Remarks at the NESsT 10th Anniversary Reception

September 26, 2007

at the Pangea Artisan Market & Cafe, Washington, DC

by Richard Cook

NESsT Chair Emeritus

Dick Cook was the first Chair of the NESsT Board of Directors. He is currently the Director of Community Outreach at the University of Maryland School of Social Work.

"My task is simple. Share a few observations about NESsT over the past ten years, to give you a glimpse into the world they have lived through. I struggled to find a story that conveyed the spirit of the organization without boring you with endless details about their many accomplishments: their introducing their idea to the newly emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, their introducing the idea to Latin America, their shaping the actual structure of the field of social enterprise through developing ethical standards, through conferences, trainings, research and publications.

The first story that came to mind was this one. A few decades ago, a couple of friends, named Jobs and Wozniack, had an audacious idea. The idea was that everyone could have their own their personal computer. These two individuals started the work on their idea in a garage on the West Coast. A computer company named after a popular fruit was the result. A movement for personal pc's followed.

A decade ago two friends named Etchart and Davis had an audacious idea. The idea was that small grassroots NGOs struggling to bring about a better world, and doing so with insufficient resources gleaned from the surplus of the market economy, could alter their situation for the better, by entering that market instead of simply begging for scraps at the table. In Baltimore, as some of you might know, garages are rare. Most of our houses are built without them. So, these two started work on their idea in Nicole Etchart's basement. Today we celebrate the 10th Anniversary of NESsT as a result of the work they started, along with the social enterprise movement they helped launch.

What I will do is share a few observations about this remarkable 10 year journey. My own vantage point is biased. I waver between being an awestruck observer and being a co-conspirator.

My first observation is that an idea becomes audacious when it faces formidable odds. This certainly was the case with NESsT. For its first year or two in Baltimore no local funder would entertain the idea. The Founders and Co-Directors were basically volunteering. Throughout its history, financial support for the idea and organization has been a sometimes fickle thing. So that Lee and Nicole were never very far from volunteering to bring their idea to fruition.

My second observation is that courage of conviction is a critical ingredient necessary to overcome the formidable odds. I am not just talking about courage in your heart. I am talking about the kind of courage where you put your lives, and the lives of those you love and your fortunes behind your idea.

When it was clear that funding to work on this idea was not going to come for work in the US, Lee moved to Budapest, Hungary and Nicole packed up her entire family and moved to Santiago, Chile. They believed enough to risk everything.

My third observation is that conviction and action against formidable odds is not enough. You have to prove and sustain your idea in the face of those odds. As Peter Drucker said, "You are not unique in what you are doing. There are many social entrepreneurs with great ideas, but so many don't survive. Many initiatives will not exist in one year, two years or five. What will make you unique is sustainability, the ability to develop and resource your organizations for growth and longevity."

These incredible individuals have sustained and grown their idea for ten years! They raised money. They built an organization to bring life to the idea. They raised more money to grow the idea and the organization. They recruited staff and volunteers. The did research and published. They ran workshops and conferences. Did I mention that they raised money? And they continue to raise it to bring the opportunities inherent in their audacious idea to justice seeking, compassion bearing NGOs all over the world.

I have been struggling for the right story to illustrate NESsT. And I confess that the Apple story, while there are remarkable similarities, doesn't quite do it for me. Instead, when I think of NESsT, I think of a little remembered Chicano activist in the Southwestern US named Reyes Tejerina in the 1960's. Reyes wanted nothing less than to take back the portions of the US that were taken from his people. As he rode into a small southwestern town in an audacious manner outfitted with old fashioned guns, Pancho Villa style, he said something that stuck with me. A reporter asked this comic looking individual if he intended to combat the beast [referring to the US] with force. Reyes replied, "No. I intend to crawl into the ear of the beast like a flea and tickle it into submission."

NESsT has taken a leading role of tickling the market into recognizing social enterprise. Today funders all over the world, yes even in Baltimore, are supporting social enterprise. University business schools are teaching about it. Nonprofit fundraising courses are teaching about it. University internships are created to expose students to the field. NESsT has been leading this transformation sometimes by being in front, but more often by leading from behind-supporting and encouraging in ways that few ever see.

But let me tell you my favorite tickle story about NESsT. A few years back, when NESsT was trying to sell the idea, and had a publication devote pages to it, a critic wrote an opposing view. He basically said that this idea of social enterprise will begin making serious impacts on NGO financing "When Pigs Can Fly." NESsT grabbed the opportunity to tickle a little, met with the critic, convinced him of NESsT's sincerity and willingness to be open to criticism and to learn from it. Within the next two years, the critic became the Chair of NESsT Board of Directors and he continues to be one of our most effective advocates. So for me, a feather to tickle with may be the most appropriate symbol for NESsT.

So, tonite let's raise our glasses and toast NESsT, for the audaciousness of their idea, for the courage of their convictions that they have lived and demonstrated, for their stubborn and persistent sustaining of their idea and organization, and for their tickling the world into accepting their idea. And may their idea and organization grow till NGOs everywhere have the resources they need to accomplish their missions.

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