Unleashing My Inner Misfit
I am a misfit. Learned it by getting to know the person I was at different critical junctures in life; the Nicaraguan boy born abroad due to a civil war that tore his country apart in the 1980s, who lived in 4 countries before returning — at the age of 13 — to a home he did not recognize as his own; the 17 year old high school student who — against pressure from family, peers and teachers — chose the university known for shaping men and women for others, not the one with the most global brand recognition and the surest promises of leading to so-called success; the college student at odds with professors — world leaders in the fields of development and diplomacy — and brilliant peers because he thought development as we know it has been mostly intended as an escape valve for an unfair and unsustainable system, not as a means to truly overcome it; the recent college graduate who turned down appealing offers abroad to return home and volunteer in a small fishing village to build up young people’s advocacy and entrepreneurial skills; the young professional who refused a more lucrative career path to experience the joys of teaching; the COO of a banana growing and export operation who focused on empowering workers, improving their working conditions and skills, and safeguarding their human rights to increase productivity by nearly 40% in under 3 years and enter new, conscious markets, raising eyebrows from other companies whose business models rely on the low cost labor and vulnerability of low-skilled farm workers; the supporter of the peasant movement against Nicaragua’s new dictatorship who quit when given an ultimatum between the cause and his job; the program manager in the international development cooperation field who constantly asks why inequality and injustice are rampant in spite of the money destined to the field since the Marshall Plan in 1948.
These versions of myself have taught me that I have a passion for disruption. I want to disrupt the extractive economic-political institutions and the vicious cycles that serve the status quo and further concentrate power and wealth in the hands of the few, in Nicaragua and beyond. Above all I dream of seeing a fair share of power and wealth in the hands of farm workers and peasants, especially women. These are the people who feed the world, yet are among the most vulnerable to poverty and other human rights violations. Their development and well being must be a cornerstone of any serious attempt to face the global food challenge. Putting them at the heart of it is the kind of innovation we need the most but also the kind that is hardest to achieve. Extractive institutions, along with the interests that perpetuate them, are the greatest obstacles to innovation. Disruption is their biggest nightmare. Hence solving this and other pressing global development challenges is also a matter of power and will. The ingenuity, means and resources are there, but the will from economic and political power brokers is questionable. Striking the right balance between an optimistic outlook and a sense of urgency in the face of these challenges is a daunting task. This explains why I sometimes feel wary of the over-glorification of social entrepreneurship and innovation, which are most visible online. Don’t get me wrong. I do strive to make an impact from such perspectives and have faith in my peers who share this aim. It is why I am part of the Unleash program. I joined because I want to learn how to better turn ideas into realities, how to evolve further into a pragmatic idealist, as paradoxical as it may sound, and because being a disruptor in a country like Nicaragua is dangerous, lonely and stressful. Sharing with inspiring disruptors from all over the world seems a great antidote in that respect. I must mention as well that the program’s focus on insights into problems, as opposed to solutions only, is fascinating. But I am also here because we cannot lose sight of the importance of grassroots human rights defense, political efforts and social movements which are often far less glamorous. I expect to bring this perspective into the collaborative processes we are unleashing.
