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we're here today with diana 8 & Schanker a social impact strategist and founder
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and CEO of global momenta she's also a philanthropic advisor a professor and
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entrepreneur diana thanks for being with us today my pleasure thanks for having me ritual that I'm curious to know like
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how did you what personal experiences kind of shaped your career and sort of inspired you to become involved with
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social innovation and entrepreneurship well there were lots of them but the the way that I came into innovation and
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entrepreneurship was really more by default than design I was driven and called to engage in work that would
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promote global social justice and I thought that I would need to do that through the lens and frame work of human
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rights law which is how I began and entered this field what I found out very soon was that the way I wanted to
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leverage the law and human rights to promote global social justice didn't really exist I needed to innovate that
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and it turns out I'm very entrepreneurial in how I do that so before we had the language of social
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innovation social entrepreneurship I thought I was just doing my work creating new ways to motivate and
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mobilize people and resources for progressive social impact it turns out we now call it social innovation and
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social entrepreneurship and I now not only get to practice that but advise others on how they can optimize their
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impact and teach social entrepreneurship and provide trainings in that area that's funny that you say that you know
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the terminology has changed a lot because that's one of the things I find most interesting about the field is just
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that I feel like what people are talking about when they say social innovation or
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social entrepreneur it's constantly changing just as the world is changing and so I guess I wanted to hear from you
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about that like I mean do you feel like that people's focus or what they mean
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when they say that has changed over the years and how has it changed I think that it has changed and it hasn't so it
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has in that by using the language of entrepreneur ship and innovation we're quite
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consciously adapting and applying business acumen business practices business sensibility and strategy to how
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we create social change and I think that's a good thing because business as usual of how we go about so in this our
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work in the social change sector isn't sufficient anymore we need new tools we
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need new strategies and drawing from the private business sector is a really creative way we can do our work better
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and adopting the language of innovation is important and exciting because it inherently compels us to constantly
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iterate and reiterate and renew how we create change we innovate in that way so it in those senses I think the new
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language reflects a change I also think it causes a change and how we carry out our work I also think though there is a
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constant of people's desire to make a difference people's desire to have our
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work matter to have our time our efforts our energy and our resources generate value and I think that that's a very
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deep and innate human drive the fact that we can now articulate that and identify that drive in new vehicles new
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options that might engage more people mobilize more people to realize their potential to make a difference is
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exciting and that's where we are in social innovation and social entrepreneurship now in your work with
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at global momenta you work with clients to create customized plans for them to put you know social innovation and
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social entrepreneurship plans into practice if you take us through like when a client comes to you you take us a
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little bit through the process you go through with them to kind of determine what is the best fit like what plan is
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the best fit for them sure I don't have a cookie cutter solution and I don't
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as I heard a colleague sada conference yesterday as a solution provider I come in as a thought partner so as a thought
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partner I want to be a very active and astute hopefully listener to who my client is as an individual a family a
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foundation an organization a company were their advisors and really what their needs are what their vision is and
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what their resources are that they want to mobilize for their social impact vision and then and then we strategize
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together based on on those factors so if I come in with a solution that I think meets all their needs I could miss a
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really important opportunity that they might inspire in me to suggest or have themselves and I see that also is an
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iterative process where we'll work together to create the optimal strategy for them so you're my tagline with
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global momenta and really my mantra is to optimize your impact that doesn't mean necessarily maximize the numbers
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according to an algorithm that I've preconceived it means what is the optimal strategy for you then rather
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than imposing a solution on my clients will create that together as the partners and now as part of that like
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what are the most important things to you like that you want to learn about them like maybe either whether it's
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visiting their headquarters justing I'm talking with them like what are you trying to learn to sort of help them
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figure out how to optimize that's such a good question well the the big picture
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answer in terms of your motivation is is what is inspiring and driving there they're coming to me so what's keeping
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them up at night what's getting them up in the morning and if I don't get a feel
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of you know that that spark or excitement something's missing and we need to find it usually it's there we
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can get that that's probably the first thing I need to learn about them the second is just more practical what are
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the resources they're able to identify and mobilize for for this vision and that that need not be
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exclusively financial and it may be a small or a large financial piece of a bigger picture but what really is the
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full spectrum of resources at their disposal that they want to bring to bear and then the third is a structural
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organizational capacity so what is their style what is their work style do they want to be very hands on our hands off
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what is their their their preferred role that they want to play what are their success factors so when they have been
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in a moment this is something I usually ask clients as a way of learning what I need to know from them when they've been
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at the top of their game when they know that everything's lined up and they're
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doing a great job and everything feels right and they get the feedback and the results that they want what were the
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factors that they needed to come into play for that moment we all have those moments you probably have that moment
