[Music]
[Applause]
I’ve been ground bite the ballot for
five years before I was told I was a
social entrepreneur and before it was
explained to me I had no idea what it
was this idea of using business to make
a social impact to affect the lives of
others or communities or even the planet
and when I heard it I was I yeah that’s
me
and now seven years in I’m stressed
I’ve got barriers beyond belief but I
keep going because if someone had told
me at the very beginning I would be here
now just in seven years and I’ve
achieved what we’ve achieved I lap it up
I’d bite there and off but the
interesting thing about that is there’s
a fine line between crazy and courage
and I tend to dance in the middle of it
because every new idea someone will tell
you you’re crazy until you have that
element of success and with me everybody
around me was seeing my successes before
I could and I really had to learn to
embody my achievements and now it’s part
of my own mental health and well-being
just to take that time to reflect on
what has been done on what we’ve
achieved because it makes you stronger
and it makes you ready for the next
challenge and the next challenge and the
successes have been amazing
I mean we’ve we’ve grown by the ballot
from a lunchtime Club in one school to a
National Movement many of our games and
activities they’re there in other parts
of the world now our flagship campaign
the national voter registration drive
envy Rd we rolled it out here in 2014 it
was a week’s worth of coordinated social
action to reach those farthest away from
politics those that are always being
brutalized by politics and bring them in
get them to realize their power get them
to register
to vote we grew it from 54,000
registrations to 1.8 3 million in three
years and it was I okay this is cool
we’re doing some good stuff and as you
as you just heard even the man President
Obama called me a change agent and it
was wonderful and I thought this this is
really great but all I could think about
was the next thing because when you’re
trying to make a social impact when
you’re trying to reach those farthest
away from politics those those most
affected by it all of these successes
are wonderful but it feels too little
too late because the people I’m talking
about it might even be people like you
the people that don’t have the courage
to speak to each other when they have a
different view and opinion they look at
each other and see difference rather
than seeing power if they come together
they don’t challenge what’s being fed to
them they don’t question the agenda
behind it
these were the constant issues we were
face him and in many cases we were
trying to change things that shouldn’t
have existed in the first place so it
was time to start again it was time to
think
prevention it was it was time to think
about starting with four-year-olds and
it was time to do it through play
now that sounds crazy to me getting
four-year-olds interested in politics
through play but the research around
play is amazing the academics that say
that play is an integral part of a
child’s education and should be right
the way through to 11 yet we live in a
country today where place on the
national curriculum at age five an
assessment that a basic testing kicks in
but if you can learn essential skills
through play and have fun surely you’re
going to embody those skills and take
them forward because you’re going to
remember it a lot more I mean when was
the last time you had a little play and
not like that keep you clean I saw your
face as though your face but seriously
if this idea of play could work
then I wanted to test it I wanted to see
if we could give children essential
skills and values through Play
can we throw some of society’s most
pressing issues an difficult dilemmas at
them in a play based scenario and watch
them come together as groups to solve
them explore solutions and I’ve piloted
the concept and it worked and it was
amazing and it happened during the time
of the referendum we’d piloted in one
school with around 60 kids and the
country was being swept with this sort
of wave of fear and division and I
watched these children just explore in
such a beautiful way the way to
challenge each other the way to question
and I just thought if you could build
upon that each year what happens when
these guys are 11 and they go into
secondary school and they’ve got the
courage to question things they don’t
agree but they do it with respect
they’ve got the ability to challenge
their friends to put forward their view
but also appreciate the views of others
and it got me a Lego fellowship I’m one
of 30 Lego fellows around the world this
idea of reimagine learning and play
based learning and that’s cool man
because I played with Lego my dad played
with Lego it’s a brand that stood the
test of time and so if it’s still here
today and many parents and caregivers
the chances are their children a plan
with Lego so I thought to myself well
what other brands are there that stood
the test of time how can you take a good
idea mix it with big resource and and
big brands and an organization’s they’ve
