Will Byrne, co-founder and CEO of Groundswell, gave the Closing Keynote of the Global Engagement Summit today in Harris Hall at Northwestern University. Founded in 2009, Groundswell is now a successful organization working on developing the clean energy economy at a local level. He began his talk with a discussion of where the organization started–a few field organizers from Obama’s first presidential campaign looking to work off of the idea that structural change can be catalyzed by community leadership. Byrne and his co-founders started off with very few resources and their office was a tiny attic with no windows. They began with community organizations, faith initiatives and schools interested in green renewable energy, and they found that pooling purchasing power to pay for this energy could yield achievable goals for all sectors of the local economy. Communities care about their sustainability footprint, and clean energy and efficiency solutions do exist in a sort of cyclical way.

Today, Groundswell has expanded from Washington, D.C. into other Midatlantic states, completing $10 million in clean energy projects and totaling $1 million in savings and new community investment. They have erased 5000 tons of carbon, the equivalent of 5500 homes in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and because of the value it creates in the marketplace, Groundswell can generate revenue that cycles funds back into the organization.

Byrne ended his talk with a few myths about starting projects, aimed at the delegates and encouraging them to continue finding their passions through their projects:

1) If you have doubts, you shouldn’t do it: Byrne talks about his first real interview to be a “special assistant” for Van Jones of CNN and receiving advice to pursue his idea outside of the sphere of government and corporations.
2) Social enterprise comes from the transformative big thinker: No way. By thinking the way we’re thinking and holding/attending a conference like GES, we are already set to having impact careers.
3) The “Koolaid” of the social sector- the idea that since you’ve built your career around social change, it will be easy to continue being a virtuous and good leader: False. We are all human and we all need self-validation sometimes, and that’s ok. Remember to stay humble, and hey, don’t be afraid when you make mistakes!

Byrne’s address was a great way to end the Global Engagement Summit of 2013. Delegates, inspired by the past three days of workshops, short talks, small groups, and mentor meetings, are ready to go back to their communities and begin their projects. Now on to Ethiopian Diamond for the final summit dinner!

Matthew Frazier, Associate Partner of Dalberg, spoke on how consulting works and how it can be harnessed in development work. He started with asking what people think that consulting is, and showed that answers to that question are widespread, even amongst consultants. The definition that Matt uses for consulting is the art of asking the right question and bringing the right skills to bear. He introduced the idea of working with frameworks in general, and walked through an issue tree to break down a huge problem into manageable parts. A framework must be MECE: mutually exclusive, completely exclusive. He then walked through a specific question that he worked on in the past: Where should ONE Campaign open up a new office? Each person come up with a framework, and walked through a few of them. The most effective time to use a consultant is when an organization has a tough question that they are not able to answer on their own. The art of asking the right question is a skill that consultants develop over time, and oftentimes, looking at questions in an unusual way has proven helpful.

Utilizing Resources for Effective Community Outreach

Chris Cole, co-founder of social enterprises Triple Thread and Everly, led a workshop geared toward creating a new model for community outreach. Instead of pulling people into an idea, trying to get value from their participation, it is effective to share the value of participation with people, pushing them into inspired involvement. Using his own enterprises and the delegates’ projects, Chris taught methods for demonstrating value to the six stakeholders of community outreach: the visionary leader, core team, believers, mentors, partners, and ultimate beneficiaries. The first three stakeholders are likely to find value in working for the mission of the organization. Chris demonstrated the importance of crafting a mission by distinguishing a “why?” then a “how?” and a “what?” rather than the reverse. For example, sharing that education in India focuses on breadth of effect rather than high quality is more effective than explaining an educationally supplemental website. Leaders, team members, and believers are primarily interested in identifying with a commitment, not a logistical project. It is also easier to maintain these relationships when an organization asks for input and individual experiences, making these stakeholders feel heard.

On the other end of the spectrum, mentors and partners are generally interested in drawing from their own expertise, developing professional relationships, and gaining a competitive edge. These stakeholders, as well as the ultimate beneficiaries of a socially conscious organization, find value in efficiency and sustainability. Sharing the “why?” commitment behind the organization is always important; however, the answers to the “how?” and “what?” questions, the model for the organization, should be emphasized in interactions with mentors, partners, and ultimate beneficiaries. To learn how to properly frame and share value with different participants around an organization is to achieve and expand its mission.

