Guest Post from ThinkSocial: Building A Movement in An Interconnected World - A Conversation with Jacqueline Novogratz

Note from Beth: This week I'm researching and thinking about the topic of creating movements.  If you have written a post on this topic and would like me to consider it as a guest post, please fill out this form or if you know of a good resource on the topic, add in the comments and I'll aggregate

ThinkSocial at the Paley Center for Media is dedicated to advancing the use of social media in the public interest.  The site is a growing community of people who believe that social media used by people and institutions in the public interest -- like print, television and radio in the past -- can enable more effective responses to the social, economic and environmental challenges of our time.  For more information about ThinkSocial, please check out the About section of this site.

Building a Movement in an Interconnected World: A Conversation with Jacqueline Novogratz

While there is much to be gained by listening to and engaging with the technologists, business leaders and media theorists at the white hot center of social media innovation, there is also much to be gained from engagement with leaders from other fields who are encountering and leveraging social media in their work. The purpose of ThinkSocial is in fact to connect leaders who might not otherwise be connected in order to extend the benefits of these powerful new platforms and applications for public purposes.

Jacqueline Novogratz, the founder and CEO of the Acumen Fund, is certainly one leader from the field of social innovation whom I find incredibly inspiring and thought-provoking. And, we were lucky enough to have her paired with Pat Mitchell at the Paley Center for Media recently for a conversation titled “Building a Movement in an Interconnected World.”

As you will observe from the video we’ve put together, Jacqueline uses the power of examples and personal stories to make the case for greater moral leadership and pragmatic, market-based approaches that enable people to earn their way out of poverty and improve their health. While Jacqueline and the Acumen Fund are the first to admit that Acumen is still relatively small and has much to learn, without question its measurable impact through investments in the developing world is one of the real success stories of social enterprise and a beacon light for future endeavors. But, Jacqueline and Acumen are beacons for more than just social enterprise. Her stories also reveal the importance of social media to development.

Her stories manifest the power of social media to bring about a new global consensus for action on poverty and health — one story, one conversation, one call to action at a time. People can now talk in spite of geographic, economic and ethnic differences. And, with this new capability people – particularly those dedicated to development — are in fact finding tremendous insight and inspiration through their social media interactions because of these differences.

The distance between a social enterprise investor, a program officer, or a policy maker or citizen in the United States and a person in the slums of Kenya or India participating in an economic development or health social enterprise has never been smaller. We can now discuss, highlight and organize around the initiatives that work. Acumen is one such initiative and its use of social media is one such example for how this new capability is radically expanding the circle of social concern we all feel and the possibilities for acting on those concerns in mutually beneficial ways.

Please watch the video (4 Parts) and let us know your thoughts. What examples have you seen that further exemplify social media’s role in helping to affect social change?  Who else should we be highlighting here at ThinkSocial? Which individuals, initiatives or organizations are leading the way in their use of social media in the public interest?

We would love to hear from you!

Building a Movement in an Interconnected World: A Conversation with Jacqueline Novogratz (Part 1)

In the the first part of this talk Jacqueline discusses mainstream media’s coverage of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 and how it compared to social media and Twitter’s role in connecting Iranian people with the rest of the world following the recent controversial elections.

Building a Movement in an Interconnected World: A Conversation with Jacqueline Novogratz (Part 1)

In the the first part of this talk Jacqueline discusses mainstream media’s coverage of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 and how it compared to social media and Twitter’s role in connecting Iranian people with the rest of the world following the recent controversial elections.

Building a Movement in an Interconnected World: A Conversation with Jacqueline Novogratz (Part 2)

In Part 2 of this talk Jacqueline talks about Pakistan and the opportunities to create a global community around the people who are trying to create positive and lasting change in the country. She emphasizes how important journalists are in helping to tell stories, both internally and from the outside and how these stories have the potential to reach more people through social media channels.

Building a Movement in an Interconnected World: A Conversation with Jacqueline Novogratz (Part 3)

In Part 3, Pat Mitchell asks whether we need moral leadership in social media. Jacqueline discusses how leaders in fact have a moral obligation and need to recognize the responsibility that comes with being ‘connected’. Jacqueline also talks at length about the Rwanda Genocide and how it would have been significantly different had social media been as prevalent then as it is now.

Building a Movement in an Interconnected World: A Conversation with Jacqueline Novogratz (Part 4)

In the final part of Jacqueline’s discussion with Pat Mitchell, she tells a moving story of an encounter in a Nairobi slum with Jane, a former prostitute, whose dreams of escaping poverty, of becoming a doctor and of getting married were fulfilled in an unexpected way. She first told this story at TED, however in this version she talks about the role of social media and how it has provided an incredible feedback mechanism, allowing individuals in the Nairobi slum to comment on and discuss her TED talk through sites such as Digg.com.

This post was published on the Think Social site here and is being republished with permission.

Comments

[Tammy Noteboom]

I should have this book because I am fascinated by Jacqueline's story, and by how I can make a difference in the world. I've long thought that so much of our "charity" doesn't respect the dignity of the people we serve, and I'm interested in reading Jacqueline's perspective.

[Gayle Thorsen]

Possible resources:

http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/2009/07/23/creating-movements/

http://www.webinknow.com/2009/06/zerotrash-shows-how-to-create-a-social-media-grassroots-movement.html

http://thinkingaboutmedia.com/2009/06/the-challenge-of-communicating-in-a-connected-society-and-what-that-means-to-facebook-causes/

[Anna]

I had the opportunity to see Jacqueline speak at TED Talk @ State Department. Her thoughts and work through Acumen Fund of innovative ways to alleviate poverty are inspiring. It is only through this true understanding of the people we serve, will we be able to get to the roots of many of our social problems. We can only hope that more and more organizations look at approaches such as hers for direction and inspiration.