Thinking Like a MovementHow to create lasting change

Al Etmanski – SiG Partner; President PLANaetmanski@plan.ca

Dario iezzoni - dario@copardes.com

June 1st, 2010 Rendez-vous des entrepreneurs sociaux

Learning From the Field: ‘BIG IMPACT’ SOCIAL Movements.

• La Leche League

• Alcoholics Anonymous

• Ecological footprint

• Social enterprise - Ashoka

• Hospice

• Linux - open source

• Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) - Obama

• Slow Food Movement

• Micro Credit - micro finance

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Thinking and Acting Like a Movement

• Compelling vision -belief massive change possible

• Disrupt the culture with transformative vision and values

• Beyond organizational boundaries

• Multi-sectoral collaboration

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Thinking and Acting Like a Movement

• The challenge of trust

• Multiple actions, time frames, scales and levels of engagement

• Self-organizing

• Impact, scale, durability

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What is our compelling vision?

What massive change do we want to accomplish?

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PLAN: from organization to movement

• A different question: What is a good life?

• A different model: Social enterprise

• A different paradigm: Contribution and citizenship

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Impact, Durability and Scale

• How can the processes and values of PLAN become part of the ‘water supply’?

• How can alterations of practice, policy and funding contribute to structural change?

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PLAN’S Vision

• Embed full citizen perspective in structures and institutions

• Change cultural consciousness from needs and inability to assets and contribution

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PLAN’S Methodology For Movement Building

Sharing Inspiring

Changing

Doing

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Thinking Like a Movement

• Is more than the viability of our innovation, invention, intervention, enterprise, technology, technique or organization

• Means being intentional about:– Structural, institutional, systemic and legislative change

– Cultural and attitudinal shifts

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5 Patterns

Common patterns, insights and attributes among individuals, businesses, groups, coalitions and movements addressing deeply rooted social challenges

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Pattern One: Framing• Creative framing and sharing of ideas, processes, people and

resources

• Communication-distribution

• Codifying - systematizing - making it fun

– Certification équitable

– Certification biologique

– Indication géographique protégée (veau de Charlevoix)

• Making it easy to do the right thing– Blue Box

– Designated Driver

– Harm Reduction

– Great Bear Rainforest

– Tyze- 14 -

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Pattern Two: Convening

• Networks to collaborate, engage, nurture, and inspire

• New conversations – new participants - the strangers

• Key features: hospitality; action oriented; problem solving; personal accountability; civility; creativity

• Examples– MaRS - hub clusters– Ashoka – Changemakers– www.appartenance-belonging.org

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Pattern Three: Harnessing Market Forces

• Understand economic and social assets of constituency

• Business as a vehicle for social change

• Lever existing grant capital

• Access new sources of capital

• Examples– Program Related Investments - PRI’s– ‘Pink’ Tourism– ‘Grey’ dollar

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Registered Disability Savings Plan

• Impact: 800,000 individuals and families

• $200,000 lifetime contribution limit

• Matching Disability Savings Grant

• Disability Savings Bond for low income

• Disability Benefits implications:

– Raise asset limit

– Eliminate claw back

– From welfare to asset building

• Opens space for new set of innovations

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Discretionary Trusts

Pooled Investment

Fund$160 B

Registered Disability Savings

Plan

Disability Market

$25 Billion annually

$80 Billion $80 Billion

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Pattern Four: Removing Structural Barriers

• External/internal champions

• From horizontal to vertical social capital

• Blend moral authority and economic power

• ‘Do-it-yourself’ public policy

– L’innovation socio-technologique

• Examples– Approval of anti-viral drugs– Harm Reduction - 4 Pillars– RDSP- welfare reform- eliminate claw-back

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Pattern Five: Who is more important than How

Successful social innovators are:

• Bold / adventuresome

• Collaborative

• Abundance perspective

• Persistent

• Comfortable with paradox/ambiguity

• Combines love and power

• Spiritual

• Humility about expertise - personal

accountability

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"The twentieth century will be chiefly remembered by future generations not as an era of political conflicts or technical inventions, but as an age in which human society dared to think of the welfare of the whole human race as a practical objective."

Lester Pearson - Nobel speech

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Web Resources

• www.sigeneration.ca

• www.planinstitute.ca – Innovate With Us

• www.socialfinance.ca - Causeway

• www.mcconnellfoundation.cab - Accelerating Our Impact

• www.marsdd.com

• sig.uwaterloo.ca - Knowledge Generation

• www.changemakers.net

• www.youngfoundation.org.uk

• www.ssireview.com - Stanford Social Innovation Review

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