May June 2013
Where Christian faith gets down to business
MEDA looks ahead:
Strategies to reach 28 million clients Child’s play — one more solution to poverty Building peace, sack by sack How philanthropy helps your business 1
The Marketplace May June 2013
Roadside stand
Memorable summer jobs Do you still remember your first summer job? Was it an adventure? Did you learn something that sticks with you today? Acclaimed business writer Peter C. Newman, who has interviewed countless entrepreneurs and written books about many of them, describes visiting a billionaire businessman at his southern retreat. Afterward his host took him to the airport to board a $40 million private jet to be whisked back to Canada. As they strode to the gate they passed a row of pay telephones. The billionaire stopped to pull open the change slot of each phone and scoop out any coins that had been left there. “I was speechless,” Newman wrote later in Report on Business magazine. “Was this the ultimate capitalist — a man so money-minded that he felt compelled to collect payphone leftovers on the way to his Challenger? I asked why he had done it.” “Habit,” the man said, adding that his first job was as a hotel bellhop. “I made more money from forgotten telephone change than from tips. So even now, whenever I see a phone, I go for it.” Was your first job that habit-forming? Why not send us a line or two describing your first job, either great or crummy, and what it taught you that was helpful in later life. Send it to wkroeker@ meda.org Nap time? It’s lunchtime, and already you’re tuckered out.
Cover photo of African shopkeepers by Ray Dirks
The Marketplace May June 2013
solution, YOLO (“you only live once”), epic, low-hanging fruit, really, value-add, impactful and utilize. (Globe & Mail)
Can you take a nap at work? Studies show many North Americans feel sleep deprived, so much so that a National Sleep Foundation survey says 29 percent of us have fallen asleep or at least become very sleepy at work. Sleepy employees reportedly cost the economy billions of dollars in lost productivity and sick days. “We’re a sleep‑deprived nation, a workforce full of walking zombies,” says one sleep expert quoted by The Huffington Post. Accordingly, some enlightened companies have seen it to be in their own best interest to let employees grab a few winks while on the job. Some even provide nap rooms for employees, with beds, couches and soothing music. The Post maintains two of them, affectionately dubbed Napquest I and Napquest II.
can make it worse by providing endless distractions. (Globe & Mail) Ron Haarer, avid MEDA supporter, died Feb. 27 in Phoenix at the age of 72. A prominent land developer and homebuilder in Arizona, Haarer later operated Westwind Aviation, a flight school and air tour company. He was active in MEDA for many years, serving on its board of directors from 1995 to 2007, and as chair from 2001 to 2003. He was also MEDA’s representative on the board of CAPA, a microfinance institution (MFI) MEDA started in Romania, and was on the board of MiCredito, MEDA’s MFI in Nicaragua. Zap. Business likes to be innovative — except when it comes to buzzwords. No one, it seems, hangs onto outworn catch phrases longer than those in the entrepreneurial community. The business press has been urging readers to zap, prune and otherwise delete overworked buzzwords from the lingua franca of daily discourse. The latest list of “10 most useless buzzwords” comes from PR Daily. The winners, err, losers, are: game changer, at the end of the day,
Later. Many people aren’t surprised that sloth is one of the seven deadly sins. That’s because most of us experience a bit of it in the form of procrastination. Among students, 95 percent admit to suffering procrastination, and experts say the other five percent may be fibbing. Of the general public, an estimated 20 percent report chronic procrastination. And new technologies, like a cellphone with dozens of apps, 2
C’mon, really? I confess to being unaware of my own susceptibility to marketing mindgames. Thus I have never given a second thought to why my local supermarket greets me with piles of colorful oranges, apples and romaine. I have never seen that as anything more than a welcoming embrace of orange, red and green. So my prevailing naivete was jolted to discover the real motive behind the strategic presentation of bounty. “If you think about it,” writes Charles Duhigg in The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, “positioning produce at the front of a store doesn’t make much sense, because fruits and vegetables bruise easily at the bottom of a shopping cart; logically, they should be situated by the registers, so they come at the end of a trip. But as marketers and psychologists figured out long ago, if we start our shopping sprees by loading up on healthy stuff, we’re much more likely to buy Doritos, Oreos and frozen pizza when we encounter them later on. The burst of subconscious virtuousness that comes from first buying butternut squash makes it easier to put a pint of ice cream in the cart later.” Hmm. And I always bought the ice cream last so it would have less time to melt. — WK
Comments? Feel free to send your thoughts to wkroeker@meda.org
In this issue
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Zambians get techno-access to mobile money. Page 6
What’s in store for MEDA’s next three years? The new 2014-2016 strategic plan aims to reach 28 million of the world’s poor with everything from mobile money to greener cookstoves.
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Child’s play
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Building peace, sack by sack
Pity a country so mired in conflict and poverty that its children never laugh. Plain old play is not a common indicator on the global development index; maybe it should be.
The Ethiopian rice farmers and millers were at each others’ throats, each trying to gain an edge. Their disputes kept both sides poor. Collaboration showed them a better way. By Susan Miller
Departments 2 4 20 22
Looking ahead
Roadside stand Soul enterprise Soundbites News
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Philanthropy pays
For a family business, being generous can be a win-win. Not only does it support important causes, it can also give new direction to individual family member’s lives. By Lance Woodbury
Volume 43, Issue 3 May June 2013 The Marketplace (ISSN 0199-7130) is published bi-monthly by Mennonite Economic Development Associates at 532 North Oliver Road, Newton, KS 67114. Periodicals postage paid at Newton, KS 67114. Lithographed in U.S.A. Copyright 2013 by MEDA. Editor: Wally Kroeker Design: Ray Dirks
Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 32C E Roseville Road, Lancaster, PA 17601-3681. To e-mail an address change, subscription request or anything else relating to delivery of the magazine, please contact subscription@meda.org For editorial matters contact the editor at wkroeker@meda.org or call (204) 956-6436 Subscriptions: $25/year; $45/two years.
