Me and some of my ?What If! colleagues have just had the pleasure of leading the Big Boost Summer Academy for the UK’s brightest and best young social entrepreneurs - a week in west Sussex taking them through our thoughts on innovation and leadership and equipping them to better go forth and change the world.
Keeping the ‘gush’ to a minimum – this was a bit of a life changer. The individuals were nothing short of exceptional: hungry, passionate, honest, giving… and together as an entity ten times all that. This came to life wonderfully when we toured London’s social entrepreneurship scene. Walking round Green-Work’s recycling warehouse they stopped en masse to applaud the machinists, in Accenture’s corporate boardroom they banged the tables to thank our speakers, at the Big Lottery Fund they performed a well-mannered but seriously potent ‘pincer’ on the guy who looks after £600m of funding, and in Whitehall(!) they whooped, cheered and generally ‘made some noise’ as Phil Hope, the Minister for the Third Sector, walked into the tradition stooped room – this is the man in government who effectively rules their world. All this commotion was not just them being ‘yoof’, they were operating as a highly effective, sophisticated, collective entity – like some kind of advanced insect colony in a Planet Earth special. They occupied the space where ever they found themselves, and whoever we put in front of them. For our hosts it was disarming, flattering and invigorating all at once, and for the group it was an intensely powerful tool which they wielded well.
They’ve now returned to their projects up and down the UK but I have no doubt they will remain that powerful entity and be flipping tables on anyone who is lucky enough to host them for many years to come. We miss them and their unique energy, but I hear they’re planning to set up youth commission on social enterprise so something tells me it’s not the end!
James Baderman
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