Alfonso Romo - Mexico

Global Catalyst

(Host of the 2015 Be The Change Conference)

Story told by David Wygant

Taking the first step is famously the most difficult part of any journey.  However, by taking the first step, you begin to move in a specific direction.  This movement is critical to success and to reaching your destination.  Imagine a ship dead in the water.  You can move the rudder all you want, but until the ship moves you’re not going anywhere.  The same principle applies to setting and realizing a vision.  Where there is movement a “success friendly” force is created.   

Also key to realizing your vision is persistence.  Persistence is the combination of conviction or passion for the cause (vision), and faith that a successful outcome is assured if only you don’t quit

So vision, taking the first step, and persistence enable “challenge conquering.”  When I asked Alfonso what his biggest Design for Change (DFC) challenge was, and how he overcame it, his response was definite.

“One of the biggest challenges I faced was to convince donors and allies that something that could be explained in four words could be so powerful and capable to generate a social change movement.  I overcome it with conviction and hard work and a fair amount of luck. Now that we can show more than 15,000 stories of change is different.”

In the discussion, it was clear that Alfonso’s energy went a long way toward “taking the first step,” but his persistence brought the success.  Listen for it in what he said.

“Even in the face of temporary setbacks and micro-failures, we remained determined in our desire to share with everyone.”

“Also, it is been very challenging trying to reach all the schools in Mexico that is something we are still working on. We believe that we can overcome this challenge by establishing strong collaborative relations with the private, public and civil sector, working with other organizations that from all sectors, share our passion about education and the belief that this is the way we can change Mexico… and the world.”

If passion is the sum of vision, energy, and conviction, then Alfonso certainly is a passionate man.  He and his team have had great success in spreading the DFC contagion in Mexico.  His passion has been aimed at finding financial support too.

I asked Alfonso how they’ve raised the needed funds.  What has worked?

“We mainly receive donations from corporate foundations and corporations. Networking is very important, sharing what we do every time we have the opportunity, conferences, and business meetings, being willing to present the project, share the stories and evidence of the impact.” 

Persistence and patience are needed.”

While he didn’t say so specifically, there is little doubt Alfonso has faith in a successful outcome.  He is a true believer!  He’s also willing to work very hard.  To do what it takes.  He and his team are dedicated.

“Stubbornness, you have to be very dedicated and push and push. You have to be willing to put not only strategy and intelligence but a lot of hours behind it to make it happen.”

Have you heard the phrase, “Many hands make light work?”  Alfonso is not alone, and he relies on his team, and they him.  He reaches out and recruits others to help too. 

“Allies, we have to be able to align objectives and see in what we are the same and forget about small difference. You have to let go of pride and put the end result and objective of the project before anything else.”

Ultimately, our conversation drifts back to why.  Why spend so much time and energy?   Alfonso is quick to give inspiring examples. 

Talking to the teachers in schools provides instant feedback:  

“The most inspiring moments for the team are those that come from talking with the teachers leading “Design for Change” in their schools.” 

“Reading those emails or receiving those calls where teachers share their experiences, challenges and above of all, the effort, work and commitment they have to facilitate a meaningful experience for their students.  Those stories are always inspiring for all of us!” 

Sometimes, incredibly inspiring moments grow out of one specific situation.  A single little girl who is a true Superhero can shine as bright as a sun.  

“A little girl form a rural school called our offices crying, we didn’t know what was happening, so we picked up the phone to ask her what was wrong, she told us that none of the teachers or her peers wanted to do DFC but that she really wanted to participated and asked/begged to let her do it by herself, of course we let her, next year the full groups from that school participated thanks to the courage and drive of this little girl… Goes to show, we only need one really driven person…

What’s next?  I asked him what he is most looking forward to in the future.  His answer was in two parts, beginning with the 2015 Be The Change (BTC) Conference.

“In the near future, I a looking forward hosting the “Be the Change Celebration” in Mexico. We are working on the details and very soon we will let you know more about the experience we are building.”

