Technology and Communications Team
Log # 5
By Winnie Chan
Although when we proposed the idea to make the “Capture the Storm”
video and enter the contest at the last minute right before the
break, we did a pretty good job. We hunted down most of the people
that we needed and filmed them all within two days. AJ and Eric
spent their break putting it together and they finally finished on
the day before the deadline. However, we found out that the
deadline has been extended, so we have even more time to put it
together and make it even better. I bet we can win this contest! By
making this video, we are able to work as team on putting this
together and getting to know our classmates better. We are able to
get the name out to the public in hopes that more people at St.
John’s will know about GLOBE. Also, with the prize money that we
could win we’ll be able to donate to GLOBE which means more money
to change the lives of more people.
In Muhammad Yunus’, Creating a World Without Poverty, he
mentions that with Grameen bank going well, he thinks that it is
time to broaden the market place. He first created Grameen
Healthcare Trust (GHT) a not-for-profit company and then Grameen
Health Care Services (GHS), which is a for-profit company. So if an
investor wanted to invest their money, they would invest it in GHT
which funds GHS. When Tom Bevan and Milla Sunde visited Grameen
Bank and the village; they fell in love with it. Tom even wrote a
song about the story of a borrower of the bank. They later came
back to make a music video in the village. By them doing this they
basically provided free advertising for the bank and created
awareness about poverty and how to help resolve it. This is similar
to what we are going to do with the “Capture the Storm”
video.
Yunus also asked a very good question that many people had: “Why
should anyone in their right mind invest his hard-earned money in
something that yields no financial return?” And it is true, if you
thinking like a businessman, however he also make a good point
defending his stance. Even though you do not make a profit from the
investment, it does not mean that you get nothing back in return.
You may not get a profit but, you do get your money back and end up
owning part of the company.
I agree with Yunus on this statement, “I told him that I don’t
believe in hybrid business models… Companies that espouse these
programs often do so and genuinely feel uncomfortable over the fact
that their social concerns have been left behind in the crush of
daily business.” Many companies decide to use a hybrid method of
business only to make themselves look good, which probably helps to
improve their business. Some use this method only to get rid
of their own guilt. Either way, they only do it out of selfishness
or guilt, not out of love or caring.
Marketing and Fundraising Team
Log # 5
By Valerie Rodriguez
This week has definitely been great. The marketing team had two
meetings with Institutional Advancement and Jennifer Maizel, where
AJ, Yvonne and I were present. It was a very productive meeting
where we learned ways to take advantage of St. John’s fundraising
services. It is truly amazing how much one can do in order to reach
out to our alumnus. We are planning on reaching out to everyone
through electronic funding, which are emails with a video to inform
our audience about GLOBE. Then the emails are tracked by those in
Institutional Advancement and once we get a more concrete list of
those interested in the program, we send out the official donor
letters with donation forms.
I was very interested in this idea because it is something that we
can track and at the end of the semester we can contact these
people and provide them with a video of our
end-of-semester-presentations. The marketing team will further look
into this project on Tuesday at 6pm where we will discuss the
details with the rest of the members that were not present.
During our meeting with Jennifer Maizel, we confirmed that going
through STJ vendors wouldn’t be efficient for ordering our tote
bags for GLOBE DAY. However, we finally ordered the tote bags,
which is a big step forward in our preparation for this event. We
are looking forward to this week in order to finalize most of our
plans and preparations for this event.
One of the things Dr. Sama assigned to us was an article called
“Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition.” I found myself
very interested in this article because it explained what social
entrepreneurship was and described the differences between
entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship. Social
entrepreneurship is a combination of having the passion of social
mission with business discipline which brings out the increased
awareness of social inequalities worldwide. What makes social
entrepreneurship unique from entrepreneurship is that it gears
towards solution for long-term problems instead of short term
interests. People like Muhammad Yunus fit this definition since he
came up with this brilliant idea of servicing the poor in such a
way that strengthens their living standards.
Entrepreneurs are so gripped by the opportunity to change things
that they possess a desire to demolish the condition of things.
This is not the end result of a social entrepreneur, as I just
described with Yunus’s case, as they are driven by altruism instead
of money/profits. However, both do have something very important in
common; the pursue of making their visions and ideas reality. A
great example of this is when Yunus confronted the system in
Bangladesh and lend a total of $27 to 42 women in Jobra. He made
his vision of proving the poor were a good credit risk, and so he
proved it so well that his operations globalized.