Postmaster: Send address changes to The Marketplace 32C E Roseville Road Lancaster, PA 17601-3681
Published by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), whose dual thrust is to encourage a Christian witness in business and to operate business-oriented programs of assistance to the poor. For more information about MEDA call 1-800-665-7026. Web site www.meda.org
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The Marketplace May June 2013
From refugee camp to boardroom Mark Sheerin’s two worlds couldn’t be farther apart. Previously he served Sudanese refugees as a Christian aid worker; now he is part owner of a financial planning and wealth management firm in Atlanta, Georgia. “The distance between my two worlds — my former life as an international aid worker, and my current life serving some of the world’s most financially fortunate — seems unbridgeable some days. On other days, the two worlds look more similar than I imagined,” he writes in “Why I left World Vision for finance,” an online feature of Christianity Today. “I used to define my World Vision job as bringing opportunity to the poor so they might thrive. I used to define my new job in finance as providing guidance to people so that they could make the most prudent decisions to meet their goals and leave legacies. Now I describe both my careers in the same way: creating redemptive spaces in a fallen and tangled world.” He gained perspective on the clash after hearing a sermon on Jeremiah 29 where Jewish exiles in Babylon are told to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city.” The Jews were being called to cling to holiness while still embracing the city, and in that seeming contradiction Sheerin found a bridge between two divergent careers. “God calls his people to seek the redemption of particular spaces in each and every context,” he writes. “For the Jewish exiles, this meant living holy lives in a pagan city. For my own life, it meant leaving explicitly Christian ministry and seeking the well‑being of Atlanta by lashing myself to the mast of this city’s ship.” Sheerin now realized that Jesus had come to earth to radically reconcile all things to himself, to redeem institutions, individuals, the realms of justice and law, education, farms, cities, even the world of finance. He says the decision to leave the refugee camp for the boardroom was complicated. “How could I justify trading a vocation of serving the poor for a career among the wealthy? Believing that finance and feeding starving children both amount to good work in God’s eyes still challenges me on my best days. But then I remember Jesus’ mission to conquer sin and its effects in all its forms and in every place. Fighting against economic injustice through World Vision or through a financial planning firm are both mandated by God. Both tasks are valuable, both tasks seek redemption of broken systems and fallen people. Instead of digging wells, my firm walks with widows through the jungle of probate. Instead of sponsoring children, my firm partners with families through difficult, end‑of‑life decisions.” Sheerin adds, “Striving to create a place where the financial industry can be a balm rather than a scourge seems as daunting a task as feeding the hungry in Africa.” The Marketplace May June 2013
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Spiritual growth — at work Everyone knows the marketplace is a place to utilize our skills and earn a living. Can it also be a place of spiritual growth? Absolutely, say Richard J. Goossen and R. Paul Stevens in their new book, Entrepreneurial Leadership: Finding Your Calling, Making a Difference (InterVarsity, 2013). They offer three ways in which the marketplace is a location for spiritual formation. 1. It’s the place where we show who we really are. “Our inside is revealed by what we do outside, by the way we work, by our relationships with people, by the realities of how we go about doing day to day enterprise.” 2. “The seven deadly sins, seven soul-sapping struggles that include pride, greed, lust, anger, envy, sloth and gluttony are revealed not in quiet times and prayer retreats but in the thick of life, in business meetings, as we struggle over this month’s sales, when we have to deal with an awkward customer or employee. And every soulsapping struggle becomes an opportunity to grow spiritually.” 3. Good work is part of God’s creating and sustaining plan for the world. “We are actually partners with God in our daily work.... This brings a transformative dimension to our daily work. It means that instead of regarding work in the world as a diversion from the spiritual life and from the ‘work of the Lord’ ... we are doing ‘the Lord’s work’ in creating new products and services, engaging in trading and global enrichment, creating new wealth and improving human life.”
Over the fence, out of the park You may have heard about or seen the movie “42,” which depicts how Jackie Robinson became the first African-American in Major League Baseball. What it doesn’t fully portray is how the young athlete and his boss made history by bringing their Christian faith to work. Branch Rickey was the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers and founder of the minor league system. When it came to racial integration he also had a social conscience. He hired Robinson at a time when black players were confined to their own league, no matter how good they were. At the center of this dramatic civil rights story were “two men of passionate Christian faith,” writes Eric Metaxas in Seven Men: And the Secret of Their Greatness. “Robinson was a Christian [and] his Christian faith was at the very center of his decision to accept Branch Rickey’s invitation to play for the all-white Brooklyn Dodgers.... Branch Rickey himself was a Bible-thumping Methodist whose faith led him to find an African-American ballplayer to break the color barrier.” Other baseball owners were aghast. Two teams threatened to go on strike if Robinson took the field. Rickey held firm, and Robinson joined the Dodgers the day before the opening of the 1947 season. As recounted by baseball writer Roger Kahn in his book Into My Own: The Remarkable People and Events That Shaped a Life, Rickey posed a hard condition on his new rookie. He warned Robinson he would suffer abuse, and made him promise not to respond in kind. “A man disinclined toward understatement, Rickey cited as an acceptable role model Jesus Christ,” Kahn writes. “When Robinson asked if Rickey wanted someone without the courage to fight back, Rickey’s response shook down thunder. ‘No, I want somebody with the courage not to fight back.’” Remaining nonviolent wasn’t easy. When Robinson came to bat, pitchers tried to bean him. Other players tried to spike him when he played first base. He’d hear racial slurs yelled from the opposing dugout. Robinson kept his pledge and did not respond. He ended up playing 10 seasons and is still ranked among the best baseball players ever. By bringing their faith to work, Rickey and Robinson changed a lot about America — not the least of which, its national pastime.
Serve time, serve coffee Pete Leonard has a passion for coffee and convicts. He has brought both of them together by starting a roasting company to employ ex-cons who can’t find jobs. Back in 2007 Leonard observed two seemingly disparate realities — the U.S. is the world’s leading consumer of coffee (45 million pounds a year), as well as a global leader in prison population (2.2 million people). He also learned that ex-convicts have a lot of trouble getting jobs, which can lead them back into crime. In his state of Illinois, 35,000 convicts get out of prison each year, but almost half (47 percent) end up back in a cell. Having a job plays a huge role in keeping them straight. Leonard and two friends decided to satisfy their coffee cravings by starting Second Chance, a high-end roaster that sells under the label I Have a Bean. They also decided they would hire people who had served time. Today, seven out of their 10 employees are ex-inmates. A former co-owner of a software company, Leonard says this gig is “the hardest, the most fulfilling, and the most fun — all at the same time.” His ambition: set up 150 micro-roasting plants across the U.S. and become “the largest postprison employer in the world.” — Christianity Today
Overheard
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“I don’t believe in just ordering people to do things. You have to sort of grab an oar and row with them.” — U.S. businessman Harold Geneen (1910-97) The Marketplace May June 2013
Looking ahead New three-year plan charts course to serve 28 million clients by 2016
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Every three years MEDA undertakes a detailed planning exercise to lay out marching orders for the next stage of creating business solutions to poverty. The new plan, covering 2014 to 2016, spends 66 pages to review our performance for the past three years, analyze strengths and weaknesses, examine industry trends and plot direction for the new cycle, which takes effect in Fiscal Year 2014 (starting July 1, 2013). Following is a condensed summary:
What we’re doing: • Ukraine — helping 7,000 farmers work together to produce better and more profitable crops • Ethiopia — increasing incomes among 8,000 rice farmers and 2,000 weavers • Techno-Links (Peru and Nicaragua) — helping commercially distribute affordable, climate-smart equipment (drip irrigation, tillage, etc.) to 5,000 small farmers • Tanzania — developing commercial supply chains for disease-resistant varieties of cassava seed stems for 18,000 farmers • Sierra Leone — helping Mountain Lion Agriculture, a Canadian venture, to expand its small farmer rice-paddy out-grower model to benefit 5,000 farmers What’s next for 2014-16: • Partnerships with global food firms (think Walmart and Unilever) to integrate more small farmers into their supply chains • Apply our cassava seed project experience to develop other commercial seed systems • Phase 2 of our highly successful Ukraine Horticulture Development Project
e have taken risks to create innovative products that provide sustainable livelihoods to the poor, and tested and modeled these products through entrepreneurial partnerships. Much of what we have achieved is now part of mainstream development programming among government, non-government and business organizations around the world. This three-year strategic planning document reviews what worked well in the past three years, and identifies the most promising opportunities given economic and development trends and our own strengths and limitations. The 2014-16 cycle is largely a continuation of what has worked well for us. Areas where we are making a difference:
Agriculture
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espite urbanization more than half of households are still rural in many developing countries, and they remain the most disadvantaged communities in terms of all human development indicators. Further, the world’s demand for food is expected to double in the next 50 years, while the natural resources that sustain agriculture will become increasingly scarce, degraded and vulnerable to the effects of climate change. MEDA will build on its experience in agricultural development to deliver scalable, replicable, market-driven solutions that enable millions of small farmers to compete profitably in local and global markets. The Marketplace May June 2013
Inclusive financial services
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n addition to the improved incomes that can be realized from more productive smallholder agriculture, off-farm incomes are vital to reduce rural poverty, create opportunities for women and youth, stem migration to 6
Trends are promising...
