Global Changemakers

I remember walking into the entrance of the famous (or perhaps infamous) Congress Hotel  the day before the World Economic Forum began, proudly displaying my white badge along with my fellow five Changemakers and Francesca – the director of the Global Changemaker Programme who became a very close ‘motherly’ friend  to the six of us. The security was in place, and with a wave of our badges, we were to be allowed into the main lobby of the hotel. There was an aura of pride and self-righteousness that surrounded the six of us at that moment. “We are the Davos 6, and we’re here on behalf of every youth on the planet to deliver a message to the leaders of the world who are ignorant of our plight.” My ‘cloud nine’ mood was suddenly interrupted when we were coldly rejected by the security guard on the grounds that our badges were not activated. Dismally, I smiled at this most unwelcome, but most necessary reminder. We were not entering an area of welcoming activists, dedicated to “improving the state of the world” – as the conference propaganda so boldly advertised – but rather instead, a highly exclusive, ‘niche’ circle of the rich, powerful, and famous people of the world who were there to do business in their own self-interest. We were going to be amidst a crowd of schizophrenic bankers and CEOs who, on one hand, were caring, ethical, loving mothers and fathers, and on the other hand, were playing poker with sums of money large enough to ruin millions of lives (a.k.a. those who were, in part, responsible for the economic crisis).

So when – after having Mel, a wonderful WEF employee, smuggle food to us stranded, starved GCMs – we finally did enter the Congress Centre, I had put on a different mask. I realized that if I was going to appeal to any of these ‘big-shots’, then I would have to start thinking link they did. I was going to use the capitalist ‘self-interest’ appeal – which I so wholeheartedly despise – for my own activist ends. I wouldn’t talk about human rights, the inequitable distribution of global resources, corporate environmental destruction. Instead, I would talk about how corporations can benefit from “going green”, or supporting equity policies. I would frame my intentions in their language. By doing this, I learned something powerful – that if we are to create social change on a global scale, we must first learn the art of aligning self-interests.

But rest assured, the barbarism of the participants to whom I was trying to appeal was limited to about 50%. The other 50% were genuine in their commitment to improving the state of the world. And, after my long preamble about those who couldn’t care less, I would like to affirm that this other 50% of participants made Davos one of the best experiences of my life. Amidst this second 50% – who had managed to make it to Davos while preserving their human values and ethical integrity – were the social entrepreneurs. These individuals had a major impact on me.

My mentor, Tim Hanstad was one such social entrepreneur. He works with governments to set up policy framework to secure land rights for women in an effort to alleviate poverty. He showed me how, through his work, he had managed to find a solution to poverty which empowers women, secures land rights, and is of benefit to governments and corporations. He was my first living example of an entrepreneur who had successfully aligned self-interests for a social end. I’ll briefly mention a few others (whose names are skipping my mind at this point!). A man I met from Bangladesh employs underprivileged individuals from minority groups to collect garbage from the streets (which otherwise rots and emits CO₂ and spreads disease). His employees then bring the trash back to his facility and decompose it through an eco-friendly technique that he has developed. Because of this, he earns carbon credits, which he then sells on the international market. With the profit generated from the carbon credits, he provides education and healthcare for the families of the underprivileged individuals working for him, and their wider communities. He too, found the key to aligning self-interests.

On another note, I would like to talk about my experience as a young person at Davos. I would get three general responses from the people who I would meet. In fact, there was a hierarchy of responses – some being more interesting and productive than others. Let me present them as follows, from most irritating to most interesting:

1) The ‘Cute’ Response
2) The ‘Overly Enthusiastic’ Response
3) The Skeptical Response

The cute response, which was all too common, was where we were seen as kind of an exotic ‘hors d’oeuvre’ to the whole forum – not to be taken too seriously, but rather patted on the back and savored for our unique idealism. I found this to be the most discomforting. On the surface, it’s great. People applaud your efforts and achievements. The problem, though, is that when they see you as ‘cute’, no matter how nice they may be, they are unlikely to evaluate your ideas on an equal level, and will thus be unlikely to take you, as a person, seriously. The overly enthusiastic response was more favorable, albeit a bit discomforting. Occasionally, we would meet somebody who would appear to take us seriously, and would be so excited about our ideas that they would offer all kinds of exquisite funding, resources, etc. Here, though, the ‘too good to be true’ tone was obvious. There was some kind of deep inner voice which told me: “This is probably the last time I’m going to hear from you in my life, but thanks for the hyperbole!”

The skeptical response was the one I appreciated the most, and I will thus elaborate on it further. A handful of times, I encountered somebody who looked into my eyes, and saw me as equal to them. How did I know? Simply because they took the time to argue with me. They saw flaws in my ideas, and perhaps even downright disagreed with my perspectives, but they at least gave me the dignity of an equal conversation. They evaluated the ideas I presented for their quality, rather than simply in the context of the ‘cute’ or ‘overly idealistic’ young person who generated them. Funny enough, although I often left these arguments irritated and appalled, I learned the most from these people. I grew the most from their criticisms, and learned a deep lesson about the world in which we live.

The biggest thing that I brought back from Davos – besides a thick stack of business cards – was my understanding of human nature. People are people – whether CEOs, activists, or average, working adults. Sure, I had some stimulating conversations with world leaders and business leaders at Davos, but I also had some pretty mundane ones. It was apparent that while many deserved respect for their self-directed, passion-driven achievements, many just happened to have a charming personality along with the luck of being at the right places at the right times. People are people. Funny enough, one thing that united the people who I most respected at Davos was a piece of advice they each consistently gave me. They all said, in one way or another, to find your passion and pursue it to the end. Success may or may not come as a by-product, but this is irrelevant. Pursuing one’s passion is the highest human potential, and we must not sacrifice it for anything.

So, savor the four key understandings which I directly or indirectly discovered at Davos: align self-interests to maximize the outcome of your activism; seek out criticism; never doubt your potential; and, pursue your passion fully and unconditionally.

Love to the Davos 6; Fran, Paola, Kat, Gaby, Matt, John, and the whole GCM team who worked tirelessly to make this happen; and, most of all, to the 54 other GCMs at the Global Youth Summit in November and the wider GCM community to whom this trip was dedicated.