Moment of Profound Social Change

Posted by renjie On October - 6 - 2009

Photo courtesy of Toshio on Flickr – The Dance

I had the sincere pleasure of spending the day with Ben Ramsden, UK-based social entrepreneur and CEO of Pants to Poverty, yesterday as he came to visit Waterloo to meet with SiG, as well as a number of other social innovators and entrepreneurs based in the Waterloo Region. Ben also spoke with a group of students at the University of Waterloo later in the evening, at an event co-hosted with Engineers Without Borders Waterloo, discussing Pants to Poverty, fairtrade and ethical consumer purchases, as well as the rising tide of social enterprise and social entrepreneurs around the world.

As the day progressed, him and I had a number of interesting discussions on the topics of social innovation, young people being drawn to social change-type activities, as well as the realities faced by the poor in developing countries around the world.

However, one comment that Ben made certainly stuck with me, helping to paint a vivid picture of the world we currently live in and the realities we face with increasingly complex social and environmental issues.

“We are currently in a moment of profound social change.

Imagine the world being a dance floor and there you are dancing to a song. The song is coming to an end, and as it fades out, you can hear the very faint beat of the next song. You adjust your dancing slightly, in anticipation of the new song. And as you look around at the crowd, some people are still dancing to the same old beat completely oblivious, while others, are getting ready just as you are for the new song to kick in.

This is the moment we are living in today.”

Right on.

A video of the lecture will be posted on the SiG@Waterloo website within a couple of days.

Edit: October 20, 2009

The video of Ben’s talk on fairtrade, Pants to Poverty and social entrepreneurship, is now online.

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About Me

Location: Waterloo & Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I am a 20-something young person keenly interested in learning how transformative social change happens, and passionate about building resilient communities. I also have a strong background in student and youth engagement, and I am convinced that young people have the power and opportunities like never before to affect positive change in the world. Learn more.