What a difference a year makes!
This day last year, I did an interview in TU Dublin for a PhD in the Scaling of Social Enterprise.
I didn’t feel very confident afterwards. Although I had done extensive research into what a PhD is and what it really meant, I wasn’t sure how to pitch myself as a future academic. I had read many blogs and articles about how to prepare for a PhD interview and had done all the preparation but that all went out the window the minute I logged on to the interview. Nerves arrived and being an already nervous public speaker I stumbled my way through the interview.
However, I must’ve done something right as I got a call a few days later to say I had been successful and was offered the scholarship. After a very tough couple of days of soul searching, I made the decision to leave a role I truly adored and step out into the unknown.
What have I learnt so far? Social enterprises are even more incredible than I had ever imagined.
I have spent the last 6 months reading, I have googled ‘What is a literature review?’ more than I would ever admit. I have studied 36 existing scaling models that Social Enterprises use globally. I have learnt what has worked in other countries and wondered if it would work in Ireland and tried to figure out why it wouldn’t.
I have spent alot of time pondering and wondering.
Last month I had the opportunity to attend the brilliant Skoll World Forum: Closing the Gap - where I listened to inspirational speakers share their journey and their passion. I was blown away by Maria Ressa, co-founder of Rappler, a digital only news site that is leading the fight for press freedom in the Phillippines. She has had 10 arrest warrants issued in the last 2 years, all these charges carry a cumulative period of 100 years in prison. You can listen to her incredible session here. Maria closed her session giving 3 calls to action:
1. Demand accountability from tech
2. Help independent media survive
3. Do more, you are powerful, come together, in community.
Another stand out speaker was Ann Mei Chang, who advised “we need to get serious about innovation, scale and collaboration” in order to create agile organisations that can adequately respond to changing problems. I wholeheartedly agree with so much of what she said and I’ve been enjoying the great insights of her book ‘Lean Impact’.
Ann Mei Chang (CIO of US Aid)
“ Too often scale ends up being an afterthought…but the engine for growth should be an essential element of the core design”