Be Passionate and the Rest Will Follow
Day one of Social Capital Markets 2010 is officially over. My feet are aching, my tummy's beyond content and my head and heart are happy but before I curl up to snooze, there are a couple of thoughts and moments from the day I want to share.
SoCap10 kickstarted with Jacqueline Novogratz from the Acumen Fund, Matt Flannery from Kiva, and Kushal Chakrabarti from Vittana. Their messages were simple - this conference is about the intersection of money and meaning. Collectively, they spoke about the power of creating a new space - when a business model is proven, a "demonstration effect" occurs kicking off a growth trajectory for similar organizations all working towards the same cause.
They spoke of the power of leveraging online networks of connected capital to reach people and change behaviors - networks that already exist and are grossly dominated by the private sector (think Farmville.) Finally, they emphasized the true effort and change in perspective required to develop social capital markets. Jacqueline concluded with the idea that "We need to focus as much on love as we do power to bring about real social change and social change."
Among the interesting announcements for the day included the Jay Cohen Gilbert's launch of the top 25 Pioneer funds who have agreed to be monitored by the Global Impact Investing Reporting Standards (GIIRS). The goal of this initiative is to lay the groundwork for industry standards that will facilitate more accessible impact investment products, reduce transaction costs, build in transparency, and improve deal flow.
Clearly, a lot of amazing work has been done in this space in the last year. But through all of this, I realized we have a very very long way to go before before the creation of a new asset class can be made a reality. Between the current status of this industry and where many hope it will be in the years to come lies the necessity to communicate effectively and truly explore the underlying issues. It requires using the rare opportunities like SoCap, where thought leaders and practitioners in this space can converse face-to-face to dive deeper. And it requires not just resilience by a small group of people but intergenerational resilience.
It was in the mindset that creating social capital markets would take time and involvement from young people that several really poignant conversations stuck out to me.
The first was a lunchtime conversation with Kris Balderston - the Deputy Special Representative for Global Partnerships in the office of the U.S. Secretary of the State. He said "it strikes me that you're here as a student in a room with people who are truly changing the world. I gather that you must want to change this world as well. What do you want to do when you enter the real world so to speak?"
Naturally, I laid out my thoughts - some of them a little outrageous, others much more in line with the conventional path - the natural student dilemma. He said "I have one question for you. Are you in student debt?" I said no.
He said "Money is the most common excuse used to not be passionate. You have no excuse. It's that simple. Be passionate and you will have no regrets. Be passionate and the rest will follow."
As William Foote from Root Capital says, "It is much easier to teach hard skills than it is to teach passion, intuition, empathy, and values."
The second pair of conversations that stood out to me was with Mike Del Ponte, the founder of sparkseed, and Daniel Epstein from the Unreasonable Institute.
Mike said, "I was at this conference last year in a very similar position as you are in now: excited to meet the change-makers here but not necessarily believing that I could or would be one of them. I am here now exactly one year later as a speaker. It is more than possible if you invest in it."
Daniel Epstein then reminded me of the belief that has driven both him and his organization. "Reasonable people adapt to the ever changing world. Unreasonable people adapt this world according to their beliefs. Be unreasonable."
These conversations hit home with me and I left the day believing in the yet undercapitalized potential of the collective effort, grateful for individuals, and with a much stronger resolve to help forward tangible efforts in building this marketplace.
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/3662468562/
