic groups live peacefully together.

Where would You be without Education? - A Journey into an African village

2007-12-27T07:42:00.000-05:00

Let me take you onto a journey...

You fly into Africa... to Bamako, the capital of Mali. You leave the airport, board a rusty old Mercedes minibus which was dumped in Europe probably 15 years ago. The five hour journey takes you through red dust countryside and huts along the road. Whenever your vehicle stops woman who wait along the road in front of their huts out of handmade mud bricks, come quickly to your window trying to make a sell to generate some income. The journey continues sharing the road with even older trucks, people on rooftops, donkey-carts and Malians walking from village to village.

After hours witnessing some of Mali's rural life along one of its main roads between Bamako and Segou, you leave the (hardly) paved road and turn right into the Sahel, the semi-desert sister of the Sahara. There is no more maverick-dangerous traffic, no overloaded trucks or broken down cars; in fact there is no more motorised traffic at all. Farmers, too poor and uneducated to use advanced tools or fertilizers, are trying to make the best out of the meager land. Currently it is the "season of plenty" which means the soils have recently delivered harvests but how must it be to be here in the "hungry season" when there is no water and no food?

You arrive in the village Niamana. As soon as kids spot the vehicle (remember, no cars) they get very excited which quadruples when then see "tibbaboo". This is the friendly word in Bambara, the most widely spoken language in Mali, for white people. The kids scream loud due to excitement with an heart touching smile on their face. You arrive at Youchau's family's house. Niamana is inspiring, kind of sobering. Imagine you strip away the "matrix" of our busy life-style full of gadgets, information overload with TV and daily swamp of emails being always connected. No water coming from tap (there is a well) and no electricity (there is a solar panel powering a lamp at night) and no mobile phone reception (there is one landline). You feel like being transferred into a village 100 years ago, start feeling settled into an extremely poor yet friendly community.

The poverty bothers you and you start thinking how you could make a difference (next of being an attraction to the kids). A happy young kid comes up to you and when he smiles at you you feel happy and smile back. Amadou is a typical rural Malian kid. Although being 10 years old he looks much smaller due to not getting enough good food. You learn that he talks 5km each morning to get to school. There he squeezes himself into a small, old class-room together with 100 other kids. Most of the kids don't find a table and almost none of them has something to write. Many kids are hungry which makes learning even harder. You identify yourself with Amadou and ask yourself "could I have learned under these conditions?" You learn that 4 out of 5 people can not read or write. Teaching facilities are so basic, classrooms missing and overfilled that hundreds of the village's kids have no chance to go to school at all.

However, there is hope: Elders, teachers and families of the community see education as the key to provide their children with the chance of a better future. They free their kids from work in the fields or households, they try to safe money to be able to pay for the teachers' salary. You think of Amadou and the hundreds of kids without a chance to receive education. You imagine how the the next generation of this country could develop through education. You remember that, although school was not always fun for you, it allowed you to read your favorite books, to learn, to study, to vote, to get your jobs... Where would You be without Education?

Happy new year!
Elise, Youchaou and Juergen

PS: The Mali Initiative works to improve the education of children in Mali. Get involved. For more information see http://www.reachmaliproject.org.au/.
PPS: For more photos see http://www.flickr.com/jjnagler/tags/mali/show

Bonjour from Bamako - new photos

2007-12-16T03:28:00.000-05:00

Bamako is super diverse and intense... We are working hard on the Mali Initiative...
New photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjnagler/tags/mali/show/

Stay tuned...
Elise and Juergen

Welcome to Mali! How would it feel so save a life?

2007-12-04T10:30:00.000-05:00

Here comes the first update out of Mali! We arrived safely a couple of days ago when our friend Youchaou picked us up from the airport. We had our first Africa experience in Nairobi when Kenyan Air told us that they we would have to fly without our luggage from Nairobi to Bamako because instead of luggage they'd carry fuel! After lengthy discussions we personally took care that the luggage comes on board with us.

Mali is a very interesting country! Despite having travelled to very poor places like India, Bolivia and some shantytowns in South Africa, I am still having a culture shock. We stay in a suburb of the capital Bamako and poverty is shocking. Roads are dust tracks, instead of flowers there is rubbish, houses have no colour and children have nothing to eat. But so little this people have in materialistic wealth, the more they have in smiles and kindness. Everyone is greeted in the street, family matters a great deal, meals are taken together and people help out each other.

Having a business background I felt quite frustrated and apathetic because I couldn't hardly see anything working (no wonder that so many people sit back and say nothing can be done). But then when I was sitting down with some street children it became clear that it is our responsibility to do at least what we can do. These street children are sent to beg in the streets, have had nothing to eat and no chance to receive any education. They are called "lost boys" out of a reason. But when they got fed yesterday at Youchaou's house I received the most heart touching smiles when I showed them digital pictures of them making funny postures!

This street children also receive some education from Youchaou's NGO we are supporting. This is such a chance for us to make a difference. We can safe lifes with every effort we make. This is not some fluffy fluffy pastime... imagine you have the chance to safe a life, will you pick up this call? We, a bunch of young people incl. Elise, Tomas, myself and more, are working to grow the NGO, raise funds and link directly to community development projects here in Mali on the ground. Results? Instantaneously!

Beware, this is not just making a quick donation... connecting to these kind people might change your life. There is also a lot to learn about humanity for us. Interested to join in? Email me!

For more photos see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjnagler/tags/mali/show/
For more info visit: http://www.reachmaliproject.org.au/
Watch the original Mali video: http://www.business4good.org/2007/04/blog-post.htm

WBCSD: New publication "Doing Business with the World"

2007-11-19T17:18:00.000-05:00

The development focus area of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) released a new flagship publication "Doing Business with the World - The new role of corporate leadership in global development".

The WBCSD's development focus area's objectives are:

Raise awareness of the business contribution to development, helping business and non-business stakeholders understand what is possible by providing case studies, guides and tools that advance our understanding of development challenges and opportunities;
Advocate for change by working collaboratively with multiple stakeholders to create a more enabling business environment and seek synergies between official development assistance (ODA) and foreign direct investment (FDI);
Act by working with our members, Regional Network partners and other stakeholders to broker new business ventures that are both good business and good for development.

The publication gives a very good introduction of the area of business and development working together. From a Marketing perspective (I still have this in my blood) it's a great peace, thouroghly researched information presented with plenty of graphs etc. From a more critical development perspective someone could say "all great talk... what's the real action?" I see it as a necessary stepping stone to bridge the gap between business activities and development requirements such as environmental protection, poverty reduction etc. What'syour take on it?

