Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Books For Africa, Literacy in Africa, and the Role of a Social Enterprise

An Event Filled Trip to Minnesota


On October 2nd and 3rd I had the opportunity to represent Better World Books (BWB) in Minneapolis/St. Paul at several events put on by our partner Books For Africa (BFA). Those two days were jammed packed with events that made me find my way around the twin cities, but were well worth the trip. One big take away is that BFA is a great partner for BWB. Everything about the trip reaffirmed how reputable an organization it is and made abundantly clear the important role it plays in the great task of confronting the obstacles to literacy and education in Africa.


The events ranged from breakfast with Dr. Augustine P. Mahiga, the Tanzanian Permanent Representative to the United Nations; lunch with Johnnie Carson, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; a conference on Literacy and Education in 21st Century Africa co-hosted by the University of Minnesota and BFA; a recognition ceremony attended by President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed of Somalia; to a South African Braai at the BFA warehouse attended by South African Vice Consul General Gillian Motlhamme. Congresswoman Betty McCollum and Congressman Keith Ellison also participated in the events. At all of these events BFA was recognized for its work as the largest shipper of books to Africa. The presence of such distinguished guests attests to the importance of this endeavor.


Literacy in Africa: A Large and Complex Puzzle


But in addition to respect for BFA and the incredible outward facing mentality of the Minneapolis/St. Paul community, I think what brought all of these people together these two days is a deep passion about the issues facing the African continent particularly with respect to literacy and education. In his remarks at the conference, Secretary Carson stressed the important link between education and development stating that Africa’s greatest resource was its people as opposed to the common belief that it’s its natural resources. This theme was echoed throughout the weekend. There are many problems the 53 countries in Africa are facing but also enormous potential. The potential resides in its people and only through literacy and education can this potential be unleashed.


There was a lot of mention of the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education and that while a good start, it only creates more problems if more is not done. Now that kids are in school, we need to find solutions to keep them in school and to ensure they leave school “well’’ educated. We need to ensure they have access to good secondary and tertiary schools, good materials for study and research, and good jobs when they graduate. Secretary Carson noted the digital divide, the brain drain, under representation of girls in education, unqualified teachers, and lack of research and good higher education as issues that must be addressed.


Christopher Thomas, the World Bank sector manager for education in Africa, also noted that the drive for education exists in Africa. He stressed the importance of similar things: make sure kids are healthy and ready to learn, transform schools into quality schools, prepare kids for the labor market and world, create universities that are leaders of social and economic change, and create systems that work. He expressed optimism that illiteracy is a very large but solvable problem. We now need to focus on universal “quality” education, focus on improving adult literacy, and develop a rich and literate environment.


Dr. Mahiga reiterated the theme of creating a literate environment by expressing the need to foster a “culture of reading”. Good quality education at all levels is essential to this as are materials such as books.


All expressed that there are a lot of obstacles and a lot of pieces to the puzzle of solving the issues confronting literacy and education in Africa. There are many institutions, organizations, groups, and individuals who must fill their role to solve this puzzle. Books are one important piece and Books For Africa is filling that role. Institutions like the World Bank have their role as does the US government and African governments to create wide reaching systems and institute sound policies. NGOs and non-profits fill in other pieces of the puzzle such as implementing change at the grass roots level. Individual donors contribute by supporting the work of these non-profits.


The Role of a Social Enterprise


One lingering question I had throughout the two days was about the role of business and the for profit sector. Where do we fit in? I didn’t get a chance to ask the question, but I think I can start to piece together an answer.


At the recognition event on Saturday I had the honor of receiving an award from Books For Africa on behalf of Better World Books in recognition of our partnership with them. Books For Africa’s executive director, Pat Plonski, told the story of how he received a phone call 6 years ago from this kid (BWB co-founder, Xavier Helgesen) who said he wanted to run a book drive and support Books For Africa. Pat said sure and a few months later received a check for $1000. The kid called him back and said he wanted to continue to support them and the next check Pat got was for $20,000. And now Pat receives a $20,000 check every month from the organization that this kid started 6 years ago.


We at BWB harness the power of capitalism to provide crucial funding that allows organizations like BFA to do what they do. We have been essential to their growth. But BFA has also been essential to the growth of BWB. They add legitimacy to what we do. It’s a mutually beneficial partnership, a win-win. So the easy answer is to keep doing what we’re doing in supporting organizations like BFA who are directly addressing literacy and education in the world.



But I still wonder if this is the only answer. It is clear that we’re putting a new spin on the donor-benefactor relationship with the non-profits we support. We’ve made them partners and even shareholders. But might there be more value in the relationship beyond the legitimacy they provide us and the funding we provide them? What else can we as a business, a for-profit business, but one with a social mission do?


Our decision to invest in causes such as that of literacy and education in Africa is a conscious one that goes beyond marketing plugs and tax right offs. It is baked into the very core of our business model. It is essential to our survival and long term growth not just as a sustainable social enterprise but as an enterprise in general. The cause itself must have meaning to us. We as an organization need to share our partners’ passion about literacy, and we need to care about solving the problems that are keeping so much of the world illiterate. Coming off of a series of events surrounded by people who have this passion and put it to action in their every day work is invigorating. And coming back to the daily grind of a for-profit enterprise trying to be sustainable can be a downer, even if it is a social enterprise.