tected wells. Improvements in the lives of 200 million slum dwellers exceeded targets, while the share of urban residents in the developing world living in slums declined from 39% in 2000 to 33% in 2012. More than 200 million gained access to either improved water sources, improved sanitation facilities, or durable or less crowded housing. Child survival progress is gaining momentum. Despite population growth, the number of under-five deaths worldwide fell from more than 12 million in 1990 to 7.6 million in 2010. Global malaria deaths have declined. The estimated incidence of malaria has decreased globally by 17% since 2000. Over the same period, malaria-specific mortality rates have decreased by 25%. Reported malaria cases fell by more than 50% between 2000 and 2010 in 43 of the 99 countries with ongoing malaria transmission. ◆
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xtreme poverty is falling in every region. For the first time since poverty trends began to be monitored, the number of people living in extreme poverty and poverty rates fell in every developing region — including in sub-Saharan Africa, where rates are highest. The proportion of people living on less than $1.25 a day fell from 47% in 1990 to 24% in 2008 — a reduction from over two billion to less than 1.4 billion. The world has met the target of halving the proportion of people without access to improved sources of water, with the proportion of people using an improved water source rising to 89% in 2010. Between 1990 and 2010, over two billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources, such as piped supplies and pro-
But still more work to do
worldwide, and it is estimated that an extra 10 phones per 100 people in a typical developing country boosts GDP growth by 0.8 percentage points. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) represent a rapidly growing but still very small proportion of the economies of Low Income Countries. SMEs provide valuable jobs, important markets for low-income producers, and provide essential inputs to increase the productivity and well-being of the poor. This sector offers opportunities for investment and increased engagement in providing value chain services to the poor. Climate change is increasingly, and disproportionately, impacting the poor in many countries. Rising sea levels due to increased surface temperatures may affect as many as 600 million people living in low-lying coastal zones. Agriculture will be significantly affected by more drought and fires. Intensified weather patterns are creating more frequent and stronger storms, leading in many cases to disasters. Terrorism continues to be a real threat to development around the world, not just against the west or western players in development. With high youth unemployment, the situation may well worsen. Conflict and terrorism lead to loss of income sources, infrastructure and services; movements of people to other areas or countries; and destruction of land. ◆
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ulnerable employment (unpaid family workers and own-account workers) has decreased only marginally over 20 years and accounted for an estimated 58% of all employment in developing regions in 2011, down only moderately from 67% two decades earlier. Hunger remains a global challenge. The most recent FAO estimates of undernourishment set the mark at 850 million people living in hunger in 2006/2008 — 15.5% of the world population. Progress has also been slow in reducing child undernutrition. Gender inequality persists and women continue to face discrimination in access to education, work and economic assets, and participation in government. Violence against women continues to undermine efforts to reach all goals. Recent estimates are that 2.5 billion adults, just over half of the world’s adult population, do not use formal financial services to save or borrow. Most of the unbanked live in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Of the 1.2 billion adults who do use formal financial services, at least two-thirds live on less than $5 per day, indicating that it is access, not the size of income that matters. More than five billion mobile phones are now in use
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The Marketplace May June 2013
Photo by Steve Sugrim
With locations throughout Zambia, this mobile money provider with whom MEDA works is enabling the poor to participate in the financial system through savings, loans, money transfers and insurance.
bile money providers, to enable the poor to participate in the financial system through savings, loans, money transfers and insurance • Expanding access to branchless and mobile money products in rural Zambia, Nicaragua and Haiti • Promoting debit cards and branchless banking to flood victims in Pakistan • Developing sustainable rural lending products for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Afghanistan • Supporting a Haitian commercial bank to design a branchless banking strategy to reduce service costs and increase convenience and security for clients What’s next for 2014-16: • Expand mobile and branchless delivery methods for
overcrowded slums, and diversify rural economies. In almost all cases, however, access to appropriate rural financial services to support these initiatives is non-existent. MEDA has vast experience in providing financial services for micro, small and medium businesses that form part of rural value chains. It aims to work with partners who are eager to expand their services and who can develop innovative, high-quality rural, agricultural and branchless (mobile) financial services and products to help both farm and non-farm businesses to develop the rural economy. What we’re doing: • Working with various partners, from banks to moThe Marketplace May June 2013
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Every year 2 million people die from indoor pollution; greener cookstoves would help
financial services to rural households, small farmers and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) • Work with impact investors to strike long-term partnerships and offer technical support to innovative social enterprises in
Sarona Asset Management Inc., MEDA creates investment vehicles to attract and invest capital in emerging markets, with a special focus on the SME sector, while providing the economic, social and environmental returns that impact investors require. What we’re doing: The Sarona family of funds continues to funnel capital to a vibrant mix of private equity funds that serve the poor. The Sarona Risk Capital Fund has investments in 64 companies that employ 92,000 people and serve more than 14 million low-income clients. What’s next for 2014-16: • Attract more debt and equity capital from individuals and institutions to leverage into investments • Support the SME sector through investment in the $250 million second phase Sarona Frontier Markets Fund and technical and mentoring services for fund managers • Seek appropriate partners to create viable retail offerings for smaller impact investors
financial services • Continue Haiti’s post-earthquake recovery by helping a private company to expand its micro-insurance products that help the poor to protect their assets and health • Explore ways to leverage existing value chain relationships to increase financial services access for small businesses and farmers
Impact investment
- LICs - World - HICs
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he power of private equity investment in emerging markets is a well-known MEDA story that goes back to our origins 60 years ago. Sharing that story with private equity markets, harnessing the power of investors to improve the financial performance of companies in emerging markets, and delivering positive social and environmental impact — that is the heart of the impact investment industry in which MEDA seeks to be a leader. In most Low Income Countries the successful small and medium business sector is the “missing middle,” the elusive link in many value chains upon which the poor depend. Investment in the microfinance sector has stabilized and improved millions of microenterprises in the informal sector worldwide. However, much additional investment is needed in order for many countries to develop the employment, tax and economic base that only the SME sector can provide. MEDA’s own Sarona Risk Capital Fund invests in companies that fill this missing middle in microfinance, agricultural production and processing and other high-value service and production sectors. Through
GDP Growth Emerging & developing economies
World
Advanced economies
Better growth rates and lower government debt levels in Low Income Countries will continue to favor increased investment there, with opportunities for MEDA and Sarona Asset Management Inc. to provide ongoing and increasing leadership in the impact investment field. 9
The Marketplace May June 2013
Business of health
countries. What we’re doing: • Malaria prevention through insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) continues, with over 35 million distributed and an estimated 200,000 lives saved. Electronic vouchers for ITNs have rapidly gained acceptance and offer great potential to expand into other health products. • A new venture in family nutrition is testing technical viability and prospects for commercialization of Vitamin A fortified crude sunflower oil in Tanzania What’s next for 2014-16: • Explore innovations in micronutrient fortification for a more nourished world, focusing particularly on small and medium enterprises that process locally produced foods for local markets. • Promote improved cookstoves as a green technology (two million people die annually from indoor pollution) • Expand mosquito net program to Ghana and other African nations