For now, Alfonso and his team are asking that we mark our calendars on September 25-26, 2015 for the BTC Conference.  Following the Conference on September 27-28 the Partners meeting will be held.  The host city will be beautiful Monterrey.

The second part is really where he began.  With Alfonso’s customary vision he sees the DFC journey continuing.  He has big plans and larger goals!

“I am also looking forward to increase the number of projects and schools that participate in  “Diseña el Cambio Mexico”. We will do it with the collaboration of strategic allies and by implementing a communication strategy that will allow us to share the amazing stories of our students and teachers, inspiring more Mexicans to be part of this movement.” 

BIO

Alfonso was born in Monterrey, a city in the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon in Mexico.  He still lives in Monterrey.  He attended the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (better know as Tec de Monterrey) graduating with a degree in Agricultural Engineering.  After graduating, he founded EducarUno.  He has been President and CEO since the beginning.  He has travelled extensively.  He has journeyed to Japan, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malasia, Tailandia, Macedonia, and several destinations in Europe.  He has been the recipient of a number of highly prestigious awards including the Rockefeller Award Youth Innovator; Index: Design to Improve Life; Leaders in Action (CLASE); Universidad del Valle de México on Social Development.  

Alfonso attended the 2012 and 2014 Be The Change Conferences in Ahmedabad, India. 

Nandini Sood - India

Global Catalyst

Story told by David Wygant

Vision is the ability to think about and plan the future with imagination and wisdom.  It does several important things for us as individuals and for the organizations we belong to.  It points a direction and gives us a push to begin moving. Within an organization it unites everyone’s efforts.  

Here’s Nandini’s reply when I asked her about the Design for Change (DFC) India vision:

“The plan is to scale the DFC Movement in India and work with the institutional partners. The end goal is to develop a bouquet of ‘design thinking’ products and services, and transit DFC India into a sustainable social enterprise.”

She related a plan to me that calls for the creation of a range of design thinking products and services. This effort is well underway.  For example, the Design Thinking Guide (DTG) is currently in the pilot stage in the eighth grades of 60 schools across India. 

The DTG nurtures the natural ability of children and students to imagine.  Using the FEEL-IMAGINE-DO-SHARE framework, it equips them with the tools they will use over their lifetimes to shape a better world.  It will keep alive and grow what we know is true.  Children are dreamers, and they have the vision to see the future completed in advance. 

After the pilot stage, the plan is to offer the DTG to schools across the country.  The final stage will be to adapt and implement the DTG across all grade and age levels. 

When viewed positively, and used properly, mistakes made can lead to lessons learned, and an increase in energy pushing any effort forward.  Nandini quickly identified the single most important lesson.

“The single most important lesson learned has been persistence; to BELIEVE in the cause of DFC and to not give up despite multiple challenges.  YES WE CAN!!”

Nandini’s persistence includes obstinate continuance, or, to always move forward in spite of difficulty and challenge.  She clearly identified the largest challenge that DFC India faces. 

“Funding! Funding! Funding! This has been the biggest challenge yet!  The only way to overcome it is to keep making the pitches and get better at it.  Also important is to seek feedback, refine one’s communication, and ensure that it is more outside in, more user centered.”  

So, I asked her what DFC India has done to raise funds.  What’s worked?  Nandini described fundraising efforts in three categories: Domestic funding organizations, corporate sponsors and high net worth individuals.  The greatest success has been with the second two.  Recently, out of the second category, a three year sponsorship connection was made with an Indian corporation called Parle G.  They are the world’s largest selling brand of biscuits and are a good example of a situation where the vision and mission of the brand aligned well with DFC.  Out of the third category, a number of wealthy individuals have been generous with their resources.  

The combination of vision, lessons learned and persistence often leads to inspiring results.  It did for DFC India in 2014.  There is evidence.  What do you get when you gather 500 students from 85 plus schools?  In Nandini’s own words, 

“Over the last year the most inspiring moment was to see the auditorium teeming over at the I CAN Awards 2014! Over 500 students and teachers joined us. Some of the children had travelled out of their remote villages for the very first time to come to Ahmedabad to be acknowledged and facilitated as Superheroes of CHANGE!”

