Sprinkling magic to make the world a better place

You only get around 30 seasons to get it right, said Rose Goslinga, CEO of the microinsurance company PULA, underscoring the importance of decision-making for smallholder farmers in Africa. This really got me thinking (again) about the fleeting of time. It also got me thinking back to when I first saw Rose Goslinga back in 2015: She was giving a talk at TEDxBerlin about PULA. At the time I was in the audience with the Executive Committee of Bayer Crop Science, the members of whom we were training to give mini TED-style talks for their forthcoming leadership conference. Fast-forward a few years later. Here was Rose presenting again at Bayer's first ever Social Innovation Day alongside several other incredibly-inspiring speakers from social enterprises Mercy Corps, Living Goods, My Agro and Path, which collectively received 3 million EUR from the Bayer Foundation as part of a new 20 million EUR Social Innovation Fund, spearheaded by Bayer Foundation's newly-appointed Executive Director, Monika Lessl. Following the event, Crop Science CEO Liam Condon inquired to a few of us about the concept of intrinsic motivation to help others: Was it nature or nurture? As we debated, it was evident that we were all awe-struck by the commitment, dedication and passion of these award-winners (and our other speakers from companies like GraceHealth, The Carter Center, The Cup Foundation and GraceHealth) who were dedicating their lives to enabling and empowering communities in need to move from surviving to thriving. I thought back to being 18 years old, when I visited Nairobi, where my father had been born and raised in a British colony. I reminisced about how I had been struck by the warmth and hope of the Kenyans, yet shocked by their poverty. I wanted to help. I went to uni, started working, started a family - and forgot that I had wanted to help. This whole conference bolted me back to the importance of being aligned to your true north and purpose. The next morning - following more heart-wrenching yet inspiring speeches - one person in the audience asked the panel: You are all doing amazing things so why don't you work together and be even stronger? The panellists laughed and exchanged smiles. We do work together, answered Rose. We work closely with Mercy Corps and we're all connected to One Acre Fund, she said, adding: It's a friendly and supportive environment and we have common goals. The comment perfectly echoed Kemal Malik's opening speech that day, which quoted John Donne's poem No Man is an Island, saying: Each man's death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. As I read back through my notes, I tried to draw parallels of all speakers - whose common objective is to implement, sustain and scale up impactful solutions to help people lift themselves out of poverty. Of course there is a long way to go, yet we cannot deny that we are tipping in the right direction: Wherever we are (be it in a corporate environment, academia, a startup or social enterprise) we can make further and faster progress if we collaborate and join forces to 1.) create a multi-lateral setting which utilizes integrated food systems holistically; 2.) train next generations to stay on the pulse of advancing digital technologies to leverage the power data science; 3.) ensure policy is on board to provide guard rails that can help scale up success so that ultimately, we can feed the world without starving the planet. I might not today be on the ground in Africa, yet I will do my best to tell inspiring stories of those who are sprinkling magic to make the world a better place. Thank you, Monika, for inviting me to be part of this journey.