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ub‑Saharan Africa struggles to develop while its economy is disrupted by endemic diseases — HIV, malaria and tuberculosis — as well as extremely high maternal death rates. MEDA’s growing expertise in the business of health provides a double development impact — increased incomes for those who participate in the business as well as economic productivity for households that would otherwise be negatively impacted by disease and death. MEDA has proven that effective public‑private sector innovations can provide sustainable delivery of health products and services. Now, it needs to also convince decision makers in the health industry who to date have been largely accustomed to free distribution. MEDA will diversify and grow business of health impact by expanding beyond insecticide-treated bednets, employing new technologies such as e-vouchers, and by adding new Photo by Jillian Baker
Youth and financial services
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he worldwide youth population is growing, restless and often unemployed. A major contributor to the recent Arab Spring uprisings was the high level of youth unemployment in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) — 25.5% in the Middle East and 23.8% in North Africa in 2010. The irony is that while there is a growing unemployed youth population, there are global shortages of skilled workers (31 percent of employers worldwide report difficulty filling positions due to a lack of suitable talent). In addition, youth repeatedly express interest in beginning their own enterprises rather than working in underpaid positions with poor opportunities for advancement. There is also a critical dearth of financial access among young people. Only 12.3% of youth in the MENA region have a formal bank account, the lowest rate in the world. Having a safe place to save or an appropriately structured loan can be a critical stepping stone for youth on their path to entrepreneurship, career development, and/or financial independence. What we’re doing: • In Afghanistan thousands of youth have learned new skills in workplaces that are safer and more financially viable • Our successful YouthInvest methodology, providing financial access and literacy to young people in Morocco and Egypt, is being applied in our large-scale consultancies supporting projects in Nepal and eight countries in Sub-Saharan Africa • Partners in Mongolia, Sri Lanka, El Salvador and Uganda are expanding outreach with financial and nonfinancial services to over one million youth through the Practitioner Learning Program, a learning group facilitated by MEDA
Maulid Maulid, deputy manager of Shafii Sunflower Oil Mills, decants sunflower oil in Babati, Tanzania. MEDA is working with small and medium-sized companies including Shafii, to fortify their sunflower oil with Vitamin A. The Marketplace May June 2013
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Photo by Scott Ruddick
Despite more and more unemployed youth, employers cite a global shortage of skilled workers
What’s next for 2014-16: • MEDA will build on its experience in Egypt and Morocco to deepen its reputation as an innovator and leader in youth entrepreneurship products and services, serving disadvantaged youth with These Afghan youth are among the burgeoning global number of unemployed youth, financial and non-financial many of whom express interest in starting their own enterprises. services • MEDA will develop more partnerships with interoffer more sector-wide mechanisms to help partner banks national and local organizations to expand delivery of and MFIs build capacity to provide more diverse products inclusive youth-focused programs, incorporating mobile and services for the poor. and branchless technology and social media channels What we’re doing: • Developing innovative savings products, marketing strategies and delivery channels (mobile technology) for a new project in Uganda • Rolling out a new five-year, large-scale project in Yehe microfinance and banking sectors increasingly men to manage a capital fund and provide financial and realize that savings are critical to sustain households, support services for underserved micro, small and medium small businesses and communities — especially for the enterprises (MSMEs) poor who lack social safety nets. Deposits also provide a • Refining our risk-management frameworks and diversified, local and stable funding base for the financial client-centric products for financial institutions in the institutions themselves. MEDA is increasingly called upon Middle East and Africa to help microfinance partners develop new deposit mobiWhat’s next for 2014-16: lization programs or help them transform into regulated • Rename this area of focus to better reflect its banks. While MEDA intends to continue to lead in savings breadth of scope product development we will also expand our scope to • Leverage the new Yemen project (mentioned above)
Deposit mobilization
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The Marketplace May June 2013
• Women-owned SME strengthening in Libya What’s next for 2014-16: • Maintain current programs in Pakistan, Haiti, Libya and Ghana • Increase the inclusion of 90,000 women across at least seven countries (Ethiopia, Liberia, Jordan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ghana and Haiti) as respected and valued participants in market systems
to expand access to financial and business support services for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) • Scale up programming to better serve a huge underserved market for savings (three out of four adults in developing and middle income countries do not have bank accounts) • Develop Sharia-compliant loan products for the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) and other countries focusing on Islamic lending practices • Promote and gain greater recognition for established MEDA approaches in risk management, product development and governance
Photo by Ariane Ryan
Women’s economic development
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ender equality is smart economics, yet around the world women are blocked from fully participating in market systems. Women‑headed households still make up the poorest strata of society in most countries. Their potential to contribute to the economic sustainability of their families and community is diminished by barriers that, as MEDA has proven, can be effectively overcome. MEDA MEDA’s newest overseas office in Tripoli, Libya. Project coordinator intends to increase programming that includes Amani Ogbi (pictured) assists women who work in small and medium women as respected and valued participants in enterprises. market systems. What we’re doing: • Major projects linking well over 70,000 women to markets in Pakistan have produced greater earnings which translate into healthier families as well as more respect and status in the household and community key MEDA strength and competitive advantage is its • A $20 million project is bolstering family nutrition association of supporters, however a growing and expertise and incomes among 20,000 women in Ghana more diversified association is needed. In some regions • An urban gardening project is building food security chapters need to be started or revitalized, and MEDA in Haiti needs to reach out and engage younger supporters in
Engaged and growing association
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new and creative ways. MEDA has also been challenged to reach beyond Mennonite circles to other Christian denominations, as well as to young business/professional people who have left the traditional churches but still wish to be involved in a helping mission. The key to expanding its base of supporters will be tangible opportunities for engagement, effective utilization of social media and other communications, and visible results for their financial support. What we’re doing: • The number of people engaged in MEDA’s mission continues to grow, with more than 11,000 people in North America and Europe involved (financial support, attend convention and other events, visit MEDA projects, utilize publications and engage at a governance or business advisory level). What’s next for 2014-16:
Our values • We seek to create, sustain and innovate. • We treat clients, colleagues and partners with respect and dignity. • We promote justice for the poor by helping them develop entrepreneurial skills and seize economic opportunity. • We value partnerships with the poor and others regardless of gender, race, class, ethnicity, nationality or religion. • We carefully manage human, financial and environmental resources by emphasizing accountability, discipline and sustainability. ◆
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• Engage 13,000 people with MEDA’s mission and values in their own workplaces/communities and through connections with MEDA’s programs around the world • Expand engagement with key groups inside and beyond the Mennonite churches in North America (congregations, young adults/students, farmers and other
professionals, networks of women) • Increase the number of supportive giving units to 3,500 households • Renew faith and business connections with business workshops and church and seminary events • Increase annual private contributions from $5.7 million to $7.9 million (39% increase) • Expand opportunities to contribute through online giving, Farmer to Farmer Seed Match, family legacy and planned giving • Fully utilize social media outreach (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and LinkedIn) • Expand MEDA’s online web community • Pursue cause marketing opportunities More younger
Profit op, not photo op
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nstitutional donors increasingly favor private sector activity in poor countries and rely on public-private partnership mechanisms to alleviate poverty. They are urging corporations and nonprofits to work together to leverage skills, experience and technology to create sustainable impact. A movement toward increased integrity in business continues, as manifested through fair trade, corporate social responsibility and triple bottom lines — placing equal value on financial, social and environmental returns. There is also a growing sense among donors that in order to address poverty we have to help companies find profit opportunities, not photo opportunities. Wireless technology is seen not only as a development opportunity but also a way to deliver development aid, such as the worldwide network called the Better than Cash Alliance. Among private donors, charitable contributions are increasing slowly — up 4% in the U.S. during 2011 (in the same period MEDA’s growth was 65%). A 40-year analysis of giving patterns in the U.S. shows an average annual increase of 6.8%, with declines in recession years. In general, older donors give more, but young donors (under 35) are said to be the most optimistic about the future and could give more if approached suitably. Social media is seen as the best way to engage this sector. Members of organizations increasingly demand value for their membership — “what’s in it for me?” ◆
supporters need
We believe these strategic directions fit well with global economic to be reached and development trends, and allow us by fully utilizing to build on our competitive advantage — a social media unique combination of: focusing on the poorest of the economically active; a flexible, innovative business approach; a reputation for integrity; excellent staff, board and association; and our commitment to partner with or create locally owned and managed partners. Over the next three years we plan to incorporate three cross-cutting themes in all we do: (1) small and medium enterprise development; (2) increase our use of information and communication technologies; (3) consider the impact of climate change and use more green technologies. Our hope is that by 2016 we will achieve the following outputs: • 28 million clients via 300 partners; • 13,000 individuals engaged with MEDA, contributing $7.9 million; • investment of $20 million risk capital funds, with $400 million of assets under management; • an annual development budget of $51 million. ◆ 13
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Child’s play Simply having fun is underrated as a step to well-being
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s economic development mainly for grown-ups? Or can it also be for children? After visiting a “failed state” a seasoned development veteran said, “It’s one of the saddest countries I’ve been to. The children don’t laugh.” That lack of humor among children testified to a deep vein of economic and social misery. Child play is not a common indicator on the development index. Perhaps it should be.
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Johann Koss believes play is as important to a child as food, shelter and security. In 2000 he founded Right to Play, an international organization that uses sport and play programs to improve health, develop life skills and foster peace for children. It works in 20 countries where war, poverty and disease are prevalent. Koss says North American parents grasp the importion, malaria treatment and prevention. tance of their own kids being able to play but somehow One game deals with protection from mosquito-borne don’t connect the dots when it comes to children in develmalaria. Based on the game of tag, small children put oping countries. He insists play is not a luxury but is crititheir hands over their heads to symbolize mosquito netcal for child development and a good way to overcome ting. They can’t be tagged by a “mosquito” as long as the trauma and develop life skills. “You see improvements in “net” is over their head. “They go home to the parents health care, education and in conflict-free environments and say, ‘Where’s my net? I don’t want to be infected when you have access to safe play,” he told a Globe & because I want to play tomorrow’.” Mail interviewer. Koss says the game has led to greater Koss sees a peacemakmosquito net usage. “In Uganda, we did ing component in children’s a study of our children and 85 percent play. “What we see with child were sleeping under the nets at night, soldiers is a lack of rules due while the national average is 10 perto their upbringing in rebel cent.” groups,” he says. “When you go on the playground and For MEDA, children’s welfare teach them the game of sochas been a focus of activity in places like cer, they realize you can’t have Egypt, where it promoted education and fun if you don’t have rules. safety in family shops, and in Afghanistan They become the guardian of where it worked with young apprentices the rules. It creates an imwho hoped to someday launch out on proved ability to solve conflicts their own. outside of violence.” “Children should be playing, not workA new project adds that agenda to Right to Play uses simple ing,” says MEDA colleague Mulu Haile, MEDA’s current work among farmers and games to promote vaccinawhose organization uses the sign shown. The Marketplace May June 2013
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weavers in Ethiopia. Although the country’s existing policies and legislation aim to protect children from exploitive labor and support their education, child labor is still very high. Most is in the informal sector, where it is difficult to enforce safe practices. Some 18 million Ethiopian children aged 5-17 work — almost a third of the population. More than half of rural children work, many up to 33 hours a week. E-FACE (Ethiopians Fighting Against Child Exploitation) seeks to reduce the vulnerability of child laborers in the textile and agriculture sectors. Weavers: Children who work with weavers, spinners and dyers often do so in poor conditions, earning less than $1 a week and working 14-hour days that prevent them going to school. They risk physical deformities from bending over the loom, eyesight problems due to poor lighting, and skin diseases from unsanitary conditions. Working through local partners, MEDA offers weavers a hazard awareness program called Keep Safe, and a referral system to get children into safer kinds of work or back in school. E-FACE also offers business owners loan incentives to improve workplace conditions and upgrade antiquated looms. MEDA links rural textile families to high-end markets so they can improve their quality, boost income and send their children to school instead of to work. Farmers: E-FACE encourages farmers to add low-intensity crops such as apples and bamboo, which require less labor to produce more income, and rely less on children to work. MEDA is also training 250 youth aged 14-17 as agricultural sales agents. Equipped with seeds, fruit tree saplings, supplies and information, they can work in safer jobs while giving local farmers access to needed agricultural inputs. MEDA expects E-FACE to have a direct impact on 7,000 families and more than 2,200 youths. One of MEDA’s partners in Ethiopia is Mission for Community Development Program (MCDP), whose logo shows children carrying work implements and kicking a soccer ball. The illustration has a dual message, says Mulu Haile, executive director. “One is that children should go for the goal,” she says. “Also, children should be playing, not working.” ◆
Play is not a luxury — it’s a good way to overcome trauma and develop life skills
At play in the fields of the Lord
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lay isn’t a strong biblical theme but you can find it if you look. David didn’t write any psalms to his favorite chariot racer. Paul didn’t write an epistle to the Troas Titans. But you can find references that sound playful. Our Maker seemed to have had a good time creating the world: “He makes the clouds his chariot, and rides on the wings of the wind” (Ps. 104:3). God created Leviathan “to sport, to frolic” in the seas (Ps. 104:26). Even Job, not one of the Bible’s more amusing characters, depicts mountains “where all the wild beasts play” (40:20). The perfect society — Jerusalem — is a place where one can hear “the voices of those who make merry” (Jer. 30:18-19). Zechariah 8:5 says Jerusalem “shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets.” It’s a safe bet God wants us to have fun, else why were we created to rather laugh than cry? An even safer bet is that God cares about kids. For that you need look no further than Matthew 19:14 where Jesus says “let the little children come to me.” ◆
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Building peace sack by sack In fields and at looms, Ethiopians find that collaboration defuses distrust and deception by Susan Miller
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Ethiopia — at a recent Kansas chapter meeting. o many times we hear that we must separate Some of the businesspeople in attendance had travbusiness transactions from friendships and mueled to Ethiopia in early February to visit a MEDA project tual care, that businesspeople have to be tough the Kansas chapter has adopted, titled Ethiopians Driving to make money in today’s world. We’re encourGrowth through Entrepreneurship and Trade (EDGET). aged to “get ahead” more often than to “get along” or Hostetter, Ethiopia’s MEDA country project manager walk alongside others. When others fall behind on their for the past two years, described how value chain projects mortgage payments, investors may get ahead by buying with both farmers and millers and with weavers and deforeclosures at low prices. Farmers get higher prices on signers have proved that collaboration, rather than trying grain when others lose their crops to drought. Manuto take advantage of each other, can produce win‑win facturers may cut corners on safety concerns in order Photo by Steve Sugrim business outcomes. to increase profits. That’s In the case of the rice farmers and business, right? Or is there a millers, the value‑chain approach to better way? business introduced by MEDA included Trying to profit at the having the millers provide transportaexpense of farmers, rice milltion and storage services for the farmers’ ers in the Amhara region of crop and upgrading their processing Ethiopia over‑milled the rice equipment to better serve the farmers. that farmers took to them, Farmers learned from extension services and sold the milling byprodthat investing in higher quality seeds, ucts. The farmers retaliated coming to agreement with the millers by adding dirt to their rice to on grades and standards, and learning increase the weight of their how to do direct sales rather than selling grain so that they could get their rice wholesale, added value to their more money. The deception product. The MEDA training inspired the and distrust destroyed relafarmers and millers to take financial risks tionships as well as pride in together for the good of each one. one’s product and services, Weavers who are poor kept their resulting in low quality and children out of school to work so their low prices for both parties. families could subsist on the income they This “get what you can get could generate from both the adults’ away with today” business and children’s labor. With no business mentality kept both farmers skills and low social status, the weavers and millers in poverty, Loren were often taken advantage of by tradHostetter told Kansas MEDA ers. The future for the weavers’ families members and students from looked no better than the past since Hesston, Bethel and Tabor “The only way to build business is to trust,” the input supply price increased faster colleges — including several says Loren Hostetter, shown here on the job than market prices. Weavers had little international students from in Ethiopia.
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MEDA training
skills and formed savings groups. As their weekly contributions to the group accounts build, members may borrow from them to purchase bulk supplies and equipment. “They are really excited about their new relationships,” Hostetter said. “They find that working together with trading partners is better than working against them. “The only way to build business is to trust.” By working cooperatively with high‑end designers who invest in their training and provide raw materials, the weavers complete the appropriate quality work on schedule and are rewarded incentive pay for their efforts. With enhanced income, weavers can afford to keep their children in school. Buyers do their part by agreeing not to buy products made by child laborers. In this new climate of justice and mutually beneficial relationships, farmers, weavers, millers, designers and all those who provide materials, credit and services to each other are building peace in the business world. Instead of winners and losers, everyone benefits. ◆
inspired farmers and millers to take financial risks together for mutual benefit incentive to work every day and no way to save money to invest in new technology. Occupational health and safety conditions needed to be addressed as well. EDGET brought the weavers together with traders and high‑end designers and markets. Where previously there was conflict between the weavers and traders, relationships of trust are being built, Hostetter said. Lead weavers receive commissions on sales as they coordinate clusters of weavers and collaborate with traders and designers to meet lucrative orders. EDGET project weavers and designers are now working on a contract with Ethiopian Airlines to create traditional designs for flight attendants’ uniforms. Weavers, although mostly illiterate, learned business
Susan Miller is a freelance writer who lives in Hesston, Kansas.
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The Marketplace May June 2013
Why giving is so good Being generous pays dividends ... in more ways than one by Lance Woodbury
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hilanthropy is not a word frequently used among many families with whom I interact. Defined generally as “the disposition or active effort to promote the happiness and well-being of others,” philanthropy, in the last few hundred years, has taken on the meaning of generous giving to good causes. While philanthropic action certainly benefits the recipients of gifts, my goal in this meditation is to encourage the practice of philanthropy or generous giving as a means of enhancing and developing the family business. Here are three benefits for family businesses that formally embrace philanthropy in their organizations. 1. Holding the family together. As businesses in general, and agricultural businesses in particular, see fewer children return to the company, giving money away or participating in activities to help those less fortunate offers a chance for all family members to interact with one another. Participating in a charitable event or serving on a scholarship committee gives siblings and parents a chance to develop and sustain relationships in a deeper way than just spending time socially as a family. It brings purpose and a level of discipline to their interaction, and it can reveal the diverse skill-sets among family members. Philanthropic activity can cultivate an appreciation for one another in a way that social activity, or even business activity, cannot. In more than one instance, I have seen how philanthropic activity in a family business gives new direction to individual family member’s lives, igniting a passion for service and understanding that previously was absent. 2. Broadening the family legacy. Every community has business-owning families who are recognized for their success. But I know a few family businesses whose legacy is more than business success: their legacy is about the difference they make in the lives of others. It seems to me, at least anecdotally, that those difference-making organizations generate more enthusiasm and better morale among employees. They are talked of more positively in the community. They are sought out frequently for partnership opportunities, and they often contribute positively to the image of their industry. Their charitable activity doesn’t necessarily make them more or less profitThe Marketplace May June 2013
able, and they often don’t seek the spotlight. However, when you look back over 50 or 100 years, it is those philanthropic families who are seen as having made the world a better place. Mike Miller, a friend who works for Mennonite Economic Development Associates, has many stories about businesses whose success in North America has been strengthened through their participation in activities to alleviate poverty in developing countries. It really works! 3. Communicating important family values. The decision to involve family members in charitable acts — the giving of money, resources, time or talents in the service of others — provides a powerful medium for communicating what the family truly values. As a trustee of the Finnup Foundation of Garden City, Kansas, I constantly have the founders’ values in mind as I make grants or interview prospective grantees. When I talk with agricultural families, I often hear them talk about how they want to perpetuate the values that have made them successful. For example, some value their management of land, which enters into their gifting of financial resources as they become more successful. I know several family business owners who value a college education and thus fund scholarships for employees or community members or give directly to schools for this purpose. I’ve seen family business members who value helping those in extreme poverty and so they encourage mission trips or participation in Habitat for Humanity projects. The point is that philanthropy or generous giving can shape future generations by identifying and communicating the core principles of family business members. Doing philanthropy well — giving money away to effect change, or using your time and energy productively to serve others — is not an easy task. The dividend, however, can be much greater than any financial reward. Good family relationships, a positive influence on future generations, and an enduring legacy are assets that truly are a family business’s wealth. ◆ Lance Woodbury, an advisor to family-owned and closely-held businesses, will be a presenter at MEDA’s annual convention, Nov. 7-10 in Wichita, Kansas. His article is reprinted with permission from his book, The Enduring Legacy: Essential Family Business Values.