This year the combination of vision, lessons learned, and persistence was celebrated at the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI).  1992 projects were submitted from across India representing the largest number received since the beginning of the DFC movement in 2009.  In the first year under Nandini’s leadership DFC India submissions were more than double the previous highest number.  100 schools were invited to the I CAN Awards with over 85 attending.

I asked Nandini what her most personally inspiring moment was.  She recalled a telephone call she received.

“On September 5^th which is celebrated as Teacher’s day in India, I received a call from a very enthusiastic teacher who was participating in the DFC I CAN School Challenge. She brought me to tears with her generous praise of the movement and thanked me profusely for helping her recognize the potential of her students.”

Yes, it was quite a year for Nandini and DFC Team India.  Job well done!  What’s next?  The upward spiral continues.  The vision is still there.  Lessons will continue to be learned, and persistence will build more success.

BIO INFORMATION

Nandini was born in Calcutta in the eastern part of India.  Currently, she lives outside of New Delhi in the suburb of Gurgaon. 

She is a communication designer and graduate of the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad.

Early in her career, Nandini was in advertising selling detergent and cookies.  Before long, she heard the call from education.  She answered that call and has been in education for sixteen years.  Nandini has applied her energy and enthusiasm across a wide spectrum of education  segments.  She has designed e-learning for the Test Prep industry, and helped set up and scale an urban K-12 school chain.  She lead the design and development of a “school in a box,” aimed at creating a workable social enterprise model for budget schools to serve the poor in rural India.  More recently, in January 2014, Nandini joined Design for Change to lead the India effort, and is CEO of Design for Change-India.

María Paula Torres Laverde - Colombia

Global Catalyst 

Story told by David Wygant

Change can be difficult, but not for Design for Change (DFC) Superheroes.  DFC Superheroes transform the world through the amazing and creative projects that they FEEL, IMAGINE, DO and SHARE.  DFC is about watching the kids learn that “they can” so that each can say I CAN, and in the end say WE DID.  These words mirror Maria’s words when she describes selecting winning projects in Colombia.  

“Every time we select the winning projects is an inspiring moment because each initiative is so amazing, creative and transformational.  They help us believe in the change.  For example, in 2012 our first year, the winning project was a project in which they recycled cooking oil from their school and turned it into handmade soap.”

Maria tells that what they have seen in Colombia, she is sure must be happening around the world.  During an eight month period of time she traveled around the world, and learned how inspiring it can be to discover and know other cultures, and how small the world really is.  

DFC offers many challenges and opportunities to grow.  She has new friends who share the same passions for helping Superheroes create a better world.  To gain all of these things, she has had to work hard.    

“Reaching out to many schools so that we can get a minimum number of projects has not been easy, but we have worked hard.  It has been a constant learning process.  “

I asked Maria about the rewards and specific learnings.

“In Colombia we are inspired learners now.  We are inspired by the children who are changing the world through DFC.  Every year we have learned something new.  There have been learnings about the projects, the calendar and timeline, and about our website and internet efforts.”

These days, Maria’s smile is a little brighter.  When asked about the future, she says, “I want to be a happy person, and do what makes me feel fulfilled professionally and personally.”  No doubt, both Maria and DFC can look forward to a bright future.

BIO INFORMATION

Maria currently resides in Bogota, Colombia, and was born there. She is a lawyer with a Master in Human Rights.  Her legal studies began at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia.  Maria then studied  her Masters in Human Rights in Madrid, Spain, at the Carlos III University.  While in Madrid, Spain she traveled extensively in the area. 

Maria has broad international experience across several organizations including the International Organization for Migrations, the International Red Cross in Spain and the International Toledo Center for Peace.

This year’s conference, the 2014 Be the Change Conference was her first.

Lydia  Madyirapanze-Zimbabwe

DFC Global Catalyst

Big accomplishments begin with big goals.  Lydia is very definite when it comes to her goals.  When asked what her Design for Change goal is, she replied, “To grow Design for Change in Harare, and spread it to all provinces so that it becomes an annual event in Zimbabwe.”

Like other Design for Change programs, Lydia describes how they have to strategize and use low cost options when possible. She continues to push forward whatever steps to be taken towards having fully fledged Design for Change programs in Zimbabwe.  A new step in 2014 is seeking various kinds of support from the corporate world.

Meeting challenge has made Lydia realize the need for being innovative. She has thus drawn many lessons of out DFC. She was also excited about how girls gladly joined the boys; took up the DFC challenge and did “male dominated tasks” holding the trowel and placing sharp glasses on the wall. 

Lydia is quick to declare that she has learned that, “children can achieve more, and that communities where they live provide a lot of support and resources.” Lydia offers the following example:  “When the rest of the school gathered to see the project that they had done, they found that the children had made a plan to ensure that the wall was not a passage way out of the school, no-one could jump over it or had easy access to leave the school through the wall. Everyone remained safe inside the school.

Inspiration feeds upon itself taking us higher and higher.  It unlocks and unleashes the possibilities of human potential.  To this end, Lydia tells that her most inspiring experience to date has been, “seeing children prioritize when there are many issues and options, but yet come up with a simple yet effective method to secure the school wall.”

BIO

Lydia is currently the National Coordinator for the Forum for African Women Educationalists Zimbabwe Chapter (FAWEZI) in Harare, Zimbabwe. FAWEZI is an affiliate of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), a Nairobi based pan-African non-governmental organization. FAWE is a network of leading African female educationalists and researchers, among them women Ministers of Education, education planners and managers, and university Vice Chancellors.  FAWEZI’s mission is to promote gender equity and equality in education systems by fostering positive policies, practices and attitudes towards girls’ education. 

She was born in Mashonaland West Province, Zimbabwe.  Lydia holds a Master of Science Degree in Development Studies from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Zimbabwe.  After 2008, Lydia joined FAWEZI and ever since, she has spent all of her time in development work.  While she has other responsibilities, Design for Change is one of her key projects, and is fully integrated into her current position.

Lydia has traveled in the following African countries:  Zambia, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Burkina Faso and Morroco.  She has also traveled to India, attending her first Be the Change Conference in 2013.

     

Sanjli Gidwaney-USA: Design for Change Global Catalyst

As told to David Wygant

It was a gorgeous January day, 2009. I was gathered in one of the Riverside School,  in Ahmedabad, India, classrooms with many of the students. I remember how excited the kids were. Kiran had just returned from Mexico and everyone knew she would have stories to tell.  

I’ll never forget the detail of my conversation with Kiran.  Through Design for Change, she has managed to combine education, social change, and design.  These were all things that burned like fires for me.  They ignited me.  So, when she said, “Sanjli, you know I need a partner in the USA.”  I said, “Well you have me!”  

At the time, it seemed like I was living my life waypoint to waypoint.  I had conducted creativity workshops in Kenya and the Dominican Republic, but never would I have imagined that some of my contacts at Design Continuum in Boston would have placed me in front of Kiran at that moment in time.  I was at Riverside School teaching students from the 6^th grade, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) inspired creativity workshops.  Yes, I was really at Riverside School, I was talking to Kiran, and I had just committed to bringing DFC to America. 

What to do?  The first thing I did was find a few people to join the team. We wanted to understand the educational environment in the USA.  We wanted to understand the unique needs of American educators so that we could respond in a way that helped.  Soon we piloted our first DFC project in a school so we could learn and fail quickly.  We knew that if we learned as much as possible in the beginning we would succeed later. Two schools entered the Challenge that first year.

