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From Vision to Action: Remaking the World Through Social Entrepreneurship
PRINCIPLE #9: DEVELOP EFFECTIVE METAPHORS. For social entrepreneurs, communicating compelling ideas is crucial to reframing reality. Extended metaphors in the form of captivating stories can play a key role in breaking up—and replacing—deeply held beliefs. Metaphors—short or lengthy—can provide a picture of what might lie ahead and why it is desirable. Social entrepreneurs should be adept at what advertising executives call content marketing.
I had a grand vision of global transformation, but to have an impact at that level I had to find ways to move beyond workshops and trainings that reached only small numbers of people—not the masses. I was inspired by a statement made by A. J. Liebling, the New Yorker’s longtime press critic, who said, “Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.” With that in mind, I started Common Ground Productions, whose core premise was that popular culture could cause enormous changes in attitudes and behaviors. So, my colleagues and I became TV producers who made dramatic TV series, reality shows, and documentaries that promoted peaceful conflict resolution across the Global South.
Our best-known series was The Team, and we produced versions in eighteen countries, comprising a total of 356 episodes. Everywhere, the plot centered on a fictional soccer or cricket team whose members reflected ethnic, religious, and/or gender diversity. The core message was that if players did not overcome their differences and cooperate, they would lose. In each location where we worked, we identified an experienced production house to serve as our co-producer, and we secured a TV network to air the series in primetime. Our proposal to prospective broadcasters was to offer a high-quality, entertaining, dramatic series at no cost.
Not every social entrepreneur needs to start a media production company, but all would be wise to develop ways to effectively communicate their core messages.
PRINCIPLE #10: DISPLAY CHUTZPAH. Social entrepreneurship is definitely not a good profession for those who are timid. Launching new initiatives and overcoming seemingly insoluble problems often requires chutzpah (a Yiddish word meaning extreme self-confidence—or nerve or gall). When bold solutions are called for, social entrepreneurs need to dial up their inner chutzpah.
Still, chutzpah should not be viewed as an unbridled quality that social entrepreneurs regularly unleash. No matter how worthy the cause, the ends do not justify the means, and it is not OK to be rude or obnoxious in the name of making the world a better place. Chutzpah needs to be tempered with discretion and wisdom. It should be a calculated response—and not one that is triggered by anger. I believe both good and bad chutzpah exist. Author Leo Rosten described the most familiar example of the bad: “Chutzpah is that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court as an orphan.” In contrast, good chutzpah is what the prophet Abraham demonstrated when he opposed God’s plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. By standing up to God, Abraham took a grave risk to save lives – even if the people spared were evil and corrupt.
PRINCIPLE #11: CULTIVATE FINGERSPITZENGEFÜHL. Fingerspitzengefühl is a German word that means having an intuitive sense of knowing at the tip of one’s fingers. This is what one-time basketball star and later U.S. Senator Bill Bradley was referring to—albeit in a sporting context—when he said:
When you have played basketball for a while, you don’t need to look at the basket. ... You develop a sense of where you are.
However, like chutzpah, fingerspitzengefühl is not a quality that should be relied upon in all circumstances. Instead, when social entrepreneurs make decisions, they should factor in—but not be overwhelmed by—what feels right. The key to social entrepreneurship is striking a balance between instinct and intellect.
PART ONE
PART TWO
In addition to founding and heading Search for Common Ground, John Marks is a NY Times best-selling and award-winning author, who most recently started the Pro Bono Litigation Corps in partnership with Gary DiBianco under the auspices of Lawyers for Good Government.
Alternatives to Incarceration Work—We Just Have To Invest in Them
In Part 2, Alexis explores how a program is not only personally transformative for its participants, but it has the potential to fuel revolutionary change in how the U.S. addresses recidivism and reentry.
“We’re going to get people into careers they want—and stay with them until they can stand on their own,” Evie Litwok said of the Art of Tailoring in an interview with QNS. “What we’re doing is transformative.”
However, the program is not only personally transformative for its participants; it also has the potential to drive revolutionary change in how the U.S. addresses recidivism and reentry.
Along with personal impacts, the Art of Tailoring has large-scale economic benefits. While putting a student through the two-year program costs $12,500, detaining someone in Rikers Island costs $556,539 a year per person as of 2021—amounting to $1,525 a day. The same holds true for similar initiatives across the state; reentry and alternative-to-incarceration (ATI) programs save New York's correctional facilities more than $100 million a year. A 2016 study found an economic benefit of $3.46 to $5.54 for every dollar invested in such community-based programs.