An interesting quote summing up nicely the role of business:

“Business is the most important engine of economic change. It brings employment, goods, revenues, knowledge and skills development. We must also recognize that the most important role is probably not that played by the multinationals, but by the small and medium enterprise sector, the SMEs.

We as global companies can provide the catalyst to partner with SMEs to mutual benefit. We can access their local expertise and markets; they can access our technologies and business skills for local momentum.”

Michael Pragnell, CEO, Syngenta

Read the full PDF report from WBCSD.

Mali Project Update

2007-11-01T15:27:00.000-04:00

Just four more weeks until Elise and I will travel to Mali to support the Mali Project, very exciting. In the last months we gathered support to scale up the seed of amazing work that has been done since 2004.

Dynamic people have joined the project:
1) Tomas, my closest companion from the Masters at UNSW, Sydney, who left a safe job with the Canadian government to consult the World Bank in Sydney. He will join us in Africa in January!
2) Jeffrey, an amazing American working on a new model of sustainable development. He ran a big development/business endeavor in Armenia (CARD) and is writing his PhD in Melbourne, currently.
3) Manfred, a long time business friend and creative director of a marketing agency who is going to support us with our new internet site and communications.

Tomas' update on the Mali project on his unitedstates4africa blog:
"Almost the entire country lives off a little more than $1/day. Given all these factors it is not difficult to see why the average life expectancy in Mali is a shocking 48 years of age.

But all these negative factors is neither here nor there. Since March 2007 Elise, Juergen and I have (with the help of many supportive friends and family) discussed how we can take the Mali project to the next level. What does this mean? Well, at the present moment we have an amazing base to build from - two schools, a vocational school (No need to focus only on math/science when the country has a shortage of masons/plummers), healthcare centre, women's entrepreneurship project and street children social entrepreneurship project. We also have incredible drive, passion and vision from Youchaou on the ground in Western Africa. I was fortunate to meet Youchaou here in Sydney when he visited in June 2007.

The local and international personalities are key to this project - each one of us brings in something complementary to the overall team: Youchaou as community leader and founder, Elise as founder, program architect and successful fundraiser; my previous experience working for the UN in East Africa, and experience with government and international donor institutions and finally Juergen - dreamer, compassionate Buddhist and extensive private sector experience - key to securing donations from companies like Google and inculcating a business mindset in all of us!

So how do we scale up? Where does the Mali Project go from here - how does it grow? How do Elise, Juergen and I along with Youchaou - ensure the project is sustainable through 2010 and beyond? Western donors I have met with - World Bank, Canadian International Development Agency have provided some good advice on our scale up potential. ...

I think we can do this, and not just to satisfy donors funding requirements but because for the communities in Mali - ensuring a long-term vision and continuous funding for the project is sensible. There is hard work ahead for all of us to translate this into reality.

We will take the passion from Mali and nuance this to fit with Western donor expectations. However, all of us will certainly be mindful to never lose sight of the fact that this project remains driven by those in Mali. The goal has always been to reduce poverty and create new opportunities - Millennium Development Goal #1. The Mali Project began after a call for assistance from Youchaou. No one dreamed the Mali Project would be where it is now. Three years on the project has evolved and donors are showing interest. We will take this enthusiasm and draft a strategic plan with Youchaou and Kalabankoro that works - not to suit a bureaucratic requirement far away in the West but because this makes sense for the community and supports the livelihood of its people.

The day will come when Western funding is no longer necessary in Mali and Kalabankoro. This is still some time off but it is my hope in seven to ten years residents of Kalabankoro will have attained educational levels that attract and create more productive employment opportunities, increased investment in local infrastructure, better health care and ultimately, improved living standards. It can be done..."

Visit Tomas' unitedstates4africa.
Read The Mali Project: How it all began - the first school.
Read The Mali Project - Making a Difference in Africa.
See The Mali Project Video: Social Entrepreneurs building a School.

Me to We: Young individuals making a difference

2007-10-18T12:25:00.000-04:00

Young individuals that try the make a bit of a better place inspire a lot. Yes, we all admire the Dalai Lama, Muhammad Yunus and Nelson Mandela. Young change makers have the advantage that it is much easier to identify with them. Seeing the (com)passion of young people not accepting the old apologies why the world is unfair and why it can't be changed, is refreshing and giving hope. One of the outstanding examples is Jeremy Gilley with his Peace One Day campaign and DVD I blogged about here.

The latest example I came across are two young Canadian brother, the Kielburgers. CBC featured them:

"Craig and Marc Kielburger have made headlines around the world. Craig organized students from his grade 7 class to start an awareness campaign about child labour.
'Free the Children' was born. Now just a year before, Craig's older brother Marc spent a year in Thailand at an AIDS hospital.

Since then, 'Free the Children' has gone from being a home-run organization to one that works around the world. They've received countless awards.. Had appearances - yes plural - on Oprah. And have an on-going partnership with her Angel Network. Conversed with Mother Theresa and the Pope. Done speaking tours with the Dali Lama, Bill Clinton and Desmond Tutu."

They also founded a business4good called Me to We Style selling organic fair trade clothing and doanting 50% of its profits to their charity. They even wrote a book 'Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World.'

Check out their interview on CBC!

Mobile phones: the single most transformative technology for development

2007-10-17T06:18:00.000-04:00

Mobile phones are clearly business4good. I have read plenty of articles about specific solutions using mobile phones in the developing world - including the Kenyan mobile4good example. This this BusinessWeek article sums it up nicely:

"What would a Kenyan farmer want with a mobile phone?
Plenty, as it turns out. To the astonishment of the industry, people living on a few dollars a day have proven avid phone users, and in many parts of the world cellular airtime has become a de facto currency. The reason is simple: A mobile phone can dramatically improve living standards by saving wasted trips, providing information about crop prices, summoning medical help, and even serving as a conduit to banking services.

Mobile phones are changing developing markets faster than anyone imagined. Today there are some 3 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide, and that will grow to 5 billion by 2015, when two-thirds of the people on earth will have phones, predicts Finnish handset maker Nokia"

ile phones are changing developing markets faster than anyone imagined. Today there are some 3 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide, and that will grow to 5 billion by 2015, when two-thirds of the people on earth will have phones, predicts Finnish handset maker Nokia Corp."

Jeffrey Sachs even calls cell phones "...the single most transformative technology for development".

Read the full article in BusinessWeek.

The World needs a Global Marshall Plan

2007-10-13T16:59:00.001-04:00

During Germany's G8 presidency I picked up an interesting initiative: The Global Marshall Plan. Their brochure featured the who is who on making globalization more fair, incl. Stiglitz, Yunus, Al Gore etc.