Chris Cole’s organization, Triple Thread, is committed to providing employment to formerly incarcerated US Americans while creating fashionable screen printed tee shirts. Everly markets and sells a powdered natural drink mix, donating a portion of proceeds to distributing oral rehydration supplements.

Design with a Purpose: Incorporating Human-Centered Design into Your Project

The facilitator began by explaining the work IDEO does when designing products for their clients. They focus on human centered design. When crafting ideas, they start with “sacrificial concepts”, meaning they sketch ideas and present them before they are fully formed. This lets them find and learn things at an early stage.

Julka let the delegates try this process throughout the rest of the workshop. They were told to sketch an ideal wallet. Afterwards, Julka pointed out that we all designed wallets that we would want, without thinking about aspects others would have liked to see. Then, delegates partnered up and interviewed each other about their wallets and the contents of their wallets. They went in-depth to get an empathetic idea about the wallet’s contents of their partner. Each delegate then sketched an idea for a new wallet for their partner and presented the ideas to them. After feedback from each other, the delegates created a prototype of the new wallet design out of paper and post-it notes, and gave it to their partner.

Lost in Translation: How to Confront Culture Shock

Emily Gaul is the Program Associate at the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, where she helps prepare students for their off-campus study experiences. She describes culture as a shared set of values, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior which are widely held by members of a country. Culture can be described as an iceberg because what is immediately visible is only a fraction of the whole. Some examples of the visible portions are institutions, religious systems, economic systems, political systems, art and architecture, language, dress, and food. Below the surface there are things such as communication, conflict management, meaning of space and time, social norms, work ethic, and ways of thinking. When going into a new culture, one must consider the historical significance, what is considered “normal,” stereotypes and generalizations, and differences in privilege.

Gaul defines culture shock as the reaction to sudden exposure to a new culture, including climate, food, interaction, and language. It is caused by information overload, role shifting, and personal shock. The major symptoms are utopian ideas, unwarranted criticism, heightened irritability, withdrawal, and homesickness. There are four main stages of culture shock that can happen over days or months. First, there is the honeymoon phase where a person feels excited to see new things and meet new people. The crises/culture shock phase follows, where a person gets disoriented and does not want to confront the new culture. The adjustment phase is when a person begins to feel relaxed and starts to use humor to understand new situations. Finally, the adaptation phase is when a person assumes responsibility for cultural adjustment and becomes more willing to try. You can prepare for culture shock by educating yourself about what you’re going to experience, recognizing the assumptions you and other people have, and immersing yourself in the culture while respecting boundaries. Some strategies to navigating culture shock are educating yourself, being realistic, knowing your destination, preparation, reflection, learning the language, understanding why culture matters, being open and trusting, making a friend, focusing on what you can control, recognizing your own culture, and watching for the symptoms of culture shock. Culture shock is not always a negative experience. It is inevitable, but it can lead to personal growth, a heightened sense of awareness, and fresh perspectives for your community.

Measuring What Matters: Social Impact Metrics

Maria Kim from The Cara Program talked with us about how to measure social impact. The project prepares and inspires individuals to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty through job placements and providing life and career skills, creating pathways to real and lasting success. The program’s name comes from the Gaelic word for “friend,” coming from the philosophy that everybody needs a friend, especially during hard times

Maria mentioned the difficult task of quantitative data with harder to measure, esoteric qualitative data that is so important to projects dealing with social change. Here are some guidelines she suggested for measuring social impact.

• Self-compass. Be sure to begin with your end goals in mind, and create an equation for success that will lead to your desired achievement.
• Aim well. Differentiate your efforts to push an activity from your desired outcomes, and use history and sound assumptions to design a way to measure these fields.
• Be relevant. Measure early and often, and use data to make informed decisions about your organization. Also, be sure to get an outside perspective on your data to make sure it’s easy to understand. Numbers won’t mean anything if nobody gets them!
• Be visible. Present your data in a digestible and pretty form, making sure to provide adequate context and transparency for your audience.
• Think bigger. When talking with investors, lead with the “ugly” parts or problem areas of your organization. Not only will potential funders appreciate an honest dialogue, these areas are where innovation will actually happen and where their funds will be put to use to improve your organization.
• Be real. Remember what you’re working for, and be sure to share the humanity behind your project. The people you’re helping should be at the heart of your organization.

Maria can be contacted at mkim@thecaraprogram.org.

