I think of this I am currently a
graduate student at the University of
Delaware studying entrepreneurship and
design when I became interested in
entrepreneurship three years ago I
wanted to set out to be a social
entrepreneur just like this I felt
completely in love with the 141 business
model specifically TOMS shoes you buy a
pair of shoes they give a pair of shoes
to someone in need what a wonderful
concept I became obsessed with learning
all about it I wanted to base my
entrepreneurial idea exactly off of this
I went out to a tom’s cafe in austin
texas and los angeles california i
purchased and religiously red Blake
Mycoskie book I wanted to email him and
ask him if he would be my mentor a
little crazy but I thought that this was
a revolutionary business concept that
would positively impact social change
everywhere and since Blake Mycoskie TOMS
shoes model the 141 business plan has
exploded it has become a massive
industry for social entrepreneurs all
over the world but one day my
perspective changed in the midst of all
my research I stumbled upon a
documentary called poverty inc and it
completely changed how I saw things in
the world of social entrepreneurship is
there a bad side of good and how can
good become better we can argue that
good is a relative term right things can
be good on a scale there are good deeds
NGOs nonprofits charities happening and
acting all over the world and those who
have given back to people in places
struggling in poverty or doing good
there is no doubt about it however a lot
of the help that these organizations are
giving our free goods free clothing free
shoes free food the options and free
handouts are overwhelming and endless it
is good I know it comes straight from
our hearts but what I’m saying today is
the way it is done does not work we
change ideas we change the process we
try something new every 10 to 20 years
but we’re still dealing with the same
broken system Machiavelli said the
reason there will be no change is
because the people who stand to lose
from change have all the power and the
people who stand to gain from change
have none so who are the people who
stand to lose from change the NGOs the
corporations the nonprofit’s those that
have all the power these companies want
to do good they build and build and
build and they’re on a mission to give
back to a greater social good but change
requires time and effort to change the
process and the system takes work to be
a social entrepreneur takes risk but not
to change when you realize what you are
it may take more time energy financials
but to build something better than just
good can have a longer more sustainable
positive impact on the world we hear and
see words like NGO aid nonprofit every
single day and we automatically think
that is good but do we ever truly dig
deeper than that what happens after that
surplus is drop shipped what happens to
your donations what can be done that can
be better what is the good side of good
now let’s zoom all the way in who are
the people stand to gain from change
we’re in Ghana Senegal Haiti Kenya and
we’ve come in with our shipping trucks
and containers and we dispense millions
of free shoes clothing food whatever you
can think of because people are
struggling and people are in need but
let’s look over here there’s a man who
has spent his whole life trying to build
the perfect African sandal
and let’s look over here here’s a man
who has been farming and slaving in the
fields to grow pounds and pounds of rice
just for this season and who’s over here
here’s a woman who hands those
headscarves every single day just to
make a living and now here we are
dropping off all of these things for
free and what happens is the local
people lose their work they lose their
income they cannot support their
families they go even deeper into
poverty no one buys from the local
businesses because it is impossible to
compete with free so while they still
receive their free handouts this poverty
cycle continues they build themselves up
and then we tear them right back down
every single time we dispense free goods
we create a sense of dependency instead
of fostering an environment of
empowerment and potential so instead of
people who stand to lose from change and
people who stand to gain from change why
don’t we all stand together it goes back
to the all-time famous quote you give a
man a fish he eats for a day you teach a
man to fish he eats for life giving away
free goods is good especially in times
of crisis or emergency but at some point
it isn’t a crisis anymore poverty is not
a crisis it is a systemic part of
humanitarian life the founder of world
central kitchen is a man named Jose
undress and Jose has taken an entirely
new approach the idea of social
entrepreneurship he has empowered people
to be a part of the solution rather than
giving free goods what the world central
kitchen does is they create kitchens in
local schools and this has a profound
impact on the developing area with a
centered focus of creating better health
education and jobs it encourages kids it
encourages children to go and attend
school it creates a healthy safe cooking
environment it provides a sustainable
source of revenue for the school it
employs and creates
jobs for the people in the local
community it increases earnings quality
of life and it strengthens their economy
now there is an exponential difference
between this and giving away free food
so maybe you aren’t a CEO or an
entrepreneur of a major nonprofit
organization NGO or charity but in no
way does that mean that you cannot have
a significant impact on what happens in
the world every single day we are all
our own businesses you are your own
business and I want to leave you today
with three points to take away number
one be open minded to understanding both
sides of good the good side and the bad
side open up your perspective and always
dig deeper number two do your research
you have complete control of where your
money goes and you can find out exactly
what you are donating to and how it is
affecting those people if you just look
deep enough and number three change the
question instead of asking what can I
give to help let’s put more thought into
the things we think are good and
constantly ask ourselves how they can be
better thank you [Applause]