Archive for the ‘ Society ’ Category

Excess, wealth, and materialism and how that fits into a career in social enterprise

As I am starting my senior year, something that I am constantly reminded of is finding a job and starting my career post-graduation. This summer, I started to work on case interview prep with my roommate. We spent an hour or so (sometimes more, sometimes less) each week reading consulting books and quizzing each other on market sizing, business operations, etc. questions. Prior to engaging in case prep, I thought I’d decided that I was not going to recruit this fall semester for consulting jobs. Then when my roommate asked me again, I reconsidered and decided “why not?” and went ahead with case prep. But as the summer approached its end, I started talking to my “mentors” (my colleagues and my bosses) to ask them for advice on going into consulting instead of jumping into the social enterprise field directly. The conclusion I came to was that I will not recruit this fall semester, and instead will conduct informational interviews. If by the end of the fall semester I think I might want to go into consulting, then I would recruit in the Spring.

There are many reasons why I have, for the time being, decided that I may not want to go into consulting straight out of undergrad. While those reasons are all valid and require just as much attention, I want to focus on one in particular: salary-level and financial gains.

It’s not a secret that those working in management consulting get paid a lot more than those who work at either a NGO or social enterprise. And while for the past 3 years of my life, though I had been setting my mind to working within the social enterprise field, I had not really and truly considered what it means to work for  a social enterprise, from a financial standpoint.

For me, part of what it boils down to is my background, upbringing, and financial stability which affects my career choices and how that would affect my lifestyle. I’ve talked about this more than once on this blog, but coming back to it — I’ve had a “fairly comfortable” (if not “overly comfortable”) life growing up… and partially I think this is also what made me realize that I need something more than “wealth” to be happy. And here, too, are multiple things going on: perhaps I think I’d be unhappy with “just wealth” because I lack the same sense of “personal achievement” that comes with wealth. And so who is to say that if I were to make something of myself in my future career and made a good amount of money, I wouldn’t be content enough with this? That’s something I cannot discount, because frankly I don’t know how I’d feel if I got to that point. But the point is that in my present state (or throughout my life) I never felt like pursuing a career that would bring in a lot of money would be enough for me, from a career standpoint.

So thus begins my pursuit of a career in social enterprise/social entrepreneurship, what I believe is a way for me to achieve that “something else” that I feel like I lack. But pursuing a career in this field means not making a lot of money, perhaps just enough for a “comfortable” lifestyle. And, to be honest, I think this is what scares me the most. The fact that I’ve grown up living a certain lifestyle, being provided for by my parents, and not having to worry about money is what makes me doubt my ability to learn how to want less and how to be content with a less “extravagant” lifestyle.

And while I can say this fear/doubt of mine can be attributed to my upbringing/growing up, it can just as well be attributed to social and peer pressure. Society — American society especially – breeds a culture of excess, consumption, and materialism. We are bombarded daily with new products or new “somethings,” and are constantly reminded of how awesome it must be to be rich and wealthy.

Let’s take my recent weekend trip to Las Vegas, for instance. Vegas is perhaps the epitomes of excess, consumption, and materialism. Table service at clubs costs thousands of dollars; suites or penthouse suites can cost up to $10,000 per night (can you believe that?!); lounging at the VIP section of a pool party can easily cost $3,000 for the afternoon. While it is not that hard to “crash” these VIP places, there is a sense of “coolness” and even “superiority” to be had when we are able to sit in these places or have the “VIP” treatment. We are conditioned to think that being VIP, having bottle service, or staying in a penthouse suite is what it means to be “baller”, “high rollers”, and just plain awesome. The implication behind all of these words is that: you have made it, you are wealthy, and that is something to be looked up to (in a sense). And being surrounded by that, and to see people’s reactions to this excess/consumption/materialism (myself included), only reminds me more of how much our society idolizes what it means to be wealthy and how that is the ultimate achievement.

While I am not discrediting wealth as achievement, I think there are other forms of achievement that are often downplayed. But when we are surrounded 24/7 by this excessive, materialistic, and consumption-focused culture, I think it is difficult to train ourselves — to re-condition ourselves, in a sense — to believe that there are, in fact, different forms of achievement, and that we don’t HAVE to buy into this wealth=achievement type of thinking (even though I am not saying people cannot have this type of thinking).

Peer pressure is another way we are conditioned to believe that achievement and wealth are synonymous. As an undergrad at a business school, I see a good percentage of my peers recruiting for investment banking, consulting, and accounting jobs. While I don’t believe this of all of those recruiting, a good amount of them want jobs in these industries because their end-goal is to make a lot of money. And to be honest, can I blame them? Is it really so wrong for those who: 1) grew up living a comfortable or extravagant lifestyle and want to sustain that for themselves in the future OR 2) did NOT grow up wealthy and thus want that kind of lifestyle — to pursue a career that will bring in a good amount of money? No, it’s really not so wrong.

