LAGOS,
Nigeria, April 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Next
week is the 2024 Catalysing Change Week (CCW). A time when
people come together as catalysts for change, sharing collaboration
and working collectively to transform systems.
This event embodies the true power of the catalyst network as we
reflect on the progress we've made in the past and explore
opportunities in the present. With over 100 sessions planned out, I
am proud to let you know that there is a session for you and every
social innovator regardless of your focus.
Register for the session tailor-made for you HERE
Catalysing Change Week (CCW) brings together a diverse community
of thought leaders and is filled with interactive sessions and
activities designed to stimulate systems change and foster
collaboration among participants. It is a true showcase of how
people can unite to bring about the change they wish to see.
Catalysing Change Week 2024!
This year's CCW has a special focus on "Building the Social
Innovation Sector", which I believe is a critical step in advancing
our journey of change. In this blog, I want to share my thoughts on
why building a sector can be a catalyst for propelling the movement
and the social innovation field at large, into the next phase of
development.
What is Social Innovation
As we stand today, social innovation as I have often described
in my previous blogs is like a beautiful building with
lovely interior decorated rooms but has no plumbing, electricity,
or heater, i.e. lacks the basic infrastructure to make it fully
operational.
We have wonderful projects and also some skills projects, but we
need to ensure that our sector has the essential elements in place.
Using my definition as a context, essential elements such as
plumbing, electricity, heating, and air conditioning.
If we can establish a fully functional sector with these
fundamental elements, we can grow and create the impact we aspire
to achieve. By growing together and creating a meaningful impact,
we can work towards accomplishing the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) by 2030 or, if necessary, by 2040. We don't have to wait
until the turn of the century to make a difference.
The Plan
Catalysing Change Week and Catalyst2030 have proven
that when we work together and collaborate, we can leverage our
collective power to drive powerful change, which is why I encourage
social innovators from around the world to Register for the
Catalysing Change Week 2024, HERE.
However, what is stopping us is the lack of unified terminology,
a shared task, and a unified way of how we, as a collective of
social innovators, envision where we want to be not just as a
sector but where we want to be as a world at large.
Two weeks ago, while I was at a Skoll World Forum, a group
of us discussed the need for a common language for the sector.
During the forum, the Oxford UK-
Catalyst 2030 and the Skoll Foundation at the Skoll World Forum
announced the launch of the Funder Self-Assessment Diagnostic at
the Skoll World Forum on April 12,
2024. This diagnostic - designed with both funder and social
innovator feedback - is meant to spark questions that catalyze
funder learning journeys, and offer practical strategies to help
philanthropy shift its funding practices for maximising impact. It
emerged from a realisation that while we all share similar values,
and desire similar social impact outcomes, there is a gap between
intention and action in philanthropy. This diagnostic is one
attempt to bridge the gap and offers many ideas on 'how' we might
close it.
More than 150 funders have used the diagnostic so far and found
it useful in their thinking about philanthropic culture and
strategy within their organisations.
We realised that whether we call it a sector, an ecosystem, or
something else entirely, we need a common terminology that can help
us shape and define our work and get us to sit at the table where
decisions are made.
So, if you share this passion for defining our collective voice,
I invite you to email me here. Together, we can co-create what
could become the backbone, or like I would say, the plumbing, or as
others say, the grammar — of our sector.
Till my next blog which will be after the Catalysing Change
Week… You have to be a part of it. Click HERE now to find
the sessions for you and register to attend.
Thank you for being a part of this journey and for your
unwavering support in leveraging our collective power to create
positive change.
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SOURCE Jeroo Billimoria