Coming from Germany which was rebuilt with the help of the Marshall plan after WWII it's very interesting seeing this idea taken onto a global level. It's certainly bigger and more complex but aiming for the right thing - a fairer globalization! Do you think it's possible?

"The Global Marshall Plan aims at a "World in Balance". To achieve this we need a better design of globalization and the global economic processes - a worldwide Eco-Social Market Economy. This is a matter of an improved global structural framework, sustainable development, the eradication of poverty, environmental protection and equity, altogether resulting in a new global 'economic miracle'."

Move your cursor over the animation to learn more about the initiative:

Bill Gates Calls for More Creative Capitalism to Reduce Inequality

2007-10-12T16:37:00.000-04:00

Bill Gates is one of the best examples of business leaders changing their way to strive towards doing good. Earlier this year Bill Gates gave an interesting speech on tackling inequities at Harvard.

I like his down to business approach to reduce poverty:

"Imagine, just for the sake of discussion, that you had a few hours a week and a few dollars a month to donate to a cause—and you wanted to spend that time and money where it would have the greatest impact in saving and improving lives. Where would you spend it? For Melinda and for me, the challenge is the same: how can we do the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have?

The defining and ongoing innovations of this age—biotechnology, the computer, the Internet—give us a chance we’ve never had before to end extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease... You know more about the world’s inequities than the classes that came before. In your years here, I hope you’ve had a chance to think about how—in this age of accelerating technology—we can finally take on these inequities, and we can solve them.

We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism—if we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living, serving people who are suffering from the worst inequities. If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world.

Don’t let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives."

What a final call for action: “From those to whom much is given, much is expected.”
Watch the video or read the transcript.

Thanks to Max Oliva from ie

The Economist & CSR: From Foes to Friends

2007-10-05T14:55:00.000-04:00

What a difference two years can make. CSR has made it into mainstream:

Economist '2005 :
The respected conservative weekly was pretty much on the side of Milton Friedman's "The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits". It dismissed CSR not only as a superficial PR exercise but even dismissed as counterproductive. "CSR cannot be a substitute for wise policies in these areas. In several little-noticed respects, it is already a hindrance to them...To improve capitalism, you first need to understand it. The thinking behind CSR does not meet that test."

Economist '2007:
It seems that the benefits that have been well documented (e.g. in Michael Porter's article) for some time, are becoming mainstream finally. In response to a CSR-critical book “Supercapitalism” the Economist writes:
"[D]one well, CSR can motivate employees and strengthen brands, while also providing benefits to society. Understanding and responding to the social context in which firms operate is increasingly a source of new products and services, observes Jane Nelson of the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum. Telling firms they need not act responsibly might cause them to under-invest in these opportunities, and to focus excessively on short-term profits."

Simon Zadek, the boss of AccountAbility summarizes the state of CSR in a nice way: “The ‘whether in principle' conversation about CSR is over,” he says. “What remains is ‘What, specifically, and how?'”. Answers to these important questions is what the UN Global Compact with its local networks in over 70 countries tries to foster. And this blog highlights some of outstanding business4good cases.

Thanks to the Triple Bottom Line Blog

Business–NGO Partnerships Help the World’s Poorest

2007-10-01T16:08:00.000-04:00

During the International Trade Forum leading businesses including Adidas, BP and Procter & Gamble committed to CSR:

“We believe that the leading global companies of 2020 will be those that provide goods and services and reach new customers in ways that address the world's major challenges — including poverty, climate change, resource depletion, globalization and demographic shifts.”

The full article on the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) website also features a few illustrative example of 'business4good' practices:

Unilever is integrating social innovation strategies in its business operations. In India, it teamed up with NGOs to create Shakti, a rural network that sells products adapted to rural customers in more than 100,000 villages, employing 31,000 women. In Indonesia, it teamed up with Oxfam to research and assess the impact of production and distribution processes on poor communities. (Sources: Unilever, Oxfam)
Procter & Gamble worked with research institutes and other organizations to create a low-cost ($0.01/litre) water purification product. PuR is mixed with water and filtered through a cloth to remove bacteria, viruses and parasites. One billion people lack access to safe drinking water. Relief agencies use PuR to provide clean drinking water during emergency relief operations. (Source: P&G Health Sciences Institute)
Cemex, the world's third largest construction materials firm, has been working with Ashoka fellows to help more than 30,000 low-income families to build affordable, decent houses for themselves. Participants enter a savings and credit programme, get assistance to plan construction work, and benefit from services such as material storage, delivery and price guarantees for two years. This helps the company reach new customers it could not serve before, while helping poor families to improve their living conditions. (Source: Ashoka)

The WBCSD article also talks about tthe rise of social entrepreneurship and poverty as a business challenge. A pretty good read and nice update summary on how business can do good.

The Top 20 NGOs/UN Agencies according to Business

2007-09-26T00:43:00.000-04:00

Dalberg, the Global Compact and the Financial Times came up with an unusual ranking... instead than companies are ranked it was NGO's and UN agencies that got assessed by corporate leaders against certain criteria (Accountability, Adaptability, Communication, Execution).

So who are the leading NGOs/UN agencies according to Corporate Leaders? See the Top 20:

For the full ranking tables and background information see FT or Dalberg.

Ranking are always disputed and setting criteria for such an homogeneous are such as NGOs and UN agencies this is far from an easy job. Having such diverse NGOs on the same piece of papers might appear a bit random to some but nonetheless I think it's a good start for increased transparency and stimulating improvement through sharing of best practices.

BTW not a big surprise than Rotary and Lions make it to the top considering that their members are mainly business people.

The only other ranking of NGOs - although focussed on US charities - is Charity Navigator. Do you know any else?

Ten Questions on Social Entrepreneurship with David Bornstein

2007-09-19T01:57:00.000-04:00

Social entrepreneurship is a core topic of business4good and I have blogged about it many times (scroll). This includes David Bornstein who one of the most renowned figures in the field and author of How to Change the World - Social Entrepreneurs which just came out in an updated edition.

Therefore I was happy to read on Guy Kawasaki's blog 10 questions and answers with David. He makes some interesting links between social entrepreneurship, meaningful action and to happiness (reminding me of books I am reading from the Dalai Lama). Here three little excerpts from David's answers:

1. Bill Gates' Awakening:
"When Bill Gates announced that he would be stepping down from Microsoft to run his foundation, he made it clear that he was not retiring, but rather “reordering” his priorities. Why? It was through his research trips in the developing world that he came face to face with people suffering and dying—and he couldn’t shake it. He saw that he could be more valuable to the world helping to develop AIDS or malaria vaccines, or expanding access to health care systems, than helping to create more software tools, as valuable as those tools may be. Lots of people are coming to similar conclusions. It is like a global awakening."