For me, I think realizing all of these factors and being surrounded by this type of “philosophy” (if I may call that) only makes it harder for me to slowly accept the financial/lifestyle consequences of pursuing what I want to pursue. I need to learn how to be OK with living “modestly”; I need to, despite the fact that my sister is pursuing a career in the fashion industry (an industry that I also am interested in, as a hobby, but also an industry that thrives on excess and wealth), not participate alongside her desire to purchase expensive designer items, because that’s her future line of work, so it would be OK for her to want that, but it’s not mine. Most of all, I need to start thinking realistically what going into this field means financially and lifestyle-wise and start accepting this and being OK with it, despite the constant reminders that “more is better and wealth=achievement.” Otherwise, I am just kidding myself and will remain sitting here, thinking up some great scheme about how I am going to participate in poverty alleviation/changing the world, allthewhile still being supported by my parents and not having any financial burden at all, until I am thrown into it and hit by the reality of what it really means to want to work in the social enterprise space.

2010
09/02
CATEGORY
Life
Materialistic Things
Social Entrepreneurship
Society
Thoughts
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The Distinct American Identity

Having immigrated to the United States when I was 8, I had to learn English and simultaneously assimilate to American society. While I was busy attempting to do all of that, my peers seemed always one step ahead of me. And in a way, they still are — culturally. Because I had to learn English at 8 years old, and because I had to learn how to live in a new country at that age, I missed out in the years that followed on what many of my peers learned. Some–if not most?–of this ‘pop culture knowledge’ or what is deemed as ‘common knowledge’ is, in fact uncommon to me. I could not count the number of times I’ve gotten the incredulous looks alongside the “how do you not know that?” or “where were you growing up?” comments when I admit that I do not know some pop culture or “American culture” references.

Of course, I am open to learning and discovering what I may have missed out on when I was at home and not allowed to watch TV because I had to do homework. Don’t get me wrong — I’m not blaming all of my “confusedness” in certain aspects of American culture on my immigration, but it plays a pretty major role in why I may not know what people are talking about when they refer to characters of TV shows that were popular in the 1990′s. Most of the time, I respond to people’s glances and remarks with the “I wasn’t even in the States until 1997″ answer.

Pop culture references aside, I think there’s more at work here than the mere “wow, you don’t know that?” comments. It becomes a question of assimilation and just how much “assimilating” is “enough.” In one of my classes last semester, I learned about the assimilationist policies adopted by the Bureau of Indian affairs in dealing with the American Indians, and the assimilationist attitudes of the Mexican American movement, before it gradually became the Chicano movement. These policies attempted to erase the cultural traditions and ways of life of each respective racial group and called for them to be distinctly “American.” We often covered the topic of cultural authenticity: just what exactly is “American,” anyway? The rest of the world, when they think “American,” they think of what we term “WASPs” — White Anglo Saxon Protestants. But that’s not always the case, obviously. The US as a country prides itself on racial and ethnic diversity, cultural diversity, etc. etc.; at the same time, there seems to exist certain societal expectations of immigrants assimilating to “American society.”

Take the Asian population, for example. Here, I will refer to the “Asians” as one large population, but obviously the different ethnic groups apply here as well. For one, if an Asian is “too Asian” (of which we will define as those who may speak their Asian language to their Asian friends, focus mostly if not solely on Asian pop culture), we refer to them as “fobs” and with that, the expectation for them to assimilate into “American society” seems to be lowered. On the other hand, for the Asians who may have “completely” assimilated into American society (of which we can say those who know nothing of their Asian culture, may not have learned or have forgotten their Asian language, focus solely on American pop culture), we call them “white washed.” And then there are others in the middle — which is where I view myself — who have, for the most part, assimilated to the American society but nonetheless would like to retain (or do retain, because it’s partially ingrained in us) aspects of our Asian culture. Along this middle-part of the spectrum, we are neither “too white” nor “completely fob,” where people would expect you to know enough about American ‘traditions’ and ‘pop culture.’

There is a fine line between not being exposed to certain aspects of American society/pop culture references and plain ignorance, but from my experience these two areas have become mixed. I don’t think people have in mind per se that I am an ignorant person for not knowing X and Y about some aspect of American culture, but yet I don’t think people take into account that different cultural knowledge and traditions are emphasized during one’s childhood.