Gina Pollack came to GES to talk about the Inside Out project, a global collaboration art project started by photography for social change artist, JR, that she is a part of. JR started out as a street artist in Paris scaling rooftops and tagging with graffiti art, but recognized that it is not just the art itself that is important, but also what you choose to do with it. In 2007, he began a campaign in which he depicted both an Israeli and a Palestinian who share the same occupation and pasted the photos side by side on the separation wall and in eight cities, and sparked the question of whether or not you could tell who was who. This gained attention and made it clear the need for art as a powerful medium to ask questions and portray important issues. The project was expanded to more and more captivating and varying applications using these portraits as a means of sparking conversation. JR’s work earned him a TED talk, and with it he was granted a wish. He decided to further the Inside Out project to make it a global initiative that would allow people all over the world to do what he was doing regardless of social status, income, or location. People would be able to send in their photos and in return get huge posters back free to make impactful statements through art in their communities.  One anecdote in particular showed how art can transcend political (and literal) borders when nothing else can. This was the story of people in Jaurez, Mexico who decided to counter the negative, violent depictions of their city by taking portraits of daily life and posting them to make the words “Amor” and “Peace” on the Mexican and American sides of the border respectively. Even when stopped at the border, upon explaining their mission, they were allowed to proceed.  Janitors in St. Louis used the medium to fight against their invisibility and remind the public of their need for recognition. A campaign in South Korea humanized many North Koreans by portraying the happy and smiling faces that could look familiar to anyone, and not clearly stand out as enemies. Many other vignettes showed how far reaching this project has been and how valuable art can be as a catalyst for social change.

The second speaker, Grace Aneiza Ali, talked about another level of catalysis in her motivating question “How can absence be a catalyst?” She brought in her personal story to contextualize her usage of art for social change and her own motivation. She grew up in the poverty of a town in Guyana, a country referred to as an “impoverished beauty.” Not having enough money to afford notebooks for school work and a creative mind, she went around collecting paper and sewed together and decorated notebooks herself. She treasured the notebooks for all of their value and specialness, and later learned the lesson of what power and creativity can grow out of absence of something, in her case of money and supplies. With this motivation and her growing interests in art and social activism, when she found a lack of a platform for artists focusing on social change, she decided to create one from scratch. She explained how what today is the online magazine Of Note grew from just a monthly email to a complete, flourishing non-forprofit organization. She highlighted some very interesting artists from the magazine, including a painter, Stephen Bennett, who paints towering portraits of young girls living in indigenous communities in the world to show their vibrancy and share a bit of their stories to counter their invisibility in the mainstream media. She also told us about an NU Alum, Osato Dixon, who used his own story of growing up in the US as an albino as a starting place for his documentary of the life of albino children and adults living in Africa where they are seen as outcasts and are not understood. We watched an amazing little boy talk eloquently about his experiences and see how his life is complicated further by the ever-present issues of poverty and HIV he deals with. Grace left us with some striking questions to think about along with her theme of creating something out of absence. She posed, “who is not in this summit that should be?” and followed with “who are you not talking to when it comes to your projects?” These questions and both these women’s causes were compelling and inspiring and each of them such amazing resources for those interested in using art as a means of social change.

Power of the Press: How to Effectively Talk to Journalists

A changemaker’s most important skill may be the ability to talk about his or her project. But how do project leaders get that opportunity? Media strategist Joanna Klonsky had the answer. In a Friday morning workshop, Klonsky used her experience in public relations to teach the delegates how they can connect with the press. Delegates learned the basics of writing media advisories and press releases, making phone calls to reporters, and publicly establishing their expertise within their fields. Leaving the workshop, delegates gained practical skills – and more importantly, greater confidence – that will equip them to increase the public awareness of their projects.

The Tipping Point: Knowing When and How to Responsibly Transition Your Project

In this workshop the delegates discussed three main questions posed by Gordon Davis: How will you personally transition through and eventually out of your project? How will the NGO you’re creating or working with itself transition over time?  Have you chosen a mission that can produce meaningful change, or are you wasting your time?

These were challenging questions to face, and the delegates rose to the occasion. The delegates discussed some of the issues that have affected their own projects related to these three questions. They discussed the Founder’s syndrome of wanting to control the organization forever, but understanding that this is usually an unsustainable goal. They debated the need for a business plan for when they leave their organization in order for it to continue after they have left. Gordon Davis raised the SMART goals – Specific, Measureable, Maintainable, Relevant, Time-bound – as essential goals throughout an organization’s life. The delegates discussed these goals, raising the challenges of metrics to show impact and maintaining funding over time.