2. The Bottleneck Fundraising:
"Most of our major businesses are able to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in capital markets—through debt or by issuing stock. But social entrepreneurs, who typically run nonprofit organizations, usually have to raise considerable grant funding from foundations, which usually comes in small, short term installments. Because the funding is so fragmented, social entrepreneurs end up spending 80% of their time fundraising, rather than spending 80% of their time focusing on running their organizations. This is a huge bottleneck."

3. Meaningful Action:
"The bottom line is that we focus on the “doing good” aspects, on the sacrifice, and ethical components, but we often forget to mention how wonderful it feels to take meaningful action in line with your core beliefs. Finally people often delay because they just don’t know where to go, what to do, or how to take the first step. So there is a big need for tools that help people find their place in the field of social entrepreneurship and social innovation. That is actually the subject of the current book I am working on."

Read the full interview.

Masters Graduation at UNSW Sydney

2007-09-15T08:44:00.001-04:00

This week I attended my Masters ceremony on the nice UNSW campus in Sydney. It was very nice to see some study friends and professors again; as well as being accompanied by Elise and Andreas.

The graduation ceremony was a bit formal but short to the point; certainly interesting to wear the academic clothing and the hat! The year postgraduate studies was very rewarding in learning and experiences as I wrote about in this earlier post.

Now I can fully focus on these projects:
1. The COP Review Project with the UN Global Compact
2. Scaling up the Mali Project

More photos on Flickr.

The Other Africa: TED Conference on Ideas

2007-08-29T16:39:00.000-04:00

What's the image of Africa in the west? If you are an optimist you might think about beautiful nature and animals but most likely many images might be negative such as poverty, famine and HIV/AIDS.

Africa has an image problem and therefore I was positively surprised to see these videos from the TED Conference on ideas which was held for the first time in Africa.

See inspiring videos which bring light to Africa showing for example how the investment climate and inflation rates have improved. It's very refreshing to see Africans themselves talking about their continent! See more at TED.

via iPienso.

Do you like Flying? If you also like the Environment then offset your Carbon Emissions

2007-08-28T08:40:00.000-04:00

Are you a carbon balanced flyer? Probably not and I haven't known what this means until lately (not to mention how to become one ;) .

TerraPass is a prime example for a "Business4Good" and can help you to offset the carbon emissions we are responsible for through flying. This is a smart business approach to the problem that flying contributes to green house gases which I lamented on in an earlier post.

Becoming carbon neutral might be cheaper than you think. I just invested 36.95$ for an intercontinental flight from Europe to Australia. The money will go into into green energy such as from wind. You can calculate you emission here, check it out.

Just a disclaimer, no this alone won't be the solution for climate change but it's a part of it. What do you think?

Outcomes of UN Global Compact's Leaders Summit

2007-08-24T09:38:00.000-04:00

This week the preliminary outcomes of the Global Compacts Leaders Summit from July in Geneva got released. I am thankful for it because way too much happened there for me to sum up myself :) Overall, it was very inspiring to have been there because you can see that business is taking global issues serious and the Global Compact is a facilitator in this change but as well as changing the UN itself by facilitating business-UN partnerships.

Highlights from my perspective were:

Largest high-level event on of corporate responsibility ever: bringing together more than 1,100 leaders and representatives from business, government, civil society, labour, academia and the United Nations means this is important!
Deepened commitment for universal principles: Through advancing responsible business practices a more sustainable and inclusive global economy can be realized. The Global Compact principles are the leading compass for this.
Diversity of participants from 90 countries: Where else do you bring together CEOs (incl. many from China) that talk business with critical voices from nearly 200 representatives from civil society, labour and academia?
Reports confirming that responsible business perform better: Goldman Sachs found that companies considered leaders in implementing ESG policies have outperformed the general stock market by 25 percent since August 2005. In addition, 72 percent of these companies have outperformed their peers over the same period.
Responsible investments take off: More than 200 institutional investors representing over US $9 trillion in assets signed onto the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in just over one year.
Action platforms, i.e. walking the talk: Of course such an event is a lot about dialogue but I am glad to see that there is follow through. For example through action platforms on: Climate, Water and Responsible Management Education.

As you see, a lot has happened there and is underway. You can read the complete preliminary results.

Support Make Poverty History

2007-08-16T04:00:00.000-04:00

Make Poverty History is a great campaign I have been supporting since a couple of years. With white bands as its major symbol millions of people around the world are campaigning for the Millennium Development Goals. These where signed in 2000 to eradicate extreme poverty by 2015.

"Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made, and can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings."
- Nelson Mandela

070707 was 'half time' on the way to landmark 2015 and reports show that in some countries great has been achieved and in many others a lot more is necessary. Around the world this has been reason for another push to campaign for the universal goals against poverty. In Australia the campaign even lit up the Opera House!

Support the campaign to Make Poverty History in your country: www.makepovertyhistory.org

The Mali Project: How it all began - the first school

2007-08-11T08:13:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago I was writing on the development situation and some background of Mali. Now I'd like to dive deeper into the Mali Project. Before we come to the concept and current projects, read how the whole project began:

Paul Currie (Co-founder of Reach and film director) met Youchaou Traore whilst in Mali filming a documentary on child trafficking. Paul was inspired by the strength, vision and dedication of Youchaou - at this time translator next to being a teacher - in wanting to help his community. Youchaou had grown up an orphan, on the streets, so he understood the hardships his community faced and how precious it was to get an education. Paul could see that a little bit would go a long way and he committed to making Youchaou’s dream of a school a reality. He returned to Australia and inspired the Reach Crew to help.

The Australian young people lead by Elise Klein emailed this man, Youchaou Traore and told him they wanted to help. This was the start of a three year long relationship built only through emails where the young people set out to raise the money needed for the primary school. AUD$50 000 later, the school was completed. 130 students were enrolled in the first year. It has been labelled one the best schools in Mali and is available to the poorest of the poor.

On a self-funded trip, a small team of Reach Crew with the support of a Reach staff member and corporate supporter, visited the Kalabankoro community in late 2005 to gain first hand experience of the situation and to meet the community they had raised money to help.

In 2006, the Australian young people raised over AUD$70 000 to get the school to its final phase of a secondary school to accommodate students completing their secondary studies. 2006 also saw the creation of a micro finance organisation for Kalabankoro women to help generate economic development in the area. Again in late 2006 a self funded trip was organised to visit Kalabankoro community. In 2007 a community health centre was started in temporary rented premises.