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Bossy witness? Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.... (1 Peter 3:15-16, NIV)
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verzealous Christians who ignore Peter’s words on “gentleness and respect” have given witnessing a bad name. Others have overreacted by muting their verbal witness entirely. Many Christians may be eager to share political opinions but take a vow of silence when it comes to sharing opinions about Jesus Christ. Perhaps it is time to remind ourselves of the old saying, “When the heart is on fire, sparks will fly out of the mouth.”
Ian had the problems of Job, but so far his work hadn’t suffered. Though sometimes frazzled, he still completed his projects on time and on target. On the surface everything seemed fine with Doreen’s star employee. However, it wasn’t. From a reliable source, she learned that Ian’s personal life was a mess. His finances were in shambles. Setbacks seemed to seek him out. His marriage had recently failed, and the divorce was messy and expensive. Ian clung to the hope that he could at least be a good father to the teenage children. But then there were problems with drugs. Just the other day someone in the office had overheard Ian utter the words “probation officer” on the telephone. Ian’s life was falling apart. Now he had turned to alcohol, but only on his own time. It hadn’t affected his work. Not yet. Doreen knew what a great healer Jesus Christ could be. She had become a Christian in her early twenties after a personal crisis pushed her to the edge of despair. At a time when she saw no possibility of love anywhere, a compassionate Christian community had wrapped her in love and given her more support and purpose than she thought possible. Armed with new direction, her life had changed dramatically. Doreen wondered how she could share her faith with Ian without seeming pushy. After all, she was his department head. She held some of the keys to his professional future, and he knew it. She wanted to be sensitive to his needs as well as to her delicate position as his boss. How would she come across if she became more assertive about spiritual matters? She had never had a personal relationship with Ian. She was many years his elder and had never so much as had a cup of coffee with him outside the work setting. Wouldn’t it seem odd for her suddenly to inject
She watched her star employee struggle, and wondered when — or if — some spiritual counsel would be appropriate
spiritual direction into the relationship? Would she be overstepping her bounds? No doubt he would be embarrassed to learn that his boss knew the extent of his personal problems. Would he feel obligated to respond affirmatively? How she wished she had begun earlier to become closer to this hurting young man. Then she would have had a better foundation for intervening now. But she hadn’t. Doreen’s own boss was not a Christian. Would he think it improper for her to give spiritual counsel within the company? Doreen was convinced she had much to offer Ian. She yearned to do so. But how assertively should she share? Further questions 1. Missionaries sometimes speak of “rice Christians” who agree to “convert” to gain material benefit. Can people in the workplace be similarly
tempted? 2. What experience have you had in giving a forthright Christian testimony without seeming pushy or intrusive? Can witnessing on the job disrupt the workplace atmosphere? 3. If you owned the company, how would you feel about employees sharing “their gospel” with others on staff? Would it make a difference if the employees practiced some other religion? ◆ Abridged from Faith Dilemmas for Marketplace Christians by Ben Sprunger, Carol J. Suter and Wally Kroeker (Herald Press, 1997). Available for free download at www.meda.org
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Soundbites
Africa makes leaps African statistics are often unreliable, but broadly the numbers suggest that human development in subSaharan Africa has made huge leaps. Secondaryschool enrolment grew by 48% between 2000 and 2008 after many states expanded their education programmes and scrapped school fees. Over the past decade malaria deaths in some of the worst-affected countries have declined by 30% and HIV infections by up to 74%. Life expectancy across Africa has increased by about 10% and child mortality rates in most countries have been falling steeply. A boom-
ing economy has made a big difference. Over the past 10 years real income per person has increased by more than 30%, whereas in the previous 20 years it shrank by nearly 10%. Africa is the world’s fastest-growing continent just now. — The Economist’s special report on Emerging Africa
Boomer clouds When the cold front of demographics meets the warm front of unrealized dreams, the result will be a thunderstorm of purpose the likes of which the world has never seen. — Management expert Daniel Pink
Mennonites & work Mennonites believe that hard work — the disciplined skill of the artisan and professional, the creative expressions of poets and musicians and artists, the routine tasks of parent and farmer — is a reflection of God’s original act of
More than a walking wallet How can a church build better relations with its businesspeople? Here are four ways suggested by Richard J. Goossen and R. Paul Stevens in Entrepreneurial Leadership: Finding Your Calling, Making a Difference (InterVarsity, 2013): “First, a church leader should visit entrepreneurs at their place of business. This simple action will not only convey respect and appreciation, but it will also allow a pastor to understand more intimately the entrepreneur’s daily environment. “Second, understand the whole person of an entrepreneur. Don’t view an entrepreneur as a walking wallet. Instead, understand the entrepreneurs’ spiritual dimensions also. “Third, create a culture that welcomes entrepreneurs. This can be done by being open to considering new ideas; don’t say, ‘we’ve never done it that way before’ with the implication that we never will. “Fourth, become a place where all members can utilize their gifts, exercise their calling, within a community of fellowship. Discover the gifts and resources of the entrepreneur and put them to use.” ◆
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creation. Work that is honest and constructive, that heals and reconciles, that makes the world more beautiful — all such work celebrates the goodness of God. — John D. Roth in Beliefs
God links Through our work we bring order out of chaos, create new entities, exploit the patterns of creation, and interweave the human community. So whether splicing a gene or doing brain surgery or collecting the rubbish or painting a picture, our work further develops, maintains, or repairs the fabric of the world. In this way we connect our work to God’s work. — Timothy Keller in Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work
Cure for the blues Whenever I feel blue, working cheers me. Sometimes when I sink into a bad mood, [my husband] says, “Why don’t you go to your office for a while?” Even if I don’t feel like working, once I plunge in, the encouraging feeling of getting something accomplished, the intellectual stimulation, and
even the mere distraction lift me out of my crabbiness. — Gretchen Rubin in The Happiness Project
Disruptive teens I was exactly the kind of employee who makes micro-managers feel justified in controlling all decision making. Give someone like teenaged me any say or input and I’d cause trouble. Or so the thinking goes. In reality, when employees are allowed to question authority, they are more likely to feel invested in their jobs and therefore more likely to perform them well. And when they are actively encouraged to question the status quo — when their viewpoint is sought
Holmes on homes
out and valued — they are far more likely to think innovatively and come up with the sorts of ideas and feedback that help move an organization forward. — CBC business journalist Amanda Lang in The Power of Why