Team-building Through Communication Design

Cheryl Heller from Design for Social Innovation led this workshop in which she talked about the importance of communication and relationships.  Heller asserted that relationships are more important than ideas, money or technology because they are how everything comes about and is sustained.  Communication’s importance stems from its power to develop these relationships.

Heller had the workshop attendees draw their dreams, and then pass them along without talking so that they could add to each other’s drawings.  Attendees then grouped up with others who shared aspects of their visions and created a shared vision, mapped their assets, created a strategy for getting to that vision. Heller repeatedly spoke about the essential nature of a shared vision to guide change. She urged delegates to never skip the work of becoming a group instead of a collection of individuals.  She summarized the steps of the creative process as seeing, mapping, envisioning, strategizing, prototyping, engaging and amplifying. Heller ended the workshop by urging delegates to not be discouraged by failures because failures provide the seeds or roots of future success.  To learn more about Heller’s work follow her on twitter, @cherylheller and check out the group’s website http://dsi.sva.edu/.

Expanding Your Impact: Scalability and Replicability in Social Change

Patty Morrissey, manager of Groupon Grassroots, spoke on strategies on how to expand the reach of existing projects. The first step in being replicating, she stated, is to insure sustainability. From there, to reach the grand vision of impacting people on a grand scale requires taking practical steps. She outlined the process of developing a project by asking the questions: What are the world’s unmet needs? What are your unique assets? Where do they converge? The answers to these questions then become the basis of an organization.

Patty then had the delegates split up into smaller groups based on the topic areas of their projects to both build networks as well as help each other identify key factors in expanding their type of project. She had everyone brainstorm how to document what they were already doing and how to document it for replication, how to identify partnerships, how to develop talent, and how to use technology as a resource in projects. She reminded everyone that the most important supporters are the first five or ten people to be on board. She ended with offering resources, and encouraging people to reach out to people already doing the work.

Building Bridges: Using Interfaith Leadership for Community Development

Adam Garner and Rachel Breck joined us from the Interfaith Youth Core to facilitate this rich workshop. We explored the largely untapped resource of interfaith cooperation, the idea that people of various religious and nonreligious backgrounds can come together with shared values to work for a common purpose. The focus of our work turned to crafting a story to articulate interfaith cooperation and to connect that story to the delegates’ projects. Adam pointed out that people have very short attention spans, especially these days, so it is critical to capitalize on that small window to captivate someone’s attention, sell a project, or whatever the case may be. The right stories inspire people to action, motivate the audience, and inspire strategic action. We also realized that the power of narrative can enhance virtually any project, regardless of an interfaith perspective.

Pajonk spoke first about seven themes for successful campaigning. He identified the seven themes as:

1)   Finding agreement by those running the campaign on what the campaign plans to do.

2)   Identifying the audience for the campaign and any partners that may play a role in the campaign

3)   Being as certain as you can that the audience can successfully take on the objectives of the campaign

4)   Convincing audience and partners that the cause is worth the time and their investments

5)   Making a plan and establish a time table with a beginning, a middle and an end

6)   Accessing and making course corrections as needed

7)   Evaluating the campaign from lessons learned both successes to replicate and mistakes to be avoided.

He also focused on campaigns staying on specific message that is relevant to its specific goals.  Pajonk emphasized the importance of communication both internally and externally.  Time and time again, he focused on the relationship between the campaign and the audience and reiterated his belief that campaigns must make themselves valuable to the audience and volunteers because they require supporters to give up time, money and other limited but valuable resources. Pajonk argued that having a sense of urgency for a campaign is absolutely essential and said that setting frequent measuring along the ways helps organizations or people do this.  He further said that causes must plan, plan, plan and then plan some more while allowing room for flexibility and adaptations along the way.  Panjonk urged the delegates to not be scared of making mistakes.  He finished his talk by urging the campaigners to find partners who will help them effectively campaign.