See this inpiring video from a visit at the Mali Project from an earlier post. More about our plans on scaling up this great project soon...

Flying for half the price than train - kerosene's subsidy is a loose hot air balloon fueled by tax money

2007-08-03T08:11:00.000-04:00

How to waste tax money, distort market competition and kill the climate at the same time? What sounds like an absurd question is reality every day: tax subsidy (or more correctly put exemption) of flights' fuel does the trick!

Take for example: Recently, I wanted to get from Munich, Germany to Geneva, Switzerland. Distance around 600km which you could perfectly do by car, train or flying. Train ticket is around 200€ return. Guess how much flying is? 90€!

I couldn't believe that environmental dubious - but undoubtedly more comfortable - flying is less than half the price if trains, not to mention the cost of a car. So why do we need kerosene's subsidy when it obviously distorts the competition and sets the completely wrong signal in environmental protection and sustainability. Shouldn't have taxes the function of setting the right incentives? Also the money on taxing flights could will be used for development assistance as unitaid does.

Where are the EU, Germany and the US here? Don't you need some $$$ to save the climate or to decrease your debt mountains? That would be real sustainability. And don't tell me that a moderate percentage on these super cheap flights would stop business people flying business class when there companies pay or would harm the economy on a big scale. Maybe it's the power of lobbies? But I can't imagine that the airways industry (kerosene untaxed) is more powerful than the car industry (car fuel heavily taxed). So why is the right thing not happening?

Don't get e wrong here, I am certainly not against flying per se and am a frequent flyer myself. But we just need to show responsibility for our consumption and behavior. Until we get this dangerous tax hole fixed setting off our carbon emission ourselves by initiatives such as Terrapass is a start!

The Mali Project - Making a Difference in Africa

2007-07-28T15:17:00.000-04:00

Some time ago in Australia I came across an exciting hands-on development project that empowers people in Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world. The project is not only run by inspiring young Australians, foremost lovely Elise, but it is also a perfect match to my desire to make a difference in the field in Africa.

The project has established a successful pilot in a village by building a school and establishing a small Microfinance group near the capital Bamako. The people driving the project, Youchaou Traore in Mali and Elise in Melbourne, have big dreams. Every hand and dollar are needed, therefore, I have joined the team and we will travel to Mali and East Africa in December for some months.

Therefore, I will increasingly introduce Mali and the Mali Project as well as our plans and work on this blog. Also check out the Mali Project website.

Position and Population:
Mali is a landlocked country located in West Sub-Saharan Africa as shown in the map above. It has a population of about 11,9 million people growing at a high rate of 2.7%. The median age is just 16 years and over 48% of Malians are between 0-14 years old.

Legacy of Dictatorship:
Historically, Mali was a French colony and got its independence in 1960. The first President ruled the country for eight years and a military Coup in 1968 that established a dictatorship until March 1991. A revolution then threw down the dictator and Mali became a democracy. Since the events of March 1991, Mali is committed to the establishment of a democratic society which requires access of all citizens to a minimum education. The legacy of 33 years of dictatorship has been responsible for severe poverty and under-development, especially a lack of health and educational facilities.

Extreme Poverty and Low Development:
Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world ranking 175th out of 177 countries with data in the United Nations Development Index 2006. With a per capita GDP of less than 1000 PPP US$ and an illiteracy rate of 81%, most of Malian communities live in extreme poverty lacking basic resources such as access to food, water, shelter and health facilities. As the World Health Organization reports, the health indicators are alarming which will be analysed in the following section of development needs.

Despite some progress, Mali has a Human Development Index (HDI) which remains starkly below the HDIs of other regions in the world. The HDI measures three dimensions of human development: 1) life expectancy), 2) literacy and school enrolment and 3) Income measured by purchasing power parity.

The Mali Project is very exciting, so stay tuned for more updates!

Peace One Day - The Story of an Individual changing the World

2007-07-20T17:03:00.000-04:00

Just finished watching the movie "Peace One Day". Have you ever wondered if individuals can make a difference? Then you will be amazed by the drive of Jeremy Gilles who in this documentary puts his life and passion behind his dream to globally establish a day of ceasefire and peace.

Jeremy writes to every head of state and Peace Nobel Laureates about his dream. He meets Kofi Annan at the UN, the Dalai Lama and many presidents. If you are somehow interested in a better world then this movie is for you! To see Jeremy's drive and the ups and downs of this campaign are incredible.

Until you get a copy of the DVD check out a video from Jeremy on the campaign website Peace One Day. And let's do something on Peace Day 21st September!

Pictures from the Global Compact's Leaders Summit in Geneva

2007-07-18T05:45:00.002-04:00

To complete my wrap-up of the inspiring Leaders Summit here a few self-made pictures:

The "broken chair" in front of the UN building in Geneva:

1000 leaders from business, civil society, UN and governments in the General Assembly of the UN Geneva building:

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his way to the Gala Dinner:

Jeffrey Sachs gave a very inspiring keynote speech:

The "COP" team, Christopher Wickert, Jeff Senne, me:

For more (private) pictures see my Flickr account.
For more info on the Leaders Summit see the Official Blog or UN's video archive.

"UN Global Compact Boosts CSR" from CSRwire

2007-07-11T07:38:00.000-04:00

CSRwire just brought a nice summary of the Leaders Summit and some reactions:

"Corporate sustainability and responsibility got a shot in the arm last week at the second annual Global Compact Leaders Summit in Geneva, where the UN-sponsored coalition of corporations addressed diverse issues--from the water crisis to climate change, particularly in China. Companies adopted a Declaration on Responsible Business Practices, called for Responsible Business Education, released a best practices implementation tool, and issued three reports, including one from Goldman Sachs finding financial out-performance by companies with strong environmental, social, and governance practices.

Predictably, response to the Summit ran the gamut from gushing praise to criticism from both the left (the Compact is greenwash) and the right (the UN is co-opting business.) Peter Kinder of KLD Research & Analytics provided a more reasoned response."

Video: The Role of Business in Tomorrow's Society

2007-07-11T07:17:00.000-04:00

Digging on YouTube to find a good video explaining Corporate Social Responsiblity (CSR) I just found this interesting video from the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD). It showcases businesses that try to find win-win situations where making business can address some of the world most pressing issues such as the water crisis. It follows the thinking of Prahalad's "Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid".

What I like most is the example of Procter and Gamble (at around 4:30min) who offers a product that purifies water in developing countries to make it suitable for drinking and therefore avoids diseases and saves lives:

Groundbraking Studies by McKinsey and Goldman Sachs Confirm "Doing Well by Doing Good"

2007-07-09T09:23:00.000-04:00

Wow, the Leaders Summit in Geneva last week was full on! Where else in the world does the Coca Cola CEO speak with the Head of Amnesty or Oxfam? Where does the president of a major oil company sit at the same table with the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights?

