THE OUT OF THE BOX DELEGATION AT THE SKOLL WORLD FORUM

There are moments when you are in the right place, at the right time.  Oxford, is one of those places when this week, it hosts the Skoll World Forum – a gathering of over 1,000 social entrepreneurs who come together to share ideas, build connections and think about how to change the world for the better.

 

Tonight the OTB team attended the Opening of the Forum which this year, has the theme ‘Belief’.  Each of the speakers tonight spoke about how ‘belief’ is so central to a social entreprenuer – as choosing to be a changemaker is not always an easy path.

It started with a video, that set the scene of what belief means for those seeking change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPXbts5XsCo

We are social entrepeneurs at OTB that believe “when the right people are brought together in the right context and with the right tools, sustainable change happens” and so this theme really resonates with us.  We started this endeavour because each of us truly believe that change can happen – we have experienced it in action in so many corners of the world. We have seen what works, and so we want to bring people together who are focused on the same challenges – in order to ensure that change is real, and can be sustained.

    

Jeff Skoll, http://www.skollfoundation.org/staff/jeff-skoll/ the Founder of the Forum was asked “so what makes a great leader”.  His view is that a leader must have a moral compass, an ethical direction and that you must truly believe you can bring about change – and convince others to join you.  He spoke about ‘being yourself – on purpose’ and that identifying that purpose and dedicating yourself to follow it is essential.  A leader must have stamina – and be persistent.  He also shared that he is making a movie on Malala, in order to start a global movement on girls education ‘as it is the silver bullet of the developing world’.  With one of OTB’s main focuses being girls and young women we couldn’t agree more!!

Jacqueline Novogratz (the Founder of Acumen fund and one of those who inspired us to start OTB with her book, The Blue Sweater http://acumen.org/bluesweater/ then challenged us to think about “what is the idea you are willing to live for?”.  As those seeking to bring change, we need to be very clear in our own minds what we are trying to do.  For her, its about human dignity – and this is the opposite of dependence.  Justice, not charity will bring an end to poverty – and this enables individuals to have the freedom to be all that they can be.  Her question that she left us to think about was as you set out with your idea, ‘what beliefs do you need to take forward with you, and what is holding you back?’.  To bring change, means you will be challenging norms, traditions, cultures, and power bases – being clear in your own beliefs helps you determine which battles to fight when (and how!).

Jacqueline then convened a panel which included Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his daughter Mpho, Zak Ebrahim (the son of a terrorist who know works for peace) and Ophelia Dahl, the co-founder of Partners for Health. The panel spoke of what beliefs meant for them and the role of families, mentors and others to shape these beliefs.  Zac spoke of realising a point at which ‘to make the world a better place, it has to start with you’ – and for him that meant rejecting the ideology he had been brought up with.  Ophelia spoke of a point at which she realised she ‘had the confidence that something can and must be done; and Archbishop Tutu spoke about people ‘yearning to be good, and that is what sustains you as you work for change’.

Jacqueline thanked them not only for what they do in the world, but also the ‘way that you are in the world’.

We finished with Massukos – musicians and activists from Mozambique who are public health workers by day and rock stars by night who sing about washing hands and latrines (among other things!) – a fantastic way to end the evening.

To be in a place with so many like minded people is reassuring, energising, challenging and a prompt to do even more to bring the ‘right people’ together…