The Citizen Sector Transformed

Duration: 44 minutes and 18 seconds

Country: United States

Language: English

License: dotSUB Participatory-Commercial

Genre: Instructional

Producer: Ashoka

Views: 390 (2 embedded)

Posted by: fsosa on Oct 14, 2006

Led by social entrepreneurs, a new "citizen sector" is emerging - entrepreneurial, competitive, innovative, and effective. Bill Drayton discusses the sector's rapid rise and its profound implications for business, government leaders, citizen groups, and educators. Those who do not engage and leverage the new actors who are driving such dramatic change will miss out on major opportunities in their own work.

Report this video as offensive

Translate and Transcribe

Sign In/Register for dotSUB above to transcribe this video.

Share

Embed Video
Embed normal player
Embed a smaller player
Advanced Embedding Options
Embedding Options

Size:

Language:

Embed Code
Invite a user to dotSUB

Your invitation to join dotSUB was successful

There was an error inviting that user to dotSUB

Video Transcription

Show in new window

'In greater and greater numbers, citizens' groups the world over
are using entrepreneurial vision and skills
to solve some of the world's most difficult problems.'
BILL DRAYTON: We've gone from 5,000 to over a million in Brazil in 20 years.
In the US we went from 464,000 in 1990 to 1.1 million a dozen years later.
'Bill Drayton is the founder of Ashoka, innovators for the public,
a global organisation that stands at the vanguard of the emerging citizen sector.
In this program he describes the sector's rapid rise
and its profound implications for everyone.'
The companies that get this are going to have a huge competitive advantage.
Those that fall behind are just going to be blindsided.
'He shows how business people, social activists, teachers and students
can become part of this powerful new movement for social good.'
Once in a very rare while in history there is a fundamental pattern change.
We're in the middle of one of those changes right now,
and that's what Ashoka is here to serve.
To understand it, one has to go back in history a little.
Rome to 1700, no growth in per capita income.
Then in the next century, 20%, the next century, 200%,
and the last century, 740% growth in per capita income in the West.
Business took off around 1700, with a new architecture.
Radical change - anyone could start a new idea.
They would gain market share if they succeeded, respect, money.
Other people would copy them. A positive dynamic got underway.
Business became entrepreneurial and competitive.
That set in motion a compounding process of productivity growth.
This didn't happen in the social sector.
The money came through taxes, paid for the canals, schools, welfare system.
Too easy. No pressure for change.
Moreover, the money came through government,
a series of monopolies,
and no monopoly in any sector can tolerate competition, because they lose.
We didn't make the same transformation that the business half of society did.
Business compounded productivity, we remained static, we fell behind.
We are now at the midpoint of an incredibly quick catch-up transformation of the citizen half.
The last two and a half decades, all across the world, pretty much,
the sector has flipped to the same entrepreneurial, competitive architecture that business has.
As a result, we've been gaining productivity very fast.
As in business, if you have a better idea, you will gain attention, resources, better people will come,
you'll be better placed in the public decision-making process,
you and your organisation will move ahead.