…and it was the most interesting and inspiring yet! Today I pounced on the chance to attend the hands-on program side of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, witnessing how they educate and work with their students through guest presenters, group workshops, and peer-to-peer action learning.

The eventful day began at a well-established IT corporation with a social focus called Happy (once called Happy Computers).Through a riveting hour-and-a-half discussion-based presentation from Founder and Chief Executive Henry Stewart, the students and I were able to learn from a variety of his own experiences of formulating and developing his own successful social enterprise. Henry’s presentation focused on the different ways to evaluate your own organisation, as well as constantly looking for areas of improvement within your organisation. One aspect of his presentation that changed my perspective on social enterprise was his discussion on profit, even within the not-for-profit sector. It was interesting to see how careful social enterprises need to be financially to ensure their sustainability and growth. Other tips that Henry included in his presentation included reflection on the passion and cultural attributes of the organisation, how to use awards not as a marketing tool but a tool to compare to other organisations, and how to celebrate mistakes, not only our own but our fellow co-workers and employees (using them as learning experiences).

After this wonderful presentation, we made haste to the SSE to catch a quick lunch and head off to the students’ reflection period and weekly learning session. After the reflection period, which had the students discuss Henry’s presentation, the students were given the opportunity to investigate their projects, the cultural attributes within their projects, and how they want their projects to be shaped in the end. I was happy to join the discussions and activities.

The first activity was to compare our organisations to a specific animal and describe why we choose that animal to represent our organisation. Without hesitation, Director of Learning Marcia Roswell-Joseph put me on the spot and insisted that I went first. Unfortunately, the closest animal that I could link to my social franchise (which is based on youth peer-to-peer mentoring) was a tapeworm and its ability to break apart in fragments and grow into new tapeworms. I knew my major in Biology would pay off somehow. Regardless, it broke the ice and led the way to a variety of answers to the activity that included tortoises representing durability and integrity to ostriches representing an organisation without blind spots. All in all, it was a successful activity just to hear how different individuals understand their own projects and how they want them to develop in the future years.

The next exercise was slightly more difficult for me – it no longer involved animals or any biological aspect. Marcia had us all break up into groups of two to discuss and expand on the issue of cultural attributes that currently exist within our projects, cultural attributes that we hope to exist within our projects, and how we want them to manifest within our organisations. I was fortunate to have been paired up with an individual who had a very different project from my own, which tied in a variety of different perspectives on the importance of different cultural attributes. This individual focused on ensuring there was a democratic process within the office space ensuring decisions were made as a collective group while tying into her project of creating “Green” or sustainable housing developments. I, on the other hand, focussed on keeping the passion towards a common goal within the organization, which is currently self-manifesting as a volunteer organization (those involved are only there because they want to be there, not because there is money).We also had the chance to discuss how our cultural attributes change with the growth of the organisation and how they would have to change to ensure that the organisation was operating effectively and efficiently within set parameters.

To be frank and honest, the sessions were exactly what I was looking for: an opportunity to discuss issues within our projects, and how to ensure that we are not forgetting or being ignorant of any one idea or perspective.(The whole experience also reminded me of my Smart Step workshops, except it was adults enjoying the positive learning environment, not teenagers – very interesting and refreshing). Summarizing my thoughts and feelings, I wish I could spend a year here at the SSE attending workshops and guest presenters. It would give me a world full of ideas, while ensuring that I stay focused on achieving my goals and turning my dreams into reality. In other words, it would be a phenomenal experience.

[Ed. – Please comment on what animal your organisation is most like and why below….!]