This goes back to the question of cultural authenticity: just how “authentic” can one be? Especially in a country of such a diverse background and population, there exists misconceptions and judgmental expectations for just what exactly every “American citizen” should know about “America.” But I see this, on a less major but still significant level, as the American assimilationist policy at work here, perpetuated by the American people. What does it actually mean to be American, anyway? We boast of our “melting pot” or perhaps the “salad bowl” population, but this assimilationist attitude is really calling for all of us to be “melted” into the pot instead of accepting the “salad bowl” that exists instead. There is no “the distinct American identity”; there are only versions of it. Until we as a population decide to acknowledge the indistinct American identity, I think that we will continue to hold the assimilationist attitudes instead of adopting an accepting attitude towards individuals residing in America.

And, at the end of the day, we will all still grapple with the question of “cultural authenticity.” What a marvelous world it is!

2010
02/08
CATEGORY
Society
Thoughts
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Starting a revolution, in my own way

This blog post is part of Akhila’s “Be the change” series and is also posted on her website here. Much thanks to Akhila for hosting this awesome series – I suggest you check out all the other entries! All have great insight :)
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I’ve been attempting to find time and contribute to this awesome blog series “Be the change” thanks to Akhila, and of course, I am writing this instead of working on a paper that’s due in a few days. :)

Prior to attending school at UC Berkeley, all I knew was that I was interested in “business” and “changing the world” (or more specifically, I used to say “starting a revolution”). Little did I know that individuals such as Muhammad Yunus were already doing so! My friend introduced me to the concept of “social business” and “social entrepreneurship” around second semester of my freshman year, and that was when it all began.

I embarked on a Google-ing, internet-searching quest to learn more about this concept, and ended up first reading Yunus’ book, Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism. From then on, I’d continue to read articles, books, and scour the Internet for more about social entrepreneurship and social business.

I often stop and reflect on why it is I seem to have this insatiable need and want to help others and improve the lives of the less fortunate. For the most part, I think it’s because I have grown up with so much opportunity laid in front of me, the privilege of living in a nice community and have the comfort and support of my parents. Maybe I was too comfortable that I became uncomfortable with my comfort. Does that make sense?

Perhaps it’s why I want to pursue a career in poverty alleviation through the power of social business and entrepreneurship. I happened to be born into a family that gave me the opportunity to obtain a good education. It was chance that I was born in Taiwan to parents who wanted to pursue a better life in the United States and brought my sister and I here. What about others who live in poverty and are not presented with the opportunity of obtaining an education, of living a privileged life? How is it their fault?

It’s not, and it’s a thought that resounds in me and propels me forward. I joined a student grassroots organization CalPIRG my freshman year, and by the second semester my friend and I started the Hunger and Homelessness Campaign, where we tried to tackle food insecurity in West Oakland. I then proceeded to help plan, in collaboration with two other student groups on campus, a conference on hunger and homelessness in the Bay Area. On the side, I worked with a local homeless shelter to establish and implement recycling and composting programs through another student organization BEACN. These experiences have helped me improve my skills and have provided me more insight in ways of addressing poverty. However, the models and methods of social business and social entrepreneurship are what really motivate me.

I’ve found it difficult to advance much in attempting to be more “in” the field (I am so inspired by social businesses such as the one I interned with this past summer World of Good, and projects such as the Allyu Initiative), because I often find myself constrained in my schoolwork and the fact that I am still in school. I’m often impatient in my demands, and too much of the time I’d rather be out there and immerse myself in a community and area to learn about the issues and critically evaluate ways to tackle them. I have to stop and remind myself that my getting an education is an important aspect: I need to focus on learning as much as I can in school so that I can apply it later on.

In the meantime, I have found the Twitterverse and the blogosphere to be of great company. It’s been absolutely inspiring and just plain awesome to be connected to other Gen Y-ers such as Akhila, Dwight, and Leslie and know that there are so many who are interested in similar topics and care about issues other than the best way to maximize profits and how to make the most money. So, I’d like to conclude by thanking Akhila once again for encouraging others to engage in social change and bringing together awesome individuals in this blog series!

2009
10/28
CATEGORY
Social Entrepreneurship
Society
Thoughts
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Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

I’m excited to be participating in Blog Action Day 2009!

Climate change and global warming are terms we are all familiar with and have heard a million times by now. While most of us know that climate change will affect all of us, what we don’t always talk about is how climate change will hit hardest those who are poorest.