got a lot of resource and if you fuse
the two this idea of collective
change-making collaborating for the
common good that that really got me
excited and I do stand here before you
to say straight that that old cliche
saying this it’s not what you know it’s
who you know is true but there is a
twist you have to make yourself someone
worth knowing and there’s a guy on my
board really great guy he’s also on the
board of Sesame Street and he picks up
the phone he gets me in a meeting and
I’ll fly over to New York and I meet the
senior vice president of global social
impact
at Sesame Street and she called me an
inspiration and I’m thinking well you
know the deal was not done yet I’m
pushing it forward and that’s all I can
do you just got to keep pushing forward
you sell your vision even if you don’t
know all the steps to get there and
believe it or not it just keeps coming
and it suddenly comes true in and you
take that moment to think well actually
last year I was trying to do that and it
and I couldn’t I couldn’t see the answer
and now it’s done so this constant
belief is there and the reason to bring
these brands together as well as this
idea of challenging that ire that that
concept of play stopping at age five on
our national curriculum can we let our
games out can we measure our impact can
we collate our numbers can we gather the
attribution to change we have made and
then can we come together collectively
to advocate to change the education
system because that sort of impact well
that’s a game changer that means that
children in the future will have these
experiences without you needing to do it
and that is what it’s all about if you
ever think about scale you don’t think
about scale in your organization you
think about scaling your impact and with
Lego and Sesame Street the chances are
you can get games into the family home
because that’s another root cause of
poor community engagement poor civic
engagement not having that safe space in
our family home to just question each
other in the respectful way so where are
we now we’re about to kick off we’re
about to roll it out but the chances are
if if this gets going just imagine if
this was present for all of us for all
of you imagine if you grew up knowing at
her look beyond your differences to come
together if an issue or a cause demand
you to imagine if you was ready to take
your place at the table and no longer be
on the menu
this isn’t about a politics that is this
is about a politics that can be and it
all starts at play
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
I’ve been ground bite the ballot for
five years before I was told I was a
social entrepreneur and before it was
explained to me I had no idea what it
was this idea of using business to make
a social impact to affect the lives of
others or communities or even the planet
and when I heard it I was I yeah that’s
me
and now seven years in I’m stressed
I’ve got barriers beyond belief but I
keep going because if someone had told
me at the very beginning I would be here
now just in seven years and I’ve
achieved what we’ve achieved I lap it up
I’d bite there and off but the
interesting thing about that is there’s
a fine line between crazy and courage
and I tend to dance in the middle of it
because every new idea someone will tell
you you’re crazy until you have that
element of success and with me everybody
around me was seeing my successes before
I could and I really had to learn to
embody my achievements and now it’s part
of my own mental health and well-being
just to take that time to reflect on
what has been done on what we’ve
achieved because it makes you stronger
and it makes you ready for the next
challenge and the next challenge and the
successes have been amazing
I mean we’ve we’ve grown by the ballot
from a lunchtime Club in one school to a
National Movement many of our games and
activities they’re there in other parts
of the world now our flagship campaign
the national voter registration drive
envy Rd we rolled it out here in 2014 it
was a week’s worth of coordinated social
action to reach those farthest away from
politics those that are always being
brutalized by politics and bring them in
get them to realize their power get them
to register
to vote we grew it from 54,000
registrations to 1.8 3 million in three
years and it was I okay this is cool
we’re doing some good stuff and as you
as you just heard even the man President
Obama called me a change agent and it
was wonderful and I thought this this is
really great but all I could think about
was the next thing because when you’re
trying to make a social impact when
you’re trying to reach those farthest
away from politics those those most
affected by it all of these successes
are wonderful but it feels too little
too late because the people I’m talking
about it might even be people like you
the people that don’t have the courage
to speak to each other when they have a
different view and opinion they look at
each other and see difference rather
than seeing power if they come together
they don’t challenge what’s being fed to
them they don’t question the agenda
behind it