Our first school was Pearl River Middle School in New York.  Their project was to reduce negative messaging in the media.  Their goal was to add positive ideas and messages.  The project’s link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_yfrZh9kS0

We started by approaching individual schools where we saw opportunity.  We quickly learned that it was hard to get schools onboard with little credibility and backing.  We didn’t have an educator on the DFC USA team at the time to help us better appreciate the challenges teachers experienced when implementing such a program in terms of time and other resources.  On the teacher side, they didn’t fully comprehend the value that DFC could bring to their schools – the idea of “design thinking” was new.  Touching all of these pieces was the fact we were a team of volunteers.  There were limits to the amount of time we could give individually, but we were very committed nonetheless. We are partnering with colleges and universities through our ‘Change Agent Initiative’ to recruit students who act as mentors tasked to support projects in their communities.

  

We drew energy from our belief in what DFC had to offer the schools and students who participated.  For example, the Share component gives students who are already changemakers a way to Share their accomplishments.  Then inexperienced change makers could see the lessons already learned and move ahead more quickly with their projects.  Share is a virtuous circle of support.  

Through the DFC curriculum, classrooms and schools can once again focus on service learning while they also work on and meet the required educational standards.  The DFC curriculum is flexible and it easily overlays the core education content like reading, writing, math and many others.   We created tools that can be used to document the academic accomplishments as the service project is implemented.

There have been high points and low points.  Without a doubt, the high point thus far has been watching a team from a very resource constrained community, work its way through the DFC framework to design and implement a project they are passionate about; and then go on to win the DFC-USA challenge.  Look for them at the BTC Conference.  They’ll be there!  I’m not sure if it is a low point, but certainly one of our greatest challenges has been meeting the demands of all the schools and organizations we are working with – at a certain point, it becomes very difficult to customize our programs, given the limited size of our team – especially since we’re all volunteers.

Another highlight going for us is the hosting of two major celebrations in Dallas and Boston in May, ’14. We are also piloting a DFC USA Online portal for teachers/ mentors/ students can fully engage with DFC resources and lesson plans. The feather in the hat has really been the fundraising of $150,000 for the DFC USA operations and hiring permanent staff; while simultaneously and rapidly growing our reach through partnerships with Ashoka, Teach for America, United Way and many others. 

I think we’re learning our lessons.  

Now we know building a team and organization is a continuing effort.  So we continue to enlarge the DFC-USA team as our work requires, or, as we find dedicated people who bring a strong work ethic, a passion for the DFC mission, and a desire to do what is necessary to provide our students with the support they need. It is essential to recognize and appreciate the challenge faced by teachers in their daily lives, and how we can offset those challenges through DFC. Find the right partners, whether they are schools or other organizations.  As examples, we are currently working with Ashoka and Teach For America.

Also, build a network of supporters who understand that you are a new, growing organization and are still learning and perfecting your model. Know that there are a gazillion people out there who believe and support you – that’s what we realized through our fundraiser!

We are learning how to ask for money.  Recently, we raised $15,000 in eight weeks so that we could send the DFC team to India.  As part of that effort, we conducted our first fundraising event.  Next we are developing a compelling case to approach wealthy funders and granting organizations. 

We have learnt that visibility is important to inspire, and thus, lead change by inspiring others.  With this in mind, we are creating our own DFC USA promotional film. Also, we are redesigning our website for launch in May ’14.

 We have a lot to look forward to.  I am most looking forward to how DFC USA is going to grow and how the “I CAN” bug will continue to catch on here! We can already feel it, change is in the air and our students are going to lead that change across the country, and in the world!

Sanjli Gidwaney - Co-Director, DFC USA
Sanjli recently graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, with a focus on curriculum design and non-profit management.  As Co-Director of Design for Change USA, she manages a national team of designers, educators and technologists.  Under her leadership, DFC has forged partnerships with notable organizations such as Teach for America, Strong Women Strong Girls, Ashoka, Harvard’s Good Work Team and Stanford Design School. Sanjli has also collaborated with research groups at MIT’s Media Lab, industrial design firms and various NGOs to develop and conduct several hands on creativity workshops for children around the world including India, Kenya and the Dominican Republic. She believes in a pedagogy embedded in experiential learning and cross-curricular approaches.