My First 24 Hours as a Schwab Social Entrepreneur

The World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Economic Growth and Job Creation in the Dead Sea, Jordan, has just drawn to a close. It was a unique combination of incisive comprehension of reality in the present and bold, optimistic vision for the future. The human values of dignity, justice and equity (priceless things that cannot be counted) were interwoven with hard-edged awareness of economic, social and institutional realities (things that must be quantified and measured).  No “silver bullets’ were postulated.  No magic answers were proposed.  A wide variety of entrepreneurial viewpoints were shared.  And we were reminded how our differences can actually increase the potential of our interdependence.

Some things must be counted, and in the plenary and breakout sessions, we were guided to never lose sight of them, e.g.:

• the numbers of young people that must be incorporated into their societies, economically and socially in the next year. In other words, the necessity for speed, speed, speed;
• the numbers of employment opportunities that must be generated to accomplish this incorporation: the necessity for action, action, action;
• the benefits that will ensue if unprecedented numbers of youth become assets to the growth of their countries: the necessity for leadership, leadership, leadership;
• the private and public sector resources that must be utilised with economic wisdom for entrepreneurship and job creation: the necessity for vision, vision, vision.

The concept of moving beyond capitalism to “talent-ism” was profound.  I will spend a lot of brain cells thinking about what this means, and how to turn it in to action and practice.

The remarks by H.M. King Abdullah on the four essential gates of dignity, opportunity, democracy and peace were remarkable mind-pegs on which to hang scores of ideas that were circulated around us in the 3 days we were together. The insight and articulation of His Majesty and Professor Schwab of essential ideas and actions were both inspiring and humbling – we have such significant tasks before us – and who among us can say that any of us is up to such challenges?  But our eyes were lifted up to those challenges and focused with reasoned, rational optimism.

I especially appreciated the delineation of age groups through consideration of their roles (social entrepreneurs, global leaders, global shapers and change-makers), and the vision and ability of Klaus and Hilde to bring these generations together as creative partners, each with their unique contribution to make. In the words of Klaus, they are truly “youngster formers!”

In one group discussion with a 20-year-old Iraqi ChangeMaker, I was quite aware that she was sharing with us a remarkable insight about how her critical consciousness came about and how it changed her life from the moment she “got” it. I was able to follow this up with her in an individual discussion that eventually included 2 other young Arab women, also Global Shapers. The conversation helped me solidify and articulate to myself how to describe the reality of critical consciousness that our staff and I have stimulated in thousands of children and youth over the past two decades, but which I had not been able to put into a short sentence until that brief encounter in the hallway, over the tiniest of beef and cheese sandwiches.

I met many young people whom I will introduce to the young people of Questscope. I gleaned many ideas to share and apply. And both my staff and I will seek to become bridge persons to young people who will not otherwise know about the things that occurred at the World Economic Forum at the Dead Sea.

It is a privilege to start on this journey with the Schwab Foundation as a social entrepreneur:  paying close attention to things that count, and counting those things that must be paid out to reach the goals of dignity, justice and equity.

Curt Rhodes

 

Editors Note
Curt N. Rhodes, Founder and International Director, Questscope, Jordan; Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Middle East and North Africa, 2011

Questscope provides peer-to-peer mentoring and educational alternatives to help reintegrate marginalized and at-risk youth into mainstream entrepreneurial and social opportunities. In partnership with the Jordanian Ministry of Education, Questscope designed and implemented the first accredited non-formal education curriculum in the Arab world, enrolling more than 7,000 young people in basic education, with half of them obtaining diplomas and a further 600 graduating from vocational training. Four thousand student volunteers from five Jordanian universities have been trained and supervised to mentor 6,000 youth offenders. Integral to the Questscope model are strong national partnerships in the public and business sectors, “bottom-up” policy advocacy and a high level of attention to individuals. Mentoring (including children of prisoners) and alternative education programmes have been expanded to Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Northern Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon.