Many people tell me that these days the cloud of crisis seems to hover over us. Since Covid and the Ukraine-Russian war, I hear more often the ‘I am ok but I am a bit worried’ kind of answer. Further, in Europe, there is a political shift into the right-wing direction seeing Italy, Greece and Germany. There is unhappiness about how it is. Everyone feels left out. The people who are in charge are criticised. ‘They are just doing agenda-setting.’ ‘They are not working for the people, just for their power.’
So I am asking myself – whom do we need? Who are the people that can bring hope into people’s minds? Who are the people who are there for everyone and not just a tiny tiny percentage of world elite? Who are the people who create a positive change? The first person who comes into my mind is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the US American politician and activist who seems to fight for people’s equal rights. Secondly, I see Greta being a role model for so many young teenagers, pupil and students, motivating them to stand up for what they believe in. But then, I also see speeches by Greta, saying the same thing over and over again, looking into head-nodding eyes of mainly older, white sophisticated people. I see Greta’s eyes, knowing that the nodding is just an act and her words do not follow actions politically.
Despite the only 2 women I just named who jump immediately into my head when I think about globally known leaders, I can right away write a list of 50 people in my environment who are leading amazing projects with a positive impact on our society. I wish more people would know them. I wish their associations, companies or NGOs could reach 10x more people. I wish we would have 50 globally known people like them who are ‘running the world’ like Beyonce would say.
This is why I sat down with a good friend of mine, Katja. Katja has founded and is running a startup on leadership. She was always amazed by the people I told her about, from Sudan, from Ghana, in Bangladesch or Ethiopia. This is why once in a while she sponsored partly seats in her program for Sudanese people I nominated. But this time, we wanted to think bigger.
And we did.
Katjas Startup WaveMakers is already equipped to reach everyone in the world who has a smartphone and internet access. So we can be already quite inclusive in terms of location. Our networks together covers contacts to India, Sudan, Ghana, Israel, Europe, North America, Bangladesch, Namibia and some parts of East Africa.
We discussed some criteria or rather non-criteria:
- We do not want to give it an age limit. If there is 10 year old who is showing very active engagement and inspires others in their school or community, we want to work with that 10-year-old! Same with a 95 granny – we love to have her.
- I feel a big urge to provide opportunities to people who did not study. I feel that often privileged share information with privileged. I think in the German government almost everyone studies. But how can studied people stand up with non-studied. It is difficult to put yourself into their shoes. So honestly, I am still running options in my head to find the right channels to make it also design the project more inclusive regarding educational background.
- We thought it would be good to work with people who already have some community engagement, if it’s voluntary or for some income. People who inspire others, the ‘go-to-people’ when you have problems, the people who always give but never take. But also people who would just need a small kick into their ass, a small spark from like-minded people, some additional skills to be able to make their dreams and ideas from true and big. Because this is what we could provide.
- We also discussed areas of project we would like to support. I actually made a small survey and asking the WaveMakers team members: ‘What is your topic of heart?’ 2 areas came very clearly from literately everyone: climate & humanitarian action. It is not surprising. Both are screaming urgency! Every time I hear about a tornado or flood in a region and time of the year it is very unusual to have that, I am asking myself: “Is this because we treated the earth too bad? Is this the beginning?” And for the humanitarian side, I think I have to tell no one that this is a very personal topic, having myself and some of my best friends being directly affected by armed conflicts.
This basically sums up how #25ImpactLeaders got born. With the goal to find 25 amazing individuals with inspiring projects and to support them in their journey, in their skills, with our network. With the goal to find and lift up the next Gretas, Malalas and Ocasios.
If you read this and you want to be part. Or you have some ideas, especially how we can find those people, please feel free to get in touch with me.
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