Entrepreneurship, NGOs, & Self-Sufficiency - Sao Paulo Management Society - Warner P. Woodworth. August 17, 2007

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1 Entrepreneurship, NGOs, & Self-Sufficiency - Sao Paulo Management Society - Warner P. Woodworth August 17, 2007

2 Practitioners, not passive Initiators, not responders Being doers of the word, not hearers only Entrepreneurs who practice CSR Innovators, not laggards Pursuers of truth & justice, not just careers & financial success

3 Seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion (D&C 6:6, etc.) Developing temporal and spiritual salvation Creating jobs, building family security (food, housing, education, social capital) Reducing inequality and social injustice Empowering the have-nots to become haves Building sustainable systems Moving the poor toward family self-sufficiency

Using business tools to reduce human suffering: Is Mgt. relevant beyond corporate walls? Yes: Motivation theories, team building, planning, decision-making, leadership, cross-cultural mgt.

4 Using business tools to reduce human suffering: Is Mgt. relevant beyond corporate walls? Yes: Motivation theories, team building, planning, decision-making, leadership, cross-cultural mgt., HR policies, co-ops, communication, power & politics, creating new structures, change, ethics, social responsibility, conflict & negotiation, etc. Mgt. from Below: Barefoot MBAs; BYU Students Without-Borders, MSM Alumni as Change Agents, Mormon Peace Corps, etc.

5 1. Church programs for the Saints: Tithes, offerings, welfare, PEF, etc. (top priority) 2. Church programs for our non-lds neighbors: Humanitarian Fund, LDS Charities, partnering with other institutions (churches, governments, businesses, etc. 3. Individual acts of consecration & stewardship: Personal initiatives, inspiration, & empowerment (the type Pres. Hinckley refers to as non-institutionalized acts of service to the poor)

6 The Mormon definition of charity is to help the poor & put them in such a way that they may help themselves, & in turn, they can begin to help others. - President Joseph F. Smith

7 Joblessness leads to diminishing spiritual commitment We have Church Welfare, Humanitarian funds, Latter-day Saint Charity, & now PEF

Globally: The Great Divide Per Capita Income Literacy Rate $35,000 $30,000 $25,000 $20,000 $15,000 $10,000 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% $5,000 $0 United States Poor Countries 20% 10% 0% United

9 Globally: The Great Divide Per Capita Income Literacy Rate $35,000 $30,000 $25,000 $20,000 $15,000 $10, % 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% $5,000 $0 United States Poor Countries 20% 10% 0% United States Poor Countries Deaths of Children Under 5 Children under 14 in Workforce 20% 18% 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% 20% 18% 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% United States Poor Countries United States Poor Countries What is our Stewardship?

10 Baptismal Success Many missions & stakes Great leadership Solid offices & programs The wealthy are doing well, chapel parking lots are full of cars, etc. But many youth are falling away because they see no promising future The LDS masses in Brazil are struggling to survive

11 I propose the creation of a Family Self-Reliance Program It could be established by Brazilian leaders, but may need approval from SLC It took years of research on the loss of returned missionaries & proposals to establish a Perpetual Education Fund I called for such an organization in speeches at BYU, in courses, & many firesides starting in 1988 It was finally announced in 2001 general conference

The next phase of LDS member economic well being should be something similar to PEF, but for older members It should focus on parents who struggle to make ends meet, who can t afford

12 The next phase of LDS member economic well being should be something similar to PEF, but for older members It should focus on parents who struggle to make ends meet, who can t afford to send their kids to school Parents who don t even have the money for bus fare to church meetings Parents who lack education & will probably never get a secure job with a good company

13 Microentrepreneur (recipient of a micro-loan with which to start/expand small business) Microcredit (tiny loans to the poor) Microenterprise (a very small income-generating activity or family business) Micro-bank (village or communal bank group) Microfinance (a more inclusive term for all the above, plus perhaps such programs as client savings, health insurance for the poor, education loans, etc.) MFI (Micro-Finance Institution - all financial services) NGO (Non-Governmental Organization that may provide a range of humanitarian & development services such as literacy, healthcare, education & schools, crisis response & aid, computer skills, village progress, agriculture, women s empowerment, as well as microcredit

14 Visionary Brazilian leaders might experiment with small microlending funds from their own pockets to help the needy, and/or from ward welfare funds. General authorities in Utah should consider creating a few small initiatives with Church funding to poor families.

15 We need to shift Employment Centers from a focus on counseling & writing resumes Such activities are nice but not very effective in reducing unemployment They may help place perhaps 100,000 members into jobs But many more jobs are needed Worldwide our planet needs some 100 million new jobs per year But there aren t sufficient factories & investment to create that many So Latter-day Saints will need to invent their own jobs

16 The best route is through family income generation Steps for doing so: Move from big expensive LDS Employment Centers to use of local chapels where members can access easier without going into the centro da cidade Those billions of dollars in real estate that sit empty most of the week are a huge underutilized resource

17 So let s decentralize the centers & use all the savings to operate our of ward & stake buildings The EC professionals could move from area to area, offering services day & night Local business leaders within the Church could extend the professionals impacts by volunteering Use of computers, , social media would supplement the traditional announcements from the pulpit with weekly details about training to be offered BYU Management Society members could also be mobilized for training services

18 The major elements would be: Training in entrepreneurship Microenterprise start-up design Use an alternative model of Microfranchise where possible Create Solidarity Groups by loan applicants of people they trust & see as responsible Provide Family Self Reliance Loans ($300-$600 to begin with) Provide ongoing mentoring of clients in chapel evening sessions to guide, counsel, critique, & mentor the Microentrepreneur until the loan is repaid Consider giving a larer next loan to expand the Microenterprise

19 Example: Nelson Cardoza worked hard for years to try & feed his family & save enough money to run a metal furniture shop. Two years ago, he heard about Eagle Condor Humanitarian & applied to participate in the Microenterprise Development Program. He was admitted. After he attended small business management classes, an Andes-ECH consultant helped him plan for expansion & receive a loan. Things soon improved, he bought new equipment, the business grew more, profits were up 30%, & he could create new jobs in Piura by hiring 3 more employees.

20 Training Consulting Credit Microenterprise incubator Microfranchise strategies in some cases Business ideas Workshops Ongoing mentoring Libraries

21 Enterprise Mentors International which I started with students & wealthy Mormon friends in HELP International in 4 countries starting with Hurricane Mitch s destruction of Central America in Eagle Condor Humanitarian in Peru 2003 Unitus Microfinance Accelerator in 6 countries Empowering Nations/Wave of Hope projects in Thailand after the Asian Tsunami of 2005 Plus many more

Established 2003 $3 million donation for start-up It enables us to institutionalize many current efforts into a coherent long-term set of programs Funding now secured for Journal of Microfinance &

22 Established 2003 $3 million donation for start-up It enables us to institutionalize many current efforts into a coherent long-term set of programs Funding now secured for Journal of Microfinance & annual conference Network of NGOs & entrepreneurs developed for training, workshops, pro bono consulting ESR concepts/models being generated from numerous action research projects Carried out 26 microcredit impact studies in 37 nations so far We know what works & what doesn t

23 25 Years: Designed & launched new social venture NGOs to empower the poor including, since 1989: Enterprise Mentors International (Philippines, Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru & Mexico); Ouelessebougou Alliance since 1985 (Mali, West Africa); Eagle Condor in 1997 (Bolivia & Peru); Accion Contra La Pobreza & HELP Honduras since 1999 (Honduras); Liahona Economic Development Foundation in 1999 (Nigeria); Academy for Creating Enterprise since 1999 (Philippines); HELP International since 2000 (Venezuela, Peru, Honduras, Uganda, El Salvador, Bolivia, Guatemala); SOAR China (2001) in Sichuan/Guangxi Provinces; Unitus in 8 nations since 2002; New Generation Foundation in 2001 (Brazil); MicroBusiness Mentors since 2003 within poor, innercity Latino community of Utah; Empowering Nations (2005) to rebuild Thailand coastal villages after Asian tsunami (extended to Ghana during 2006, & in 2007 to Paraguay, Peru, & Kenya).

There are people not a few, whose circumstances are desperate & who cry out for help and relief. There are so many who are hungry & destitute among this world who need help.

24 There are people not a few, whose circumstances are desperate & who cry out for help and relief. There are so many who are hungry & destitute among this world who need help. My brothers and sisters, I would hope, I would pray that each of us would resolve to seek those who need help, who are in desperate and difficult circumstances, & lift them in the spirit of love. Gordon B. Hinckley

26 Working Toward Zion. Salt Lake City, UT: Aspen Books. 1999, 484 pp. (with J. Lucas). Organizational Values, Systems & Structures: Roots of Early Mormon Economics. Encyclia: The Journal of the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, Vol. 71, 1998, pp United for Zion: Principles for Uniting the Saints to Eliminate Poverty. Orem, UT: Unitus Publications, Small Fortunes: Microcredit and the Future of Poverty. PBS Website text, Challenges Facing Impoverished Families When Disaster Strikes: Opportunities for Microfinance. Review of Business Research, Vol. 6, No. 5, pp , October 2006.

Consecration and Stewardship: Latter-day Saints & Unemployment

Consecration and Stewardship: Latter-day Saints & Unemployment Prof. Warner Woodworth, BYU Presentation to a Provo, Utah community group May 17, 2010 Hundreds of Thousands of Latter-day It s a Church crisis