Despite its benefits, Litwok is the first to admit that the Art of Tailoring cannot meet all the needs of its participants single-handedly. “For about $6,000 a year, for a total of two years, I can put somebody into business,” she said. “But that does not include stipends, and providing dinner, you know, providing a meal, or providing a metro card. This is the cost of teaching.”
System-impacted individuals often lack access to basic necessities such as food, shelter, and transportation—the very factors that frequently drive recidivism—and the Art of Tailoring can’t yet provide such assistance. “There are far more people who are in shelters that can be helped and should be helped with a support program. When you give out a grant to teach the Art of Tailoring, you also have to provide stipends to cover their expenses, including transportation and food. You can’t think straight if you’re hungry, and almost every person coming to that class is hungry,” Litwok said. “They have to miss a class if they’re working, they have to miss a class if they don’t have a metro card, they have to miss a class if they’re hungry and have to go somewhere to pick up food for themselves. So, without creating a safety net, you’re basically assuring the more privileged kids, who can get loans, are successful, and kids who have no money can’t be successful.”
While emphasizing the importance of vocational training, such as the Art of Tailoring, Litwok stresses that it can’t solve the problem alone. “If you can’t get the basic support of, in my opinion, stipends, food, and transportation covered, you can’t succeed.”
Like-minded organizations in NYC are striving to provide a wider array of necessities for the formerly incarcerated, such as The Fortune Society, a Queens-based nonprofit taking a holistic approach to reentry services and alternatives to incarceration. Similar to the Art of Tailoring, the Fortune Society’s Employment Services program offers specialized job training in areas such as culinary arts, sustainable construction and building maintenance, and transportation, as well as opportunities for short-term transitional work to gain employment experience. However, they also provide a range of services to address needs that such training may not cover, including transitional and long-term housing options, daily meals and nutrition education, connections to health services, and access to mental health and substance use treatment, among others. They proudly served 13,377 individuals in 2024, including nearly 600 participants enrolled in their employment training services and over 1,000 individuals to whom they provided housing, helping them rebuild successful lives after incarceration.
“We have demonstrated proof of concept in New York City that ATI and reentry services not only help people get out and stay out of jail and prison but also move on with their lives and support their families and communities,” Stanley Richards, President and CEO of the Fortune Society and formerly incarcerated individual himself, said in response to a 2024 report by the New York State Alternatives to Incarceration and Reentry Coalition.
More broadly, the benefits of such ATI programs are increasingly being recognized. New York State Senator Julia Salazar, Chair of the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction, is an advocate for prison reform and is currently fighting for the rights of incarcerated individuals. “If New York State has a duty to keep ALL its residents safe, we must end our reliance on incarceration as the solution to our social problems,” Salazar said in reaction to the same New York report. “On release, formerly incarcerated people are positioned at great socioeconomic disadvantage without supports in place to address their unique needs. We can end mass incarceration and keep our communities safe if we invest in proven programs and compassionate care.”
The Art of Tailoring’s students have already started to see success only a few months into the program, sporting their latest designs in their own fashion show at the Youth Pride Fest at Pier 76 on June 7th—one of the many events Witness is participating in this Pride Month to celebrate and garner support for the LGBTQ+ system-impacted community. Litwok and the organization were also honored at the SunnyPride celebration in Queens on June 13th for their anti-recidivism work, a testament to Witness’s dedication to its mission.
“On the one hand, you’re giving them something they can do, and if they can earn a living, they’ll never be in your system. It won’t reduce recidivism, it will eliminate recidivism,” Litwok said of system-impacted individuals. “On the other hand, if you send a kid to Rikers for some minor thing or any reason, you’re going to damage them for life. So, which option do you like?”
SUGGESTION: Reducing Recidivism, One System-Impacted Entrepreneur at a Time
a long hallway with a bunch of lockers in it Photo by Matthew Ansley on Unsplash
Alexis Tamm is a senior at Georgetown University. An avid writer and aspiring journalist, she is passionate about solutions-focused reporting and driving change through storytelling.
Alexis was a cohort member in Common Ground USA's Journalism program, where Hugo Balta served as an instructor. Balta is the executive editor of the Fulcrum and the publisher of the Latino News Network.
The Fulcrum is committed to nurturing the next generation of journalists. Learn more by clicking HERE.