The Millenium Development Goal #7 is addressing environmental sustainability, and makes a connection between global warming and poverty reduction:

Reducing poverty and achieving sustained development must be done in conjunction with a healthy planet. The Millennium Goals recognize that environmental sustainability is part of global economic and social well-being. Unfortunately exploitation of natural resources such as forests, land, water, and fisheries-often by the powerful few-have caused alarming changes in our natural world in recent decades, often harming the most vulnerable people in the world who depend on natural resources for their livelihood. [Source: End Poverty 2015]

It’s not surprising to me that climate change will affect the most those at the bottom of the pyramid. Not only will price increases (in the case of drought –> less grains / food –> increase in food prices, etc.) impact the most those with lower incomes, climate events such as droughts, heat waves, and storms will hit — literally — those who are the poorest. Those that live in areas that lack the infrastructure that could withstand severe weather conditions will undoubtedly face the impacts of storms and hurricanes. Farmers whose crops fail due to drought will have to find another way to sustain themselves and their families. The list goes on.

But instead of highlighting all the problems that climate change causes, it’s even more important to think about solutions — more specifically, the role social entrepreneurship could play in addressing global warming.  In reading C.K. Prahalad’s The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, I came across a case study about a company that does just that.

Prahalad sheds light on the work of a rural energy finance company E+C0. E+Co found the connection between energy and poverty: one reason people cannot escape poverty is due to the lack of access to modern energy (mostly electricity) that allows them to be more productive. E+Co conducted a study and realized that the demand for electricity at the bottom of the pyramid exists, and that there is “potential for widescale adoption of renewable energy technologies” because the majority of costs for renewable energy is up front, while “fuel” costs (wind, solar, etc.) are essentially free (Prahalad 140).

E+Co’s mission was:

the provision of clean, modern energy to the world’s poor via locally developed, market-based solutions

E+Co emphasizes “energy through enterprise”; they seek entrepreneurs in developing markets to develop products and services that will meet the energy needs in the local communities. E+Co invests in these entrepreneurs or companies, one of them being Tecnosol, a company that “sells and installs distributed solar PV, wind, and hydroelectric power systems to mostly rural unelectrified populations throughout [Nicaragua]” (Prahalad 144) and has installed over 3,500 PV systems, 20 wind systems, and also some hydroelectric systems (145).

Here, we see a pretty interesting partnership being forged between a company (E+Co) that is the investor and local entrepreneurs and companies that serve its communities and target a need (energy – clean energy).

Another example of a successful partnership working towards sustainability is one I’ve highlighted in my research paper on social entrepreneurship I wrote over the summer.

social entrepreneurship

A successful three-way alliance between entrepreneurial BOP business WasteConcern, large fertilizer company Map Agro, and the Bangladeshi government solved a waste buildup problem in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In short, WasteConcern identified the market opportunity to convert the majority of the waste generated – food – into compost for rural agriculture businesses to use as organic fertilizer to produce more food, generating a mutually beneficial and sustainable cycle. In order to implement the project, Waste Concern approached Map Agro, the largest fertilizer company in Bangladesh that had the resources and capital to transform and produce the organic compost.

In both of these examples, we see a partnership being forged through a market-based approach that BOP businesses to address a particular need within the communities.

I am personally really excited by success stories such as these, and I think it’s really important to remember that while global warming statistics and the situation in general is dire and sometimes seems hopeless, that is just more reason we cannot give up. Taking a social entrepreneurial approach to climate change is one that I am particularly interested in, although it is most definitely not the only solution!

Personally, I often feel like I don’t do enough in attempting to address climate change. I have made adjustments in my lifestyle to be more sustainable, and am (and have been) involved in student organizations that work towards sustainability. But I never feel like it’s enough. And while it is true that “something is better than nothing,” that’s not good enough for me. We should all be looking to be more sustainable in our lives and be more aware of the impact we have on our planet. Wherever we are now in individual progress now, it’s awesome, but that should not be the stopping point. I am going to make more of an effort to be more environmentally-friendly in my lifestyle, and strive even more towards sustainability in whatever I do.

Today, I’m starting off by this Blog Action ’09 post on climate change. Tomorrow, it will be something else–OK, I’ll be on my way to LA for the weekend..but carpooling with two other friends! :)

What are you going to do to make your lifestyle more sustainable? How are you going to address global warming today? Comment and let’s share ideas!

2009
10/14
CATEGORY
Social Entrepreneurship
Society
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Ros

22. Graduate of UC Berkeley with degrees in Chinese & Business Administration. Works in corporate communications with a community & sustainability focus. Progressive. Interested in sustainability, CSR, social business & entrepreneurship, and Web 2.0. Loves music. The color yellow. San Francisco. Philosophy, particularly existentialism. Enjoys involvement in world issues. Let's connect :)

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