Small Steps, Big Impacts: Social Change is Everybody's Business

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together - Vincent Van Gogh

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Often, we undermine the potential of our seemingly small steps and actions in creating impacts that last generations. This is the case, many times when we consider the impact of Social Change Makers in Development.

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• Personal Reflections on the Undervalued Impact of Change Makers

?Recently, I dedicated an ample period to reflect on my observations in Nigeria's social development landscape, connecting them with the insights I gained from the recently concluded African Master Series by the Ideation Hub Africa and an online course on Effective Engagement of Civil Society in Development.

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To provide a bit of context, my social impact journey through educational development has driven me to take a step back, zoom out, and study how grassroots efforts and individual sustainable development goals fit into broader global and national development objectives. Consequently, I've been investing substantial time in resources related to international development.

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The course on Civil Society Engagement offered valuable insights into the roles of different stakeholders in development, with emphasis on development cooperation providers (donors), partner country governments, and civil society. It has been my long-standing opinion that the engagement of our country's government in taking ownership of and contributing to development has been suboptimal. Many of the development initiatives I have witnessed, particularly in underserved communities like Yemetu, Ibadan, Nigeria, where I currently reside, have been spearheaded through youth and civic engagement, primarily via non-profit organisations. This opinion somewhat resonates with the experiences shared by Oluwafunke Adeoye of Hope Behind Bars Africa , in her conversation with Oluwatoyin Banjo (M.Sc, CMC, FIMC, Ph.D-in-View) , Programme Director of Ideation Hub Africa , in the just concluded African Masterclass Series, highlighting how underrated the efforts of social change makers are.

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• ?The Power of Seemingly Small Actions

Sharing her experiences, working toward achieving Criminal Justice Reforms, she underscored the significant impact that could be made in decongesting correctional centers in Nigeria if every lawyer, like herself, took up the case of one indigent detainee who, more often than not, shouldn't be there. This led me to ponder - what if every individual, professional, business, company, entrepreneur made a deliberate effort to work toward one goal, solve one problem, transform one community, send one child to school, support one business, volunteer for a cause (I could go on and on), the impact would be tremendous.

• What about others?

Yes, what about them, our governments, elected officials, private sector, academia, etc.? This article does not in any way aim to undermine the significance of the role of our government in development, nor their efforts in owning and working towards it. It also doesn't undermine the crucial roles of other actors in development and the potential impact that will be created if we have optimal participation of all actors.

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• It's not just about them

These stakeholders (the ones we often focus on, and consider the sole bearers of the responsibility of social development) are however not the primary focus of this article. We, "the average citizens" are the focus. You will agree with me that it is unseemly to put the entire responsibility of ensuring optimum quality of living for ourselves and the security of our future on some group of people, especially when we are mostly not satisfied with the results we see. We can choose to wait and agitate until we see the change we desire, or we can choose to take action and take charge of our "little corners".

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• Following the footsteps of those who inspire us

?We can draw inspiration from the remarkable impacts of change-makers like Raphael Stephen whose work with the Fashioned and Made for Excellence Foundation has empowered over 30,000 students with leadership education, Orondaam Otto who has impacted over 650,000 children through Slum2School Africa , and Oluwafunke Adeoye whose work with Hope Behind Bars Africa has positively impacted over 7,000 people. The choice is ours to make, wait for others to do it or join others in doing it. We also can chart the path for other like-minded people to follow. We can be the volunteer who engages the youths in a local community every week, the physiotherapist who offers pro bono services to indigent individuals, the teacher who goes the extra mile to improve the quality of learning in her local school, the list is endless.

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• Now is the time to act

We can no longer wait, inaction is no longer an option. Join a social impact community, volunteer for a cause, start a project that addresses an issue dear to your heart, amplify your steps, deepen your impact and expand your reach in the initiative you have started, and work with the mindset that ensures we make better leaders.? The choice is ours to make, but waiting and inaction is no longer an option.

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This may be the only option we have to secure our future and those of future generations. Let's chatter those glass ceilings, the sky is our starting point!

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P.S.

The online course on the Effective Engagement of Civil Society in Development is available for free on Coursera , and yes, you'll receive certification. Also, I highly recommend checking out the resources on the Ideation Hub Africa | Africa's Leading Public Policy and Impact Advisory Firm?? platform

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