"It is not enough to understand, or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task," so spoke Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney General, U.S. presidential candidate, civil rights activist and a hero of my youth.
Fast forward to our time. Thousands of social entrepreneurs are the living embodiment of Kennedy's truth.
Seeing injustice clearly and facing with a clear-head the realities, levers and hurdles that impede social change, social entrepreneurs steadfastly "commit their minds and bodies to the task" of a healthier, fairer, more decent world. For them, social justice is about economic empowerment, but they -- as individuals and as leaders -- are about a driving, pressing, urgent sense of compassion.
You probably have never heard of him, but another Robert, this one with the last name of Pattillo, is an über-social entrepreneur. Successful in the rough and tumble world of real estate, he has founded and funded the Rockdale Foundation, Gray Ghost Ventures and Gray Matters Capital. Taken together, his social investments have launched or backed microfinance equity funds, life insurance, cell phone technology, off grid solar lighting, charter schools and other enterprises to serve low income communities in emerging markets. He is a regularly accessible to colleagues at gatherings as diverse as the Skoll Forum to the Opportunity Collaboration.
But, that alone is not special about Bob Pattillo. Many of means spend their wealth on good causes. What is impressive lies deeper. From his own words:
"When someone sings, our heart soars. When a child is hungry, or suffering from drinking water with arsenic, or out of touch with a father working thousands of miles away through lack of cell connection, our spirit suffers.
There is a purpose to this pain. Grief can create awareness, the first step towards using our gifts in the service of others. If we choose to be open, the opportunity will come to be useful. And so the world is not divided into buckets of joy and pain, but pain is a stepping stone towards clarity, composure, compassion -- life giving compassion."
Pick your Robert: The power of politics or the power of the purse. Change starts with our ability to empathize, to understand the grief of others, to walk in the other person's shoes...and to live out our own humanity in deeds. THAT is a social entrepreneur.
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