Great read, and apropos as I just concluded the Lexington Biz Kidz Camp which included children from many cultures; similar to the Youth Biz Camp I taught in San Jose, CA a few years ago.
I’m so glad this issue is getting more attention. I’ve been aware for some time of the bias towards top-school social entrepreneurs (Stanford, Harvard), also noticing a small philanthropy in-group that seems to fund the same handful of such entrepreneurs. I sought to understand this by studying and, in some cases, getting to know personally these entrepreneurs to learn from their success. I discovered, not surprisingly, that many of these talented and wonderful people are no more capable, driven, or innovative than others struggling outside of elite networks to bring their visions to life. As a mid-career Fellow at the Stanford d.school I got an up-close look at at the biases that underly these disparities - and also the creative ways in which people are working to chip away at them. (See Emi Kowale’s “Design for Worldview: A New Way to Teach Design Thinking.”) I’m so thankful for the examples of my friends and colleagues of color who have bravely spoken up to challenge the institutions that (unconsciously) regarded them as other. I have to add that another unspoken bias I’ve encountered is one towards youth. I started our organization as a 39-year-old mother after a successful early career in journalism and discovered that I was quickly identified as “a mom doing good” - not an entrepreneur who was working passionately to create system change. I’m still a little reluctant to address this as I believe spotlighting my middle-age status can hinder my ability to raise support and investment. After 9 years the organization I founded is thriving and now partnering with government to expand our model – but I can tell you I really wish I had the startup help of some of my younger social sector colleagues with degrees from top universities! 😉 I wish for such mentorship and support for everyone driven to create positive change in the world. Thanks, Kathleen!
I was so happy to read this post by Kathleen Kelly Janus and to see the accompanying comment by Susan Dix Lyons. One of the questions I’ve always had in regard to social entrepreneurship is: Why does “innovative” have to always be so closely tied to the marketplace and traditional notions of capitalism? How innovative are those solutions really?
Now, I’m sharing these thoughts to dog capitalism or downplay the positive effects it can have on individuals and communities. Still, having just had a great conversation with my friends about the violence that continues to plague the Chicago and its root causes (i.e., systematic disinvestment, inadequate education and limited opportunities to create a livelihood), it’s hard for me not to see how critical government is in both the problems and solutions to such an issue. What are we doing to encourage individuals to enact policy reform? What investments are we making in efforts to change the system so that it can better serve all people, instead of just a few? Aren’t these ideas equally innovative as market-based solutions?
As a young, person of color who considers identifies with having an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, I agree that we need to pay attention to the language we use. In so doing, we also need to pay close attention to what we label as innovative.
COMMENTS
BY Rosie Lukaszczyk
ON August 31, 2016 10:53 PM
Great read, and apropos as I just concluded the Lexington Biz Kidz Camp which included children from many cultures; similar to the Youth Biz Camp I taught in San Jose, CA a few years ago.
BY Susan Dix Lyons
ON September 1, 2016 02:02 PM
I’m so glad this issue is getting more attention. I’ve been aware for some time of the bias towards top-school social entrepreneurs (Stanford, Harvard), also noticing a small philanthropy in-group that seems to fund the same handful of such entrepreneurs. I sought to understand this by studying and, in some cases, getting to know personally these entrepreneurs to learn from their success. I discovered, not surprisingly, that many of these talented and wonderful people are no more capable, driven, or innovative than others struggling outside of elite networks to bring their visions to life. As a mid-career Fellow at the Stanford d.school I got an up-close look at at the biases that underly these disparities - and also the creative ways in which people are working to chip away at them. (See Emi Kowale’s “Design for Worldview: A New Way to Teach Design Thinking.”) I’m so thankful for the examples of my friends and colleagues of color who have bravely spoken up to challenge the institutions that (unconsciously) regarded them as other. I have to add that another unspoken bias I’ve encountered is one towards youth. I started our organization as a 39-year-old mother after a successful early career in journalism and discovered that I was quickly identified as “a mom doing good” - not an entrepreneur who was working passionately to create system change. I’m still a little reluctant to address this as I believe spotlighting my middle-age status can hinder my ability to raise support and investment. After 9 years the organization I founded is thriving and now partnering with government to expand our model – but I can tell you I really wish I had the startup help of some of my younger social sector colleagues with degrees from top universities! 😉 I wish for such mentorship and support for everyone driven to create positive change in the world. Thanks, Kathleen!
BY Paul Brown
ON September 4, 2016 11:37 AM
I was so happy to read this post by Kathleen Kelly Janus and to see the accompanying comment by Susan Dix Lyons. One of the questions I’ve always had in regard to social entrepreneurship is: Why does “innovative” have to always be so closely tied to the marketplace and traditional notions of capitalism? How innovative are those solutions really?
Now, I’m sharing these thoughts to dog capitalism or downplay the positive effects it can have on individuals and communities. Still, having just had a great conversation with my friends about the violence that continues to plague the Chicago and its root causes (i.e., systematic disinvestment, inadequate education and limited opportunities to create a livelihood), it’s hard for me not to see how critical government is in both the problems and solutions to such an issue. What are we doing to encourage individuals to enact policy reform? What investments are we making in efforts to change the system so that it can better serve all people, instead of just a few? Aren’t these ideas equally innovative as market-based solutions?
As a young, person of color who considers identifies with having an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, I agree that we need to pay attention to the language we use. In so doing, we also need to pay close attention to what we label as innovative.
BY Daniel D'Alonzo
ON September 7, 2016 02:11 PM
Thank you for writing this!