How entrepreneurship can combat terror … really
Anastasia Dellaccio, Director of Marketing and Communications, Sister Cities International, read the original post on The Hill.
Today’s headlines — dominated by stories that address the terrors of extremism, be it political or religious — have left many of us groping for a solution. How about a solution in the form of a business concept like entrepreneurship? On first listen, entrepreneurship as an antidote to atrocities and a way to battle those with access to deadly weapons may seem farfetched. How can one tiny business idea, perhaps developed in a far-off land, create innovations that can lead to a better life, job opportunity creation, a more prosperous world and sustainable future?
First, let’s define this concept of “entrepreneurship.” Being an entrepreneur means taking an idea and building upon it in your own way — it can be anything from a product, a service, a business, a more efficient mode of production or even an improvement on an already existing concept. It can be simple; it can be revolutionary. Many people around the world, however, do not have the opportunities or the resources to effectively build on entrepreneurial ideas. Their horizons must be expanded through interaction with different cities and communities from around the world and the concomitant resources.
Cities are today’s hubs for entrepreneurship and creativity — startups are popping up in cities across the world thanks to all of the resources available to innovators. Cities are where trade and business originates. Without the infrastructure of cities — the large amounts of manufacturing that happens in or near them, the major finance centers that are housed within them, the ports and airline hubs that connect them — trade would be much more difficult. Therefore cities, these centers of trade, provide the canvas and paint that allow entrepreneurs to both innovate and showcase their ideas.
By giving people the tools and opportunities to showcase their entrepreneurial ideas, we can give them tools to help keep them from becoming a part of negative influences such as terror networks or cartels. When people are given the opportunity to be part of positive communities, they are less inclined to join communities of negative consequence, such as terrorist networks. By giving people the option to be part of something that benefits society and allows them to express themselves creatively, we empower them to see the world in a more positive light. But in many countries throughout the globe, youth are closed off from the world. They see America and other countries through constructed, societal views. Opening these young people to the world enables them to see the world more positively and gives them the ability to change their communities for the better.
Organizations like Sister Cities International connect communities around the world, bringing people from different cultures together, allowing them to understand each other better and develop and build positive relationships. In Jalalabad, a young Afghani named Qais Ahmad described how his experiences with sister cities through a San Diego-Jalalabad Sister Cities program called Afghan Youth Connect changed his outlook on the world. “The Taliban regime brought so much darkness to [Afghanistan],” says Ahmad. “[AYC] was like opening a window for us to see what the outside world was really like. It allows us to see outside the darkness and out into the brightness of the world and to see each other for our similarities rather than our differences.”
Programs such as the one that Qais was a part of have proven to effectively turn people away from rogue communities. Tying entrepreneurship into a program that brings people together from around the world creates the ability to promote innovation and creativity, expanding the horizons of those in foreign countries while using newly grown businesses to create more jobs.
That is where the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) comes into play, and that is why Sister Cities International is working closely with the Department of State and others around the world to connect communities through the power of entrepreneurship. This month, the GES — now in its seventh year — will connect people from around the world who are driven by the passion to use entrepreneurship as a means to address some of the world’s most pressing problems.
The GES will bring people together and allow them to share their experiences, provide them with access to mentors, funders and other innovators. In 2016, for the first time, GES will take place on American soil in the heart of innovation: Silicon Valley. The 1,000-plus attendees from around the world can experience firsthand the peak of U.S. entrepreneurial achievement. The positive connections they make and the friendships they forge will give them a beneficial sense of community that just might help change headlines one day.