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right now thinking about or a viewer watching this good thing I know when that moment was for me what was I doing
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at that time who was i with what was my role if I can understand and learn that then I will understand better how to
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work with that person so as we optimize their social impact it's it's customized
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to them in their needs now you also teach social entrepreneurship at the new school and I'm curious about what is the
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biggest thing that you're trying to I guess teach the students but then also
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what's the most important thing they've taught you those are great questions too
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so um I I love teaching social entrepreneurship and happy and honored to do it now at the Milano School of
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Management at the new school and I've also been fortunate to lecture at other
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schools in other arena and enna bards MBA and sustainability what I learn every single time is from the students
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that there is an unquenchable thirst and desire to be part of this era of social impact if we can call
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it that what I teach and want most centrally to convey is that we all have a role to play in this time in this
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process and our world needs all of us so no one's off the hook and no one's
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irrelevant that it all matters we're not all going to be social entrepreneurs but
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not everyone should be an entrepreneur to make a difference we can understand social entrepreneurship as one driver of
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social change to then identify where do I fit into that echo system maybe I'm an
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investor or a philanthropist that's partnering with financing this kind of social change maybe I'm a conscious
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consumer or a teacher or another important role in this this larger picture but I have a place and it's up
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to me to take that stand and rise to the occasion because the time is now to do so actually brings me to my next
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question so I mean social and social innovation impact it often involves partnerships from you know but from the
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nonprofit's fear from the private sphere and from the government's beer and I'm
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wondering I guess how do you think that the people from each of these fears or individuals or groups whatever can be
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better partners to each other I'm loving your questions so how I think they can
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be better partners to each other I think it's the same way where we're good
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partners in anything that we're mutually benefiting from the relationship we
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identify and recognize that we're mutually respectful and recognizing of each other's equal value and worth in
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the process and I think that we are merging towards greater and better partnerships between sectors as we come
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into a convergence in understanding that we need different disciplines and industries working together to solve
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problems or better yet prevent them from happening in the first place and we're looking in that process I
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think at of convergence and seeing more co-creation and collaboration that necessitates or reflects greater
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transparency and authenticity so that's a shift in power because we used to think that whatever our sector was was
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the primary place from which we view the world and then everyone else comes in or
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out either giving us the power that we don't have them we want need or taking
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from us the power that we're going to hold over them and I hope and see that
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we're arriving at a point where we recognize the real power is in being present with each other and that's when
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you have really powerful partnerships now what do you think is maybe the biggest misconception is conception that
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people have about strategic philanthropy or corporate social social responsibility I'm not sure what the
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biggest misperception is but I think there are I think there's some baggage that those terms come with and and
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perhaps they are misperceptions one is that it's you know what we call green
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washing with environmental programs that aren't really doing anything good for
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the environment but they look like it so one is that that it's just for show or
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it's just semantics but it's not really making a difference the other is that
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it's making a difference but that corporate social responsibility program or that strategic philanthropy
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initiative is a isolated and perhaps marginalized segment of the company or the philanthropy Phil anthropol
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philanthropic program I think that those are misperceptions because while we may
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have started out that way we're learning to integrate and have more convergence
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of those kinds of initiatives corporate social responsibility or strategic philanthropy as part of how we do the
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business of social good the business of our corporation the business of our philanthropy I think there's also a
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misperception of dismissing those initiatives and I guess it relates to the other two perceptions as being
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somehow not as important and not as central to the core mission of the corporation or of the foundation but
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actually sometimes that's that's the most important part and when it's
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effective it's actually embedded into the business well and I actually reach
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me to another question I guess what do you think there is whether it's a leader
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of the company or whoever's leading the particular corporate social responsibility initiative I mean what do
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you think they can do to sort of gain by in all levels of the organization to sort of have show people that it's not
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just oh that's that other thing that we do that I have to do but it is something
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that's actually core to the company or the organization's mission well I think
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the role that leadership can play in sending that message is is really important and it's demonstrating
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commitment and authenticity so if the leadership is committing resources financial time positions structure to a
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social impact initiatives that sends a really powerful message that it's not
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just an add-on it's not just an incidental nor is it marginalized so that's that's one important piece I
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think another important piece is letting it genuine be genuine and genuinely authentic for the leader so when the
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leader literally shows up and talks about the social impact initiatives not as the separate piece oh now I'm going
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to do my social impact day but as part of how I go around my day how I go about my business then that authenticity is
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really felt in its resonant and people respond to what's true and honest and we
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sure know when it's not so so leadership I think has an important responsibility
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imperative and I think a very exciting opportunity to take values the values that they hold
