What's Next?

My last entry was a recap of sorts – a retrospective – so here’s a prospective look at what may be in store for me over the next six weeks. This entry is supposed to address several questions – so I actually have the treat of providing answers instead of searching for them (though admittedly, my answers are quite hypothetical and more interrogative than declarative in tone).

Where am I?

This question is oh-so-broad and I will attempt to answer it from every applicable angle. Firstly, I’m in Tel Aviv. More specifically, at 179 Dizengoff Street, apartment 28. And without any purple prose, let me tell you, this is the place to be. Yehuda tells us that this is the most famous street in Israel and after having strolled the blocks, I don’t think he’s exaggerating. Everything’s here – shops, restaurants, cafes. The beach is literally – literally! – a five minute walk from our front door. Need I say more? The only downside I foresee is that given our central location, I will be hard-pressed to shed my home-body persona and explore farther afield. But force myself, I will and must. What an adventure!

In another sense, I am not only located in a city, but also at an organization, namely, Ashoka. I sometimes find it hard to say in a word what Ashoka does, but their mission is very straightforward (I tend to complicate things unnecessarily, so let’s quote directly from their website):

“Ashoka is the global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs – men and women with system changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems. Since 1981, we have elected over 2,000 leading social entrepreneurs as Ashoka Fellows, providing them with living stipends, professional support, and access to a global network of peers in more than 60 countries. With our global community, we develop models for collaboration and design infrastructure needed to advance the field of social entrepreneurship and the citizen sector. Our Fellows inspire others to adopt and spread their innovations - demonstrating to all citizens that they too have the potential to be powerful changemakers.”

I need an “elevator speech,” a thirty-second spiel that gives the essence of Ashoka without too much jargon. So, in my words, Ashoka is the world’s leading organization of social entrepreneurs. It envisions a world in which everyone can effect systemic and sustainable change. Ashoka funds, connects, educates and mobilizes these social entrepreneurs in fields are far-ranging as health, education, ecology, gender equity, culture and the arts.

The reason I care so much about capturing the mission of Ashoka without relying too heavily on industry argot is that I truly believe in what they are trying to accomplish. Unlike many other organizations in Israel/Palestine who address the symptoms of the conflict through a mixture of aid, policy, and people to people interaction, Ashoka tackles the roots. Its message of personal and collective responsibility, innovation, and most of all, the impact of human potential when paired with appropriate resources, is so relevant in a region where not even perpetual war has staunched progress and creativity (witness Palestinian graffiti on the security wall, or Israel many high-tech parks).

What do I want to get from this experience?

Again, this question can be taken in so many directions. From the experience of living in Tel Aviv I want to gain a certain urban sophistication – the know-how of navigating a rather large metropolis by myself, the easy confidence of a young woman coming into her own. I’d like to shed the part of childhood that is fearful and unsure, the tentative girl who would rather have someone holding her hand. So much of me is independent, self-assured, especially when it comes to school and work. I’d like the rest of me to catch up and I think living in a city with other students but predominantly on my own is a good first step.

On the work/career front, I have the incredible opportunity of working for a very well-established and globally recognized organization, while at the same time getting in “on the ground floor” – being only the second person hired to work for Ashoka Israel. This job will be a mix of the tried-and-true (all Ashoka’s strategies and materials are “market-tested” and “results-driven,” to use a bit of industry slang), but they’ve just started operations in Israel, so this is virgin territory and a lot of exploration and experimentation must take place. This is ideal for someone like me who thrives on challenges and prefers leadership roles, but who also is extremely wary of the non-profit sector and understands that more start-ups fail than succeed.
That said, I hope to gain several things from working with Ashoka Israel. First, since I am more or less able to make my own hours and telecommute (they have not secured office space yet, primarily because the director, Nir Tsuk, would rather funnel all money directly into the hands of fellows rather than wasting it on expensive real estate), I’d like to see if this flexible, independent work style is for me. My last internship was completely desk-bound and I hated it. Here’s my chance to be a free agent while at the same time completing my tasks punctually and creatively. I have much experience working this way (having completed high school online, as well as working on a number of independent study research projects) and I foresee a lifelong trend.

Second, I want to see if working in for an NGO really allows one to generate direct impact, or if, as many burned-out veterans profess, it is mainly paper-shuffling and good intentions that bear little fruit. So far, from what I’ve seen and read, Ashoka demands results and is very good at assessing both the qualitative and quantitative impact of its programs. I also appreciate its cross-sector and multigenerational approach – forging relationships with business, government, schools, and fostering leadership and social activism from childhood to old age. Of course, it’s very easy at times to drink the “change the world kool-aid,” so to speak, but it’s equally easy to be a hard-bitten cynic for whom idealism is a euphemism for naïveté. Ashoka mixes its idealism with pragmatism – a combination that not only inspires trust from savvy politicians and businessmen, but that actually delivers on the promise of systemic change.

Finally, I hope this job inspires and guides me as I continue to ponder the next leg on my personal and professional journey. Reading about Ashoka fellows, I feel that there is an idea waiting inside me that might indeed push the world toward greater justice and equity. Don’t laugh (or gag). I too am highly skeptical of starry-eyed idealism. But I’d like to think that all the knocks I’ve taken in life have given me a bit of credibility on that front at least. I hope that through my work – vetting potential fellows, perhaps liaising between Ashoka and various schools/universities, working on Ashoka Israel’s “coming out party” with its “Change Your City” campaign – whatever potential is inside me will start to take shape and materialize.