Imagine over 1000 leaders of companies, NGOs, UN agencies and governments in the General Assembly in the UN in Geneva. Opening by the Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, followed by business and NGO leaders on the most pressing problems of the world: Climate Change, Water Crisis, Sustainability, Human Rights etc. I am still in information processing mode (my god was this all intense) but here the first highlight.

How often have you heard the catch phrase "Doing well by doing good?" Ever wondered what's really behind it? Two studies released at the biggest UN gathering with business delivered some answers:

1. Goldman Sachs Study

One of the world’s leading investment banks analysed companies that are considered leaders in implementing environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies to create sustained competitive advantage.
These companies have outperformed the general stock market by 25 per cent since August 2005.
In addition, 72 per cent of these companies have outperformed their peers.
That's groundbreaking news to see that behaving good pays off financially too! See their full GS Sustain report.

2. McKinsey Study

Shows that CSR has grown out of its early stages when it was only considered More than 90 per cent of CEOs are doing more than they did 5 years ago to incorporate environmental, social and governance issues into strategy and operations.
72 per cent of CEOs said that corporate responsibility should be embedded fully into strategy and operations, but only 50 per cent think their firms actually do so.
Read the full McKinsey Report

Georg Kell, Executive Head of the Global Compact (great person who I worked for at the Summit, so I am biased) summarizes it nicely: "For an increasing number of business leaders, corporate responsibility is no longer an option, it is a necessity in order to compete successfully. At the same time, in order to fully maximize these benefits and increase their competitive advantage in the global marketplace, companies must adopt a broader and deeper approach with respect to implementation of corporate responsibility principles”.

Also check out the official Summit Blog full of great content!

Companies valuing social factors better equipped to lead markets

2007-07-02T11:02:00.000-04:00

This week the Leaders Summit of the UN Global Compact is happing. The Leaders Summit is the largest UN gathering with business ever, almost 1000 leaders here, sounds like CSR and sustainability are becoming mainstream!

In the run up for this major event that happens only every three years Goldman Sachs published some findings. Goldman Sachs links good performance in the environmental, social, and governance areas with competitiveness and stock performance. Sounds like a run for business case! Read on at UN News.

I just arrived in Geneva and will keep you posted with more soon. The agenda looks very interesting!

Price of Peace - Campaigning for the UN

2007-06-25T22:25:00.000-04:00

Although peace is not an obvious topic for "business4good", peace is probably the most valuable public good. Ever since I read that the US is spending 20 (!) times the money on its military than on Official Development Assistance, I thought "can't we use this money in a better way?". No doubt, we need some 'hard' power in the form of military for defense but everything in moderation and well balanced please.

Therefore, I like the "Prize of Peace" Campaign. Although US focussed, it shows that peace is not just the right thing for humanity but also make economical sense. UN peacekeeping is 8 times cheaper than US military forces (see their video for more snappy facts). Peace is not just cheaper than war but furthermore UN peacekeeping efforts and 'soft' peacemaking efforts are much more effective than 'hard' military power.

We can debate endlessly about the flaws of the UN but we have any better organization? No, so let's get together and make the UN works - for a better world. What's your opinion?

Yunus Video on G8 and Development

2007-06-19T00:05:00.000-04:00

Watch this interesting video where Yunus (Peace Nobel Prize 2006) answers questions about what the G8 and development should focus on. He talks about poverty, climate change, world peace and globalization etc.

I think he has a very inspiring view on how to develop capitalism and 'social business':
"Business is defined as a business to make money. That's the only kind of business today we know within the framework of capitalism. That kind of undermines human being. Human being is much bigger than that. Human being is not an entity which spends his or her lifetime making money."

Brought to you by Dropping Knowledge

Masters Completed - What a Year - Personal Reflections

2007-06-15T20:55:00.000-04:00

This week I said Good-Bye to Sydney... Masters in International Development at UNSW are completed! It feels a bit strange having handed in all assignments as well as having said farewell to friends and professors. Now is a good time to take stock what happened in the last year (a lot!) and how the Masters changed my life. Changing career is not easy but this year was well invested for a positive change.

Going back to university after eight years in the corporate world (and some traveling in the world) was quite a challenge. Especially because at Masters level it's not about lecturers teaching you how-to-do knowledge but in fact they provided more questions than answers. Critically analyzing and debating the big picture from different perspectives was certainly a stretch but a very positive one. I have learned more about development, globalization and poverty which helps to bridge my old 'business' paradigm with a more social and development oriented paradigm.

The interdisciplinary course offer and inspiring Professors at UNSW were certainly helpful. Before I started the Masters I hardly understood all the buzz words in the course descriptions. But picking six courses out of an offer of dozens allowed me to accommodate my areas of interest and writing essay on topics I am passionate about such as UN Global Compact, Corporate Social Responsibility, Social Entrepreneurship and the Reach Mali Project.

Furthermore, the Masters opened doors I and friends have not dreamed of before. Interning for the UN Global Compact in the UN Headquarters in New York was a breathtaking experience. Working for this organization and meeting outstanding people (Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-moon, Jeffrey Sachs, Joschka Fischer) was a privilege I am very thankful for. Most importantly, the Compact brings together the corporate world with social and development goals on a global level, exactly my vision!

My friends at uni had similar amazing career steps and life experiences. Tomas from Canada interned at the World Bank and recently even got offered a consulting position! Rabia from Pakistan interned for UNIFEM in South Africa and Shannon is on her way to Mali for the UN World Food Program.

None of us would have thought of these career moves and life friendships before the Masters. We'll see what the future brings... life is an interesting journey. The path is set for exploring the "social business" concept more and for gaining field experience in Africa! But first, it's time to spend some time with family and friends in Germany.

UN Opportunity: Become a Global Compact Online Volunteer

2007-06-12T20:33:00.001-04:00

Get involved in the United Nations’ CSR Project

Do you want to learn about how companies implement the principles of the largest Corporate Citizenship initiative in the world? The UN Global Compact offers you a special “externship” volunteer opportunity: With little time and from home you can help the UN, learn about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and receive valuable benefits.

What is the UN Global Compact?

The world's largest corporate citizenship initiative aiming for a more sustainable and inclusive world economy
Supported by over 4000 participants in over 100 countries
Includes many of the worlds most influential companies, such as Coca Cola, ebay and Microsoft

What is the Project?
Companies from all over the world report their progress on implementing the 10 Global Compact principles. Presently, there are over 2000 so-called “Communication on Progress” (COP) reports. We need your support to review and tag these COPs in order to build a fully searchable database. Each review takes approximately 30 minutes.