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the values that they want the company to emulate and say we're going to now live
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this through the practice of our work this is our business hmm and now you are actually part of launching a new
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incubator called qik nyc's that right now tell me a little bit one of the goals of this initiative well kick New
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York City is part of kick international network of 13 cities around the world who are rolling out this new incubator
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and we come in after the entrepreneur may have been inspired from an MBA program or a bootcamp or some kind of
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intensive experience and then what then they've perhaps launched a prototype or
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piloted venture but they need that kick to go forward or to take it up to the next stage so we are an intensive
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concentrated accelerator to take the entrepreneurs through a training program that covers a social entrepreneurship
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all the you know the good and the bad and the ugly and the beautiful and gorgeous that you need to know and
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facilitates peer-to-peer learning and engagement along with mentor matching of practitioners in the field and it all
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takes place in a co-working space devoted to social entrepreneurs so that they as they're incubating their idea or
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their own leadership are in the environment of the community of social enterprise and entrepreneurship with the
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kick New York City program as director I'm also introducing a new element that
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I've created through global momenta and rolled out this summer piloted through
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my partner inspiring capital who also has a terrific fellowship program and I call that values in action so I'm
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looking at framing social entrepreneurship as the way that we live our values in
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the action of our work and our business so we're framing the social entrepreneurship training through values
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in action looking at for what I call compass points to guide us through this new terrain of social entrepreneurship
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and innovation and those compass points to guide us our inspiration intention integrity and impact so all of that
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comes together through the kick New York City program and then other ways that I
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can share that with clients and the community and our reading about it actually got me wondering like what do
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you feel like is I mean for young social entrepreneurs and whether that's young
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in terms of age or young in terms of people just getting started in this space what do you think are the biggest
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needs that they have in terms of resources whether that's you know tangible or intangible well I think
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there are several key resources that they need I do think capital support is essential and really important and I
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know a lot of colleagues and funders who say you know it's never about the money
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it's always something else they need and that's true unless you don't have any
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money and then guess what it's really about the money so so i think i think the capital of support financing is
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really important secondly community and by community I mean both infrastructure a place physically that you go to where
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you interact with other people and a community of Human Resources people and peers you can engage with to support you
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to try out ideas to get inspired and supported by so capital community infrastructure and then I think a lot of
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entrepreneurs need sustenance sustainability sustenance to sustain the operation and sometimes that's one of
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the other components the capital or community infrastructure needs but sometimes it's
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just that that you can do it through one more iteration so there's their structural components that we need to
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understand and iterate and reiterate and pilot and then re revised and then pivot
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in the process of innovating and enterprise and for that it's really helpful to have great advisors a coach a
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trainer but those those resources that sustain you so that you're really a sustainable enterprise and by that I
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don't mean the sustainable in the sense of being resource friendly environmentally friendly although that's
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good too but being able to sustain your work those are huge needs I think there's also a sense that social
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entrepreneurs feel like they can create their own thing and they're on their own
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and they're going to go do it but actually you need to be part of a supply chain management so you need to consider
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who will be your clients or customers who will be your suppliers your and and the advisor piece is also really
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important so I spoke about sustenance to sustain the enterprise as being a need that young entrepreneurs of any age and
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appreciate that insight we all need advisors and my advice and approach to advising entrepreneurs is to gather
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people who inspire you from different disciplines and and sensibilities than you're out you already have you at the
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table so we don't need another you actually that's what friends are for but
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for your advisors you need someone who knows more than you you need someone who knows less than you you need someone
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who's more experienced and less experienced I'm going to come from a completely different sectors someone who
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comes from a different aspect of the business process and having the the courage to invite
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those people smarter than you around the table with knowledge you don't have is
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really important part of building your team great and just one final question for you what is the best piece of
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leadership advice that you've ever received oh that's great and I wish I
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had a really great answer I you know the the best advice i think i've ever received wasn't really advise the best
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advice that I that I returned to came from it's just one of my favorite quotes
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a colleague of mine joy Anderson who said trust grace to surprise you and I love that as a leader we think that it's
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all about our business management and the skill set that we need to bring up but I trust that we have that I i trust
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that a leader is smart and has vision and has skills and has capacity and then it's being open to that magic the
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alchemy of serendipity an opportunity when it arises so if we trust that grace will surprise us we're open to that and
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is Mary Oliver the poet also indirectly advises me by inspires inspiring me with
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her words she says in instructions for living a life that I think I take as a leader three things one pay attention
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and to be astonished and three tell about it pay attention be astonished tell about it I think by leading our
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leadership is how we tell about what astonishes us from what we see so being really present and attentive to pay
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attention and then be amazed by what's around us all the time and tell about it
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dan I thank you so much for being with us today my pleasure thank you you