At times, it is difficult to consider people like Muhammad Yunus as
entrepreneurs because we are so stuck on the idea of entrepreneurs
simply wanting just money and profit from their visions and
ideas. Well, what about bettering the lives of others? Or giving
the less fortunate the opportunity to truly become fortunate? This
article definitely makes that distinction between both sorts of
entrepreneurs and how it fits into our world today.
Finance and Risk Assessment
Team
Log # 5
By Abiola Ayinde
Social entrepreneurship is often neglected as one of the most
important constructs of entrepreneurship. And as for Management
4310, I think most of us students get caught up in the idea of
microfinance and tend to forget our roles first and foremost as
entrepreneurs working in social environments to change lives. I was
therefore pleased to see social entrepreneurship as a part of the
course because I think it is the most powerful and the driving
force behind me taking this class. This emanates just from the
power of ideas providing the drive for changing lives all around
the world.
One of the major factors that made me decide to take MGT 4310 was
being able to change lives. Even though I was not foreign to the
idea of microfinance and micro loans, I felt such a huge joy and
profound satisfaction to an extent that I was at last going to
impact the lives of people that I may have been in the same
situation as. In the Root Capital video, I could feel the people’s
pain deep in my marrow. I might not be rich enough to create such
social change in many third world countries, especially Nigeria
from which I hail, but the fact that I can actually see changes in
the lives of people makes me want to do much more when I have more
resources to do so.
One conclusion I can make from social entrepreneurship is that
sometimes it might take an external factor to jumpstart dormancy in
societies with unlimited potential to create wealth and improve the
lives of their people. I can tell this from my own personal
experience. While growing up back home, it was a trite statement to
say that “we cannot help ourselves at this point in our lives; only
someone from elsewhere can bring a change”. In as much as this is
such a sad statement to utter, it was very realistic. The basic
element of trust that was supposed to exist between people of a
community and their governments, especially, was missing. Most
believed that people in government did not have an agenda to serve
them anymore. They were on their own, waiting for a miracle to
happen. The creators of these miracles happen to be firms like
Ashoka. They awaken long dead dreams of people who can lead better
lives and expect greater for their children and other generations
to come.
This is the latent effect of a social entrepreneur; rekindle
shattered dreams and build on them while inspiring people not to
believe in the status quo but know that their conditions can be
improved. This should be a focus of class members every time; that
we are social entrepreneurs bringing change, both individually and
to communities.
Accounting and Program Audit
Team
Log # 5
By Patrick Cassidy
This is our fifth log and I’m beginning to see progress towards
each team goal and in particular, the accounting goals we’ve set
for ourselves. There has been increased enthusiasm in our
approach to simplifying and increasing the impact of our team on
the overall fund. I’ve learned that the Accounting Team is
the backbone to the success of the organization in maintaining
proper and efficient records and keeping track of distributions and
monetary allocation. The draft version of our index analysis’
have been completed and redrafts and finalizations are currently in
progress. I’m excited for the information session coming up
as well as our major event in Marillac Terrace in April. It’s
important for us to voice the purpose of our class and the impact
we’re making throughout the world. I think it’s especially
exciting to see that St. John’s does a lot for the local community
and communities it’s located but we’re able to show that we’ve
started to make a footprint in foreign nations and helping the
extremely less fortunate out of poverty. It truly is an
exciting time for me, GLOBE and St. John’s.
In the book How to Change the World by David Bornstein,
he lists six qualities of successful entrepreneurs, seeing as I and
everyone else in my class, including Dr. Sama, are all
entrepreneurs, these qualities are especially important in
providing direction for GLOBE. The six qualities are:
Willingness to Self-Correct, Willingness to Share Credit,
Willingness to Cross Disciplinary Boundaries, Willingness to Work
Quietly and Strong Ethical Impetus. It’s important for me and
for all of the individuals in my class to understand these
qualities and use them in the construction of GLOBE. To be
able to understand these entrepreneurial qualities in this
semester-long course and carry them into the work force or graduate
school, we’ll be better prepared to excel in the entrepreneurial
spirit. GLOBE has taught us this and I’m fortunate to say
that I feel I’m not only making an impact across the world and here
at St. John’s but, also within myself.