THE THREE WHY'S

Change is constant and the development sector is not left out. A decade ago, social impact work in my country was largely defined by diplomatic negotiations and rising charity organization "doing something to help, lending a helping hand, supporting vulnerable groups" were the major reasons for starting such organizations.

Overtime the visits and excursions to orphanage and motherless babies home was exploited and suddenly became a pandemic. This led to the review of visiting policies among the community of this vulnerable groups. Thus, leading to reduced physical engagements between visitors, donors and beneficiaries and an absence in media recordings of the visit.

With plummeting intersectional poverty rates, young people are deciding to "help". This has led to an influx in the creation of charities, foundations, initiates and NGO's whose activities are aimed at supporting vulnerable groups through crowd-funded donations during the festive season.

However, the rise in grants and innovation competitions have led to an increase in youth-led innovations. With an increase in branding, publicity, and "success status" attached to fully-funded opportunities, youth tokenism, paid and voting awards more young people are trooping to the development sector.

For every young social entrepreneur I ask, "What is your why?"

For context I will to divide this question into three parts.

• Why did you start?
• Why will you continue?
• Why must you succeed?

THE FIRST WHY: WHY DID YOU START?

As a social impact consultant with 8 years of experience, the answer to my first "why" is a unconventional.

Why did I start? I started because I was depressed. I went for an interview without any knowledge of the organization or sector, I saw a welcoming community and I knew community could heal, so I joined and one day I decided to read on the UNSDGs.

For most young people, the first why is the need to help. The decision to be part of the solution, an empathy to prevent people from experiencing our suffering, a fuel in our soul convincing us that we can solve a problem, a compassion to create a better future, the celebration to be part of a community, a why driven by validation-a quest to land a fully funded trip that will elevate our status, shame our hater and brand us as "global" on the media.

What is your first why?        

THE SECOND WHY: WHY WILL YOU CONTINUE?

The second why is the reason why we decide to continue. For me, it was that moment in 2019 when I saw the guest list of the high-profile speakers for the conference in San-Jose, California.

"There is no financial compensation for the national winners but if there are these many UN related agencies and if they can get these big men and women to fly in and attend a conference where they will speak for barely 15 minutes then there must be money in the sector and for some reason I am not touching it yet."

These were my thoughts.

After a while my second why evolved into a need to work like a secret service agent, making change behind the scene, making impact without being in the public light.

For most people, the second why is the reason you decide to formally register the foundation, charity, NGO or initiative, the reason you decide to apply for a bigger grant after winning your first $300 or $500 grant, the decision to form a team, the decision to create an active group chat after winning an award, the decision to keep making impact despite low recognition's, the decision to get a job at the UN, the decision to be recognized as a popular speaker.

What have you continued, what is your second why?        

THE THIRD WHY: WHY MUST YOU SUCCEED?

The third why is the reason you are still reading, the reason for which you must succeed. From working on my first women political participation in 2022 and growing into who I am today, I have realized that neither of the first two why's can sustain me. A question my close friends ask me is "what is success to you? When do you stop?".

Why am I still here?

I believe change is possible, I believe things can work and I am ready to work to see things work.

It is at your third why, that your passion becomes a drug that fuels you steadily on the marathon, you recognize the wins and celebrate them but you also see the work that needs to be done, changing the system from outside seems like a myth with a happy ending in a movie, coming into the system requires tactical thinking with easy replicated systems yet with each proposed solution seems buried in a vortex of unsolvable systemic problems.

A third why looks like this, recognizing the room where the change happens and stepping into it, deciding to make impact and multiply wealth, implementing a policy to liberate a nation, creating a strategic plan for a sector, recognizing that at some point you need both impact and visibility to win, marshaling a troop to win when it is a numbers game, understanding that some wins are sustainable when invisible, realizing that the creators of the systems are humans and as a human you can create a new system rather than working for the existing system, realizing that this is your life and your legacy is how you choose to be remembered.

Was it just a decision to help?

Is the grant enough?

Has the validation you have received solved the problem?

Why must you succeed? What is your why?