What are your Benefits in Participating?

Gain valuable learning and resume-building experience in the field of CSR
Find out what companies around the world are doing for sustainable development
Receive a Certificate of Participation after completing 10 COP reviews
Get a personal Letter of Appreciation by reviewing more than 50 COPs!

Participate now at: www.unglobalcompact.org/COP/Wiki

For any questions please contact me here or at nagler@un.org.
Thank you for participating!

---------------
Juergen Nagler
Coordinator COP Review Project
UN Global Compact Office
United Nations
email: nagler@un.org
www.unglobalcompact.org

The Achievements of the UN Global Compact

2007-06-12T05:23:00.000-04:00

For my Global Politics Masters course I wrote this paper:

The United Nations Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate citizenship initiative and started as an experiment when Kofi Annan challenged business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 1999. After decades of suspicion between the UN and the private sector this marked a historic change in the UN’s attitude towards business. In the face of globalization challenges, world poverty and inequalities, the Secretary-General called for a global compact between the private sector, civil society, governments and the UN to give globalization a human face. High expectations were raised and this essay will answer the question of what the Global Compact’s achievements have been so far.

At first, the Global Compact is introduced by exploring the attitude change of the UN with respect to the private sector away from hostility towards a compact, followed by describing its multiple stakeholders as well as the Global Compact’s ten principles which form the core of the initiative to foster more responsible business practices. After this brief introduction, I will argue in favour for four achievements of the Global Compact and compare them to various different expectations:

The Global Compact contributed to the attitude change of the UN towards the private sector and became a central position between these two actors.
The governance structure of the Global Compact accommodates differing stakeholders’ views that seemed to be incompatible, and with its pragmatic and unbureaucratic approach is an innovation within the UN as well as compared to other international institutions.
The Global Compact developed itself from a small scale experiment into a global network of networks fostering learning and dialogue among over 4000 participants with continued strong participant growth.
The initiative has had a positive impact on corporate policies and therefore contributed to more responsible business practices as well as to more public accountability of corporations.

Despite many very welcoming comments about the establishment of the Global Compact, there were also strong critics of the initiative whose critiques will be used as reference points to put the achievements of the Global Compact in perspective. It will be shown that a lot has been achieved, yet in comparison to the persistent globalization challenges much more remains to be done. Therefore, the achievements provide a solid foundation for a compact greater in reach as well as impact in the future.

Read the full PDF paper.

Yunus: Change the Way the World does Business

2007-06-09T06:16:00.000-04:00

No need to say how much I admire Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. In this great article he explains his few on leveraging globalization and social business to make a difference in the world and to alleviate poverty.

Globalization: "I support globalization and believe it can bring more benefits to the poor than any alternative. But it must be the right kind of globalization. To me, globalization is like a 100-lane highway criss-crossing the world. If it is a free-for-all highway, its lanes will be taken over by the giant trucks from powerful economies - Bangladeshi rickshaws will be thrown off the highway.

In order to have a win-win globalization, we must have traffic rules, traffic police, and a traffic authority for this global highway. The rule of 'strongest takes it all' must be replaced by rules that ensure that the poorest have a place and piece of the action, without being elbowed out by the strong."

Social Business: "Will be a new kind of business introduced in the market place with the objective of making a difference to the world. Investors in a social business could get back their investment money, but will not take any dividend from the company. Profit would be ploughed back into the company to expand its outreach and improve the quality of its product or service. A social business will be a non-loss, non-dividend company."

Read the inspiring SPIEGEL ONLINE article.

Avaaz.org: The World in Action - Become an Online Activist

2007-05-30T20:52:00.000-04:00

Do you want to make a difference? If the answer is "Yes but..." because you have no time to be an activist because of all your commitments, work, family, appointments, then Avaaz.org is for you!

"Avaaz.org is a community of global citizens who take action on the major issues facing the world today. The aim of Avaaz.org is to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decisions. Avaaz.org members act for a more just and peaceful world and a globalisation with a human face."

I have supported most of their latest campaigns... together we can make a difference! For example, Avaaz fought to sack Paul Wolfowitz (done), to close Guantanamo etc. Now the heat is on to make climate change top of the agenda of the G8.

Take action and sign the Avaaz petition now: www.avaaz.org

Franchising meets Social Entrepreneurship: Kenya Video

2007-05-25T08:09:00.000-04:00

PBS, a US non-profit media enterprise is featuring a nice example how entrepreneurship can serve communities in. This video shows a franchising-concept for affordable health services and medicines in Kenya! Franchising normally know for brands such as McDonald's and Holiday Inn reminds me of my good old days at Siemens with their daughter company Com Computertraining.

Franchising has the advantage that it combines a proven and standardized concept and brand with the drive of a local entrepreneur. Watch this 5 minute video of an American franchising expert being impressed by a Kenyan social entrepreneur:

Poverty: The widening Gap between Rich and Poor

2007-05-14T00:13:00.000-04:00

When I saw this World Bank stats in the Economist I initially thought "hey, look at this, the number of extreme poor is declining in absolute numbers and relative of the world population. This is good news, we are on the right track".

Wrong! I recalled some discussion from university and tried to re-think "what really is poverty? Is it absolute, i.e. less than 1$ a day OR is it relative to other people?". Think about it... Sticking to the World Bank definition of absolute poverty of less than 1$ a day is simple and convenient but gives the wrong picture. Even if the poor people might not get poorer in absolute income, they become poorer compared to the rest of the world.

An analogy: If we would just measure how long people life, we could say "great, the people in Mali are still dying at 40 years and not earlier. So at least they are not getting poorer". BUT if you then see that people in developed countries live longer and longer (80s), it becomes obviously absurd.

That said, I believe we can't measure poverty disconnected. Poverty is relative to other people and means you can't afford basic things that your peers can (by the way it's seems similar with happiness). I love simplicity but the World Bank stats have outlived their purpose now because they paint a wrong picture. The gap between rich and poor is growing which means inequality and poverty is growing. Poverty ultimately has to be defined in relative terms, a claim supported by others in the field such as Brown/Ainley 2005 "Intl. Relations". What do you think?

UN Wire: Free newsletter from the United Nations on global issues

2007-05-11T20:43:00.000-04:00

Are you interested in global issues and on what the United Nations is working on? On what the new Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is working on... what the global press is writing on the world's most pressing issues such as climate change, poverty and peace?