Next Greg Thomas offered his take on campaigning for your cause.  Thomas started by talking about his extensive experience creating cause campaigns for teens.  He also stressed the importance of goal setting and told the delegates to start with smaller actionable goals as the scope of their goals can increase over time with success. Thomas emphasized understanding the audience of campaigns because he believes that by knowing where the audience’s values lie, you can learn a great deal about the how to activate them for the campaign.  The main focus of his speech was numerous models for calls to action. He modeled how to call people to actions for donating, improving a place, helping one person, sharing for good and changing a mind. Thomas discussed how each of these different situations worked best with different campaign strategies.  Over and over again, Thomas emphasized that the projects for social change should be simple, clear, specific, to the point, relevant and unique.  He said that the delegates should be able to clearly condense their campaigns or projects into two sentences.  Within these two sentences, he believed that one must communicate a problem, solution and impact.  Thomas asserted the importance of keeping volunteers engaged through positive reinforcement and meaningful tasks once they get involved.

The two speakers presented a number of strategies for campaigning for your cause.  A number of them were very similar, such as goal setting, understanding your audience and being specific. Pajonk and Thomas shared their invaluable wealth of knowledge with the delegates and everyone in the audience learned something new.

Cord Jefferson, the senior editor of GOOD magazine, shared this and more during the closing keynote for GES 2012. Based on his experiences a writer, editor, ethical consumer, son, and citizen, he spoke to issues of storytelling, crowdsourcing, confidence in yourself and the world, and living an engaged life. As a reporter who focuses on issues of race, politics, and animal rights, he writes what people sometimes do not want to hear – and is challenged to stay invested in his beliefs, when they no longer become convenient or easy.

One of the biggest pieces of advice Cord offered spoke to our role as emerging workers and people in the social change field, workforce, and world. Being young does not mean being stupid, uneducated, unqualified, he said. Age does not always equate to  experience or wisdom – it’s just a mark of when your parents procreated. In the new era of 27-year-old CEOs and creative minds like Mark Zuckerberg, young people have a voice. Use it, he said. Work hard, but do not let people take advantage of your youthful spirit. Hold onto that passion.

Live with honor and dignity in the tiny moments, he said. These are the times between public events, intellectual conferences, and projects, where it’s easy to make choices based on convenience, instead of staying true to your beliefs. This proves to be the true test. Cord challenged the audience to make this our measure of ourselves, beyond our professional success, as we all move forward into the post-GES world. There is a common thread between all of us, far beyond the acquaintances we have in common. Our duty, as people, is to find that thread and embrace it.

Here are some photos from Cord’s closing keynote and of delegates talking to him after his address.

Led by GES staff member Naomi Rosen, the team combined interviews with Northwestern students – GES staffers, other social change-makers, and many who work and study outside the realm of social chance – with lectures, GES staff activities, and their own research. The four actors presented a realm of experiences beyond their own, framed by the questions above. It was designed to challenge delegates and staff alike, to grapple with these issues while also trying to build meaningful individual lives.

One scene dealt with the story of student volunteers in New Orleans, after Hurricane Katrina. For the first time in the narrator’s life, he was working alongside the people of the community he was trying to help – the same labor, the same goal. While some volunteers stayed in touch with the community, however, most did not. Were those relationships, which the speaker found so solid, really lasting? Is that important for change?

The play resulted in questions – no explicit answers. That, after all, was the point: to continue – and complicate – the conversations started this weekend.

Look at these photos, which don’t do this awesome performance justice!

Teju Ravilochan of Unreasonable Institute opened the presentation by drawing a metaphor to love.  He encouraged audience members to find a project or job that they feel as much passion towards as they do when they are in love.

After asking audience members to describe the crazy feelings of love, he asked, “How many of you feel the same way about your job?”

Ravilochan condensed his advice on finding this dream job to five steps.  He dared his audience to take risks and surround yourself with a strong supporters.

In her address, Elmira Bayrasli also stressed the importance of finding a position in life that you truly enjoy.  She told a story about her brother that wanted to be a mailman.  Her family members laughed at the idea, but after explaining his reasons behind her mailman aspirations, they conceded he had a point.

Receiving mail was the only way Bayrasli’s mother, an immigrant from Turkey, could keep in touch with her family back home.  Each day she set aside time to wait for the mailmen. Bayrasli’s brother the happiness the mailmen brought in her day, and wanted to bring happiness to others.

Bayrasli also stressed the importance of thinking about your needs in the process of finding a career path.“You don’t have to do just what makes others happy; you have to do what makes you happy,” she said.

Both speakers encouraged audience members to push themselves, but also stressed the importance of finding enjoyment in life. Check out photos from the final short talk here.

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