Why do I still care after 10 years on the job? Because I know that the work I do, my crew does, and everyone else who puts through for desperate families — job after job — makes a real difference to the people we help. Home is where the heart is. That’s not just a saying. Your home is supposed to be the safest place in the world — for you and your family. And when I see
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homes that are anything but safe, it’s hard for me to walk away. It’s a battle every single time.... Good contractors don’t walk away from a job and leave homeowners helpless. We have a work ethic that doesn’t let us do that. We care. Why? Because we don’t see what we do as a job. We see it as a skill, a duty. There’s honor in that. And every time a contractor doesn’t do what they say they’re going to do, they’re not just disrespecting the homeowner, they’re disrespecting their work and the industry. — Construction expert Mike Holmes, host of TV shows where he rescues homeowners from renovations gone wrong, in the Winnipeg Free Press
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News
Entrepreneur chosen as new EMU graduate dean They now run one of the leading hospitality businesses in Pennsylvania‑Dutch country. They are the ultimate managers of 450 employees who run the Bird‑in‑Hand Family Inn, Restaurant and Bakery, as well as other places of lodging in the area, including Amish Country Motel, Mill Stream Country Inn, Travelers Rest Motel, Bird‑in‑Hand Village Inn and Suites, and Country Acres Campground. A graduate of Goshen (Ind.) College, Smucker holds master’s and doctoral
degrees from (respectively) the University of Scranton and Walden University. Both degrees were in management, with a focus on effectiveness in leadership and organizational change. He has taught these subjects on an adjunct basis at EMU and other colleges. His blend of experience in business and academe gives him a unique perspective on workplace values. “Most people spend more time each week at work than they do in church, or even with their families,” Smucker says. “This means that a work environment that includes developing and empowering employees as part of its mission can have a significant positive impact on their social, emotional, and spiritual development.”
As graduate dean, he will oversee and coordinate the fastest‑growing component of EMU, with master’s degree students accounting for about a third of EMU’s enrollment. EMU offers master’s degrees in biomedicine, business administration, conflict transformation, counseling, education, and nursing & leadership. Smucker and his wife, Anna, have three adult children. He is known as a longdistance runner, having completed 23 marathons, including three Boston Marathons and six ultra‑marathons. Smucker begins July 1, succeeding David Glanzer, who filled the role part‑time while teaching in EMU’s graduate counseling program. — Bonnie Price Lofton, EMU news service
Photo by Kevin Kilbrei
Jim Smucker, president and major shareholder of the Bird‑in‑Hand hospitality corporation in Pennsylvania, has been appointed the first full‑time graduate dean of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), Harrisonburg, Va. He will bring a skill-set not typically seen in academic leadership — decades of success as a business owner. Smucker and his brother John have expanded what began in Smucker 1968 as a motel built by their Amish‑born father on family farmland.
Jeff Huebner utilizes Skype technology to connect an April 9 meeting of the Winnipeg MEDA Chapter with Veronica Herera, CEO of MiCredito, MEDA’s microfinance institution in Managua, Nicaragua, and Octavio Cortes, longtime MiCredito associate. Herera and Cortes explained how MiCredito makes affordable loans to microbusinesses and responded to chapter members’ ques-
The Marketplace May June 2013
tions about interest rates and delinquencies. Huebner is associate professor of international business at Canadian Mennonite University’s Redekop School of Business. He regularly brings students from his international microfinance course to Nicaragua to interview MiCredito staff and clients, carry out research on microfinance, and assist with field audits.
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From toothpaste to texting: Gen Y lives to connect The human body has 206 bones, and for today’s young people, the smartphone could be number 207. According to a Cisco study on Internet habits, two of five global young people say they “would feel anxious, like part of me is missing” if they couldn’t use their smartphones to stay connected. It’s as much of their routine as brushing teeth: 90 percent use their smartphone first thing in the morning, some even before getting out of bed. They check for e-mails, texts and social media updates, never mind actually making a call. The Cisco Connected World Technology Report surveyed 3,600 Gen Y college students and young professionals ages
18-30 across 18 countries on their tech habits. It found the need to stay connected drives every facet of their lives: from work to shopping, friendships to family. “For employers,” the report says, “this is meaningful because it demonstrates that the workforce of the future is more agile, more informed and more responsive than any previous generation. They live to connect and communicate.” • Three in four check their phones in bed; • More than a third use them in the bathroom; • Nearly half (46%) text, e-mail and check social media during meals with family and friends; • One-third check their
smartphones at least once every 30 minutes; in the U.S., that figure jumps to more than 50 percent. Globally, one in five checks at least every 10 minutes; in the U.S., it’s two out of five; • Women seem more driven to connect: 85% versus 63% of men admit to compulsively checking their smartphone for text, e-mails or social media updates; • Over 40 percent of respondents would go through “withdrawal” and would feel at loose ends and incomplete if they couldn’t check their smartphones constantly; • Of those compulsive users, 60 percent wish they
didn’t feel so addicted; • Two-thirds say they spend the same amount of time — or more — socializing online with friends as they do in person; • Almost one in five admits to texting while driving. “The craving to stay connected means that the lines between work and social life/ family life are blurring,” says Cisco. “People check for work updates and communicate at all hours from every place imaginable. Time is elastic: For Generation Y there are no clear markers between ‘the workday’ and personal time — both blend and overlap throughout the day and night.” ◆
Bakke is back, now as a novelist Not many entrepreneurs make it as writers; the skill-sets are just too different for most. Dennis Bakke showed he was an exception when he wrote Joy at Work: A Revolutionary Approach to Fun on the Job, which became a New York Times bestseller. Now he’s at it again, this time with a novelized leadership fable loosely based on his experience as head of AES, a Fortune 200 global power company with 27,000 employees in 27 countries. The new book, titled The Decision Maker, aims to help “unlock the potential of everyone in your organization, one decision at a time.” Giving decisions to the people closest to the action can transform a company, he says. It’s a theme he pushed in his earlier book where he said the first step toward helping
employees find meaning in their work is to create an environment where they are free to make important decisions and take responsibility for the results. “The feeling that you are part of a team, a sense of community, the knowledge that what you do has real purpose — all these things help make work fun,” he wrote. “But by far the most important factor is whether people are able to use their individual talents and skills to do something useful, significant, and worthwhile. When bosses make all the decisions, we are apt to feel frustrated and powerless, like overgrown children being told what to do by our parents.” The Decision Maker, published by Pear Press, sells for $24.95 in the U.S. and $27.50 in Canada. ◆ 23
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