Building Impact: How Business Must Give to Create Change | Kate Krukiel | TEDxYouth@UrsulineAcademy
Giving unprepared gifts, such as mobile phones to Syrian refugees, fails to address actual societal needs because the giving organization neglects local context and established infrastructure. The speaker advocates that all corporate giving must be treated with the same rigorous strategy and metrics as core business processes, ensuring impact is measured and aligned with the community's existing needs. This framework allowed a follow-up project in Malawi to develop necessary local infrastructure, leading to the creation of four apps for efficient food distribution.
## Speakers & Context
- Speaker describes previous work with a large software company and close involvement with the United Nations.
- Speaker presents observations from visiting a refugee camp near Syria, noting the contrast between external aid assumptions and on-the-ground reality.
- Speaker visits a project in Malawi, detailing a revised, community-led approach to giving.
## Theses & Positions
- Giving aid without rigorous due diligence—giving what is perceived as necessary rather than what is genuinely needed—is ineffective and can lead to embarrassment.
- Every company must treat its philanthropic giving with the same rigor, metrics, and strategic alignment as its core business processes.
- The optimal model for impact involves learning directly from the target community—forming "refugee ambassadors"—to co-design solutions.
- True impact sustains local economic activity and builds internal capacity rather than simply introducing an external commodity.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Due diligence:** The practice of thoroughly investigating a situation or area before intervening, which the speaker failed to do initially in the Syrian camp.
- **Ecosystem/Infrastructure for giving:** Analyzing the community's existing structures (e.g., local partners, power sources, etc.) to support the intervention.
- **Refugee Ambassadors:** Local individuals integrated into the decision-making process for aid projects.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Initial Giving Model (Failed):** Identifying a need (e.g., connectivity) and delivering a commodity (mobile phones) without assessing local infrastructure (e.g., electricity, local business needs).
- **Revised Giving Model (Successful):** Implementing a decision framework that checks: 1) Is the community involved? 2) Is there a safe place to go? 3) Does this align to our mission and strategy?
- **Impact Cycle (Malawi):** Formation of refugee ambassadors $\rightarrow$ Learning local processes (e.g., food distribution via paper slips) $\rightarrow$ Identifying local partners/infrastructure gaps $\rightarrow$ Developing technology (apps) to automate/improve the existing system.
## Timeline & Sequence
- Early visit to Syrian refugee camp (details immediate observation of mobile phone use).
- Subsequent failure to implement phone distribution due to external lobbying by large mobile phone providers.
- Recent trip to a refugee camp in Malawi (the site of the successful, ambassador-led project).
- **18 months on (Malawi):** Establishment of a software development Center run by refugees.
## Named Entities
- **United Nations (UN)** — Referenced source for global statistics on poverty, lack of electricity, and displacement.
- **Syrian refugees** — Population cluster observed in the desert camp.
- **Malawi** — Location of the successful, revised intervention project.
## Numbers & Data
- Proportion of world population in poverty: **half**.
- People lacking access to electricity: **a billion**.
- People displaced: **almost 70 million**.
- Size of the Syrian refugee camp: **90,000 people**.
- Number of schools in the Syrian camp: **only 8**.
- Number of individuals who met in the Syrian camp: **about 15**.
- Number of shops in the Syrian camp: **3,000**.
- Duration of the ambassadors' training in Malawi: **18 months**.
- Number of people in the Malawi class: **at least 20**.
- Number of apps built in Malawi: **four**.
## Examples & Cases
- **Syrian Refugee Camp Observation:** Young men "almost hugging the fence with their mobile phones" attempting to get Wi-Fi from offices across the fence due to lack of connectivity.
- **Local Commerce Observation (Syrian Camp):** Man making fresh bread on a stone; others making falafel, vegetables, and wraps; shops selling hardware, perfume, and wedding dresses.
- **Food Distribution System (Malawi):** Previous system required getting a paper slip placed on a tree; failure to show the slip meant no food for the month.
- **Connectivity Need:** Need for translation, not just staying in touch with loved ones, but to *build business*.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Mobile phones:** The initial "gift" given to Syrian refugees.
- **Mapping software:** Software the initial group of 15 developers wanted to learn to map the camp for hospitals or football matches.
- **Apps:** Software created in Malawi to manage food distribution, replacing the paper-slips system.
## References Cited
- **United Nations (UN)** — Source of global poverty, electricity, and displacement statistics.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Initial Approach:** Providing physical tech (phones) as a solution.
- **Alternative Approach:** Focusing on underlying needs like *connectivity* and *business relevance* rather than just the gadget itself.
- **Impact vs. Commodity:** The shift from giving *things* to building *systems* that generate lasting local value.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The initial, unvetted giving of mobile phones was blocked by the lobbying of large mobile phone providers, illustrating resistance to genuine needs-based development.
- The speaker admits she was initially unprepared for the complexity of local life ("I wasn't there for that").
## Methodology
- Observation and immersion in existing community processes (e.g., watching vendors, noticing food prep).
- Forming core project teams composed of local residents (refugee ambassadors) who dictate the scope of the intervention.
- Aligning external technical resources (software development) with proven local operational mechanisms (food distribution scheduling).
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- Organizations must treat giving with the same rigor, goals, metrics, and accountability as their primary business strategy.
- Implementing interventions must prioritize understanding the existing local ecosystem and involving community members in the design phase.
- Action must focus on sustaining local economic growth and necessary infrastructure (like reliable connectivity).
## Implications & Consequences
- Failure to consider the local economy means that aid efforts can be undermined (as seen with the phone lobby).
- Successful intervention shifts the locus of control from the donor/organization to the local community empowered by technology.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"have you ever given someone a gift that they didn't want or didn't need kind of like giving a bald man a hairbrush it's awkward"*
- *"according to the UN we still have half of our population living in poverty we have a billion people that don't have access to electricity we have almost 70 million people that are displaced"*
- *"the first thing that I notice is there's all these young men almost hugging the fence with their mobile phones"*
- *"we learn things like there's only 8 schools in the camp right now so at least 10,000 kids aren't able to go to school"*
- *"my dear you're our guests"*
- *"every company should treat their giving with the same rigor as the rest of their business process"*
- *"Language translation connectivity not just to stay in touch with your loved ones but to build your business"*
- *"if you didn't see that piece of paper you didn't get your food for the month"*
- *"last land learn absolutely make sure that these gifts truly keep on giving"*