So how do we create this same passion for the mission at our own organization so that it is something real and meaningful and not just something we talk about and tout?


What more can we do to overcome the obstacles to literacy and education in the world?


I welcome and encourage your thoughts. I think the answers to these questions will help propel us to become a great company who is a true leader in the social enterprise space.


Paul “Paco” Miller

7 comments:

  1. Paco,

    It's a pleasure to read your passion in regards to BWB's role in promoting literacy extending beyond just giving money to an organization. If BWB is truly all about literacy, I believe that it is smart enough to come up with a creative solution to impact literacy more directly and sustainably. I've been impressed with BWB employees' work in the past volunteering within the local community to tutor in the evenings, and BWB's willingness to pay them while they were trained for this volunteer service. The key is to building something more sustainable and of greater advantage.

    I think that BWB itself has a huge opportunity to engage its customer base and collaborate with them to come up with "the next big thing" in regards to creating posititve social impact. BWB has a legion of loyal followers who are passionate about literacy, and these people represent a gigantic force in both the idea phase as well as the implementation and growth of the next idea. I would encourage BWB to engage more actively with its customer base,open up the discussion with them, and from there they will only continue to grow and provide even greater world impact creating a snowball effect of the best kind.

    I don't have that one great idea yet, but I bet enough of BWB followers together could find 5-6 in no time.
    -AM

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  2. Paco,

    Does BWB work with African authors? There are lots of African author's who have great books relevant to social dialogue and discourse.

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  3. Jesse,
    We do not directly do so. But it might be something worth considering. Do you have some examples?

    Paco

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  4. AM,
    I agree with you 100%. I have some ideas, but I too am still searching for that great idea for how we can have an even greater impact on literacy in a sustainable way. I think we have a lot of influence and could use that influence for a lot of good if we put our heads together with our customers, suppliers, and non-profit partners.

    Where I'd like to start, though, is reawakening passion for the mission and letting it flow from there. I'm working on another post on this concept.

    Paco

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  5. Hi Paco - I think what you are doing at BWB is great, not just because of the money you give away. Giving a $20,000 check per month to more than one organization is absolutely tremendous. The way you change the world though is not just by writing a check. It's by working really hard to identify the BEST places to write that check to, to following up on it, and to adding value in the overall work you do and conversation around the changes we are trying to make in the world. I don't think the donating of money is what makes BWB a social enterprise (though of course is valuable) as much as the way you RUN your business.

    Like Carbon Offsetting, the giving away of money post profit, can be looked at like condolences to the church: once you have caused harm, it's all a bit too late. It's what we do BEFORE the "bottom line" that matters just as much as how much money we give, and after my visit to BWB I know that you all really believe the same. Taking the time/money/floor space/man power needed to find books which can be saved from the dumps, help distribute ones you are not able to sell, and then make sure that when you do have to throw them away you do so in the best and most environmentally friendly way possible all take money away from your bottom line on a day to day basis. The fact that you choose to do that, because that is the core to what drives you to do your work is one of the things that makes you all awesome :-)

    How can you take that "above and beyond" attitude out into the world and do the same on the back end of your profits seems to be part of the question you are asking. How can you translate that into even more positive energy running through your day-to-day activities seems to be the second. My thoughts are that, once you have the power that you currently have in terms of donation volume, you have a chance to significantly impact the way we all approach the global illiteracy problems. Giving books away is one thing.... teaching people to LOVE books, how to use them in their classrooms and libraries, and providing the format to teach HOW to read is where we will make the most changes. And, having those books be designed and ideally printed by, for, and in the areas where they are intended to be used in the native languages spoken in those areas is a key to that I believe.

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  6. By doing a lot of homework on where your largest donations are going, seeing if they are providing the best format for supporting literacy education, and only supporting the groups you think are doing the best work, you can have the biggest impact with your funds while also inspiring others to improve their work to meet your standards. I don't want this to be misinterpreted as a disguise for donor-driven program development, as that is not what I am trying to promote, but instead a really thorough understanding of the metrics you are trying to change: literacy, learning, book use, love of reading/learning. When metrics are presented as number of books delivered, number of libraries built, etc it is hard to get at the more qualitative impacts you are looking to see.

    If BWB identifies partners who have the skills to analyze your partners impacts and finds or comes up with a list of best practices with relation to increasing literacy and learning, these can perhaps be shared across the board and will help your team determine the best places to invest your future funding. In other words - you asked "What else can we as a business, a for-profit business, but one with a social mission do?". You can identify which areas you are investing in short term results and redirect some of that money into helping the entire sector learn, improve, and better benefit from the support you are giving them.

    How to keep the positive energy running through your team? Keep them constantly up to date, not just on the good work you are supporting through your partners, but how you are making your partners and the whole sector better by the work you are doing. What can be more inspiring than that?

    Overall, I think you all are doing pretty awesome work to begin with! I love that you are asking these questions though!! Keep on doing good things!

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  7. Daniela has raised some genuine points to the social works field in general.

    We too need people like you guys to work ,support in Nepal.

    Raby
    www.santischool.org

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