these were the constant issues we were
face him and in many cases we were
trying to change things that shouldn’t
have existed in the first place so it
was time to start again it was time to
think
prevention it was it was time to think
about starting with four-year-olds and
it was time to do it through play
now that sounds crazy to me getting
four-year-olds interested in politics
through play but the research around
play is amazing the academics that say
that play is an integral part of a
child’s education and should be right
the way through to 11 yet we live in a
country today where place on the
national curriculum at age five an
assessment that a basic testing kicks in
but if you can learn essential skills
through play and have fun surely you’re
going to embody those skills and take
them forward because you’re going to
remember it a lot more I mean when was
the last time you had a little play and
not like that keep you clean I saw your
face as though your face but seriously
if this idea of play could work
then I wanted to test it I wanted to see
if we could give children essential
skills and values through Play
can we throw some of society’s most
pressing issues an difficult dilemmas at
them in a play based scenario and watch
them come together as groups to solve
them explore solutions and I’ve piloted
the concept and it worked and it was
amazing and it happened during the time
of the referendum we’d piloted in one
school with around 60 kids and the
country was being swept with this sort
of wave of fear and division and I
watched these children just explore in
such a beautiful way the way to
challenge each other the way to question
and I just thought if you could build
upon that each year what happens when
these guys are 11 and they go into
secondary school and they’ve got the
courage to question things they don’t
agree but they do it with respect
they’ve got the ability to challenge
their friends to put forward their view
but also appreciate the views of others
and it got me a Lego fellowship I’m one
of 30 Lego fellows around the world this
idea of reimagine learning and play
based learning and that’s cool man
because I played with Lego my dad played
with Lego it’s a brand that stood the
test of time and so if it’s still here
today and many parents and caregivers
the chances are their children a plan
with Lego so I thought to myself well
what other brands are there that stood
the test of time how can you take a good
idea mix it with big resource and and
big brands and an organization’s they’ve
got a lot of resource and if you fuse
the two this idea of collective
change-making collaborating for the
common good that that really got me
excited and I do stand here before you
to say straight that that old cliche
saying this it’s not what you know it’s
who you know is true but there is a
twist you have to make yourself someone
worth knowing and there’s a guy on my
board really great guy he’s also on the
board of Sesame Street and he picks up
the phone he gets me in a meeting and
I’ll fly over to New York and I meet the
senior vice president of global social
impact
at Sesame Street and she called me an
inspiration and I’m thinking well you
know the deal was not done yet I’m
pushing it forward and that’s all I can
do you just got to keep pushing forward
you sell your vision even if you don’t
know all the steps to get there and
believe it or not it just keeps coming
and it suddenly comes true in and you
take that moment to think well actually
last year I was trying to do that and it
and I couldn’t I couldn’t see the answer
and now it’s done so this constant
belief is there and the reason to bring
these brands together as well as this
idea of challenging that ire that that
concept of play stopping at age five on
our national curriculum can we let our
games out can we measure our impact can
we collate our numbers can we gather the
attribution to change we have made and
then can we come together collectively
to advocate to change the education
system because that sort of impact well
that’s a game changer that means that
children in the future will have these
experiences without you needing to do it
and that is what it’s all about if you
ever think about scale you don’t think
about scale in your organization you
think about scaling your impact and with
Lego and Sesame Street the chances are
you can get games into the family home
because that’s another root cause of
poor community engagement poor civic
engagement not having that safe space in
our family home to just question each
other in the respectful way so where are
we now we’re about to kick off we’re
about to roll it out but the chances are
if if this gets going just imagine if
this was present for all of us for all
of you imagine if you grew up knowing at
her look beyond your differences to come
together if an issue or a cause demand
you to imagine if you was ready to take
your place at the table and no longer be
on the menu
this isn’t about a politics that is this
is about a politics that can be and it
all starts at play
[Applause]
[Music]
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