Then sign up for the great free newsletter "UN Wire" from the UN Foundation. It comes daily via email, has very well selected articles from around the world and is easy to read: UN Wire Sign Up

IBM's ThinkPlace searches for social business ideas for Africa

2007-05-09T22:44:00.000-04:00

Wow, "old economy" IBM is entering the area of how business can help to overcome societal problems. Sounds like a topic for this blog! I like their approach and hope that ideas are followed through and materialize:

"Have you ever thought about changing the world? Or maybe just one continent at time? How about Africa?
Beginning in June 2007, IBM and its partners will convene more than 150 global thought leaders for several face-to-face sessions around the globe over a three month period. Why? To identify new opportunities to advance innovation and economic development for the people of Africa..

This is about business development, not charity
It's important to note that the GIO will not attempt to re-create or supplant the extensive range of charitable efforts already underway in Africa. Plain and simple, this is about using business opportunities to address key societal issues."

You can see the ideas IBM has collected so far or submit your own by May 25, 2007: IBM ThinkPlace Africa

While IBM is taking on the bigger picture, the Social Entrepreneur Youchaou in Mali is doing action on grass roots level... Elise, Tomas and I am going to explore this and opportunities with our Africa trip starting in December 2007 and hope for inspiration!

Entrepreneurial Solutions to Insoluble Problems

2007-05-02T06:59:00.000-04:00

A new breed of leaders tackles world's big problems such as Renewable energy, affordable and effective health care, and fighting climate change. SustainAbility and the Skoll Foundation, two heavy weights in fostering Social Entrepreneurship, released a report based on surveying over 100 Social Entrepreneurs.

"Social entrepreneurs ... are set to have a profound impact on the world's most complex societal and environmental challenges... Their impact may be limited by their current scale, but could be limitless with the right business partners.
John Elkington, Founder SustainAbility. "

Main conclusions:
1. Social entrepreneurship is on a roll
2. The potential for breakthrough solutions is considerable — and growing
3. The field is growing, but still relatively small
4. Accessing capital remains the No.1 challenge
5. Financial self-sufficiency is seen as a real prospect within five years
6. There is a real appetite to partner with business
7. Beware blind spots
8. For real system change, we must focus on government and public policy

‘At its core, the corporate pursuit of sustainable development is not just about “doing good.” It makes companies more entrepreneurial, nimble and competitive.’
Björn Stigson, WBCSD

This is probably the most comprehensive work on this topic I have seen recently.
Read the full report at SustainAbility.

UN Global Compact COP Project launched

2007-04-27T09:38:00.000-04:00

This week the project of the UN Global Compact that I have been working on for a few months got launched! The project's aim is to get a fully searchable and easily accessible database of over 2000 Communication on Progress (COP) reports.

A COP is an annual publication in which the company communicates what it has done to implement the 10 Global Compact principles. All companies have to do this to ensure the integrity of the initiative (to avoid 'freeriders').

The project has been a great learning experience because I had the opportunity to work with Global Compact colleagues and to lead a team of Wharton MBA-students helping us to roll out this project. Furthermore, it was the first time that I set-up a Wiki, a platform for online collaboration. Now to make this project a success, all we need are hundreds of more students to review all COPs and tag them by answering a set of questions.

Read the Press Release launching the Project.
And everyone can review COPs, see the Project Wiki!

Linking Microcredit with FairTrade: Handicrafts from FINCA Peru Exports

2007-04-25T22:37:00.000-04:00

FINCA Peru Exports (FPX) is an interesting hybrid: It's a division of FINCA Peru, a pioneer in Microfinance for more than 10 years, and links microentrepreneurs producing handicrafts with Fair Trade distributors in Europe and North America. FPX has been established and run by young volunteers. Being part for a couple of months last year was a truly amazing and inspiring experience!

Recently FPX published their two new catalogues with beautiful designs of handmade clothing, accessories, textiles and home goods from Peru. By buying from FPX you can directly help disprivileged women and families. Have a look at their two new catalogues.

Furthermore, you can have a look at an 18-minute video about the organization we produced while I was there (in Spanish, sorry for small English subtitles). I am also featured in there ;) Watch the FPX video on YouTube.

Mobile4Good Video: Social Entrepreneur Example from Kenya

2007-04-21T07:24:00.000-04:00

Want to see an example of a Social Enterprise Business in 3 minutes? Can a mobile phone help people to find jobs?

Watch this video of Mobile4Good (interesting name analogy! ;) from Kenya which I found on Benin's "Africa is ready for Business" Blog:

Free Trade or Fair Trade? The Injustice of Agricultural Subsidies

2007-04-20T04:28:00.000-04:00

For a long time I have been thinking about free trade versus fair trade. Trying to get developing countries out of the poverty trap and believing in markets I analyzed the reasons for the collapse of the Doha development round. Key reasons?

The US and Europe are creating a massive market distortion by their agriculture subsidies. What a double standard to call for free trade but excluding one of the very few areas where developing countries have a competitive advantage. This means: In the case of agricultural products free trade would be fair trade and helping developing countries! Read the full essay.

Video: Microcredit and the Future of Poverty

2007-04-19T08:58:00.000-04:00

It's necessary being reminded that 1/3 of our world, i.e. around 2 billion (!) people around the world live in poverty. This means living of less than 2$ a day... could you live of less 2$ a day, every day?

Watch this fascinating 56-minute documentary about microcredit which is to me a prime example of business approaches working for the social good. It's very inspiring seeing ways out of the poverty trap:

Harvard Business Review: "The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility"

2007-04-18T09:11:00.000-04:00

Max Oliva reports that the article from Michael Porter and Mark Kramer which has been recognized as Harvard Business Review's Top Article of the Year is currently free to read!

"CSR can be much more than a cost, a constraint, or a charitable deed—it can be a source of opportunity, innovation, and competitive advantage... When a well-run business applies its vast resources, expertise, and management talent to problems it understands and in which it has a stake, it can have a greater impact on social good than any other institution or philantrhopic organization." Porter and Kramer

Read the full article: “Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility”

UN readies for its biggest-ever gathering on corporate citizenship

2007-04-15T23:32:00.000-04:00

"More than 700 business leaders and hundreds of top representatives from government, labour and civil society are expected to attend the Global Compact Leaders Summit in Geneva in July, which will be the largest ever gathering convened by the United Nations on the issue of corporate citizenship.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a meeting yesterday in New York of the Global Compact Board, a panel of 20 leaders from business, civil society and labour which he chairs, that the two-day summit 'will be instrumental in bringing our joint vision for the future cooperation between business, the UN, governments, civil society and labour to full scale'.”

Read more on UN News. I will be there at the event in Geneva in July and blog from there.