Caribbean Idols

Who was your role model when you were growing up – was it your father and mother?   Maybe it was someone in the spotlight, such as Mohammed Ali, Bono, or Cher?   For your children, it could be Renaldo, Lady Gaga or Miley Cyrus.  The truth is most children have an idol they want to emulate.   American television capitalized on this by thrusting Kelly Clarkson and others into icons on the aptly named, “American Idol.”  Further, we have an endless array of sports and business notables in the media.  But are these idols the best role models?

Those who follow Kanye West as their role model will have a very different experience than those who follow Beyonce.  An example of role model’s influence is found every day in every neighborhood, and some can create huge problems.  More than 50,000 gang members were initiated in Los Angeles, after yearning for the respect of their neighborhood role models.  This is not a developed world problem.    According to Amnesty International, gangs cripple Jamaica’s inner cities and the Jamaican Gleaner reported the 2008 murder rate approached 1,600 on the island.   Cape Town has an estimated 100,000 gang members — many in the “Cape of Fear” section of town, and Nigeria’s Bakassi Boys are notorious for vigilante based crimes.

Many social organizations are taking on this problem.  From the U.S. Department of Justice’s Weed and Seed program, where 300 offices across the U.S. bring investments to neighborhoods, to Greg Boyle’s LA Homeboy Industries, with the slogan, “Nothing stops a bullet like a job,” there have been heroic, long-term efforts.  The best long-term view is from the Buffalo community leader who said the only way to address the problem is to “give people something to live for other than a gang.

In developing nations, efforts are innovative and wide-spread.  The Barra Mansa municipality in Brazil hires young people to participate in government decisions.  In Port Elizabeth, the Stepping-Stones One Stop Youth Justice Centre supports young people in trouble with the law, who are successfully rehabilitated on the values of citizenship and reintegrated back into society through skills training.  These groups simultaneously provide an alternative view from gang life, while presenting pro-social role models.

What value can the right role models bring to this situation?   For role models to have a pro-social effect, they must exude positive values, have star quality, and their stories must inspire as real options for those growing up in impoverished areas.   This is where introducing the Pioneers of Prosperity (POP) may provide some help.   These pioneers grew up in weak economies, and often in dire situations.   They worked hard and became successful by continuing when many would have given up.   In addition to providing jobs to those in their communities, they quietly led their firms and communities into a better place.

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Business role model” is a term often viewed as an oxymoron.    At worse, when business people make news, it is to expose corruption.  Some business newsmakers have been anti-role models, from Charles Ponzi’s postage stamp scheme in the 1920s to the more recent antics of Bernie Madoff.  Even when businesses make news for positive reasons, the newsmaker seems too far removed from the daily problems of the disenfranchised to serve as role models.   How many really believe they will become the next Bill Gates?   In addition, there are some who see all business as an un-necessary evil that exploits the poor.

These three issues are not the case with pioneers of prosperity.   These pioneers are role models and pro-social ones at that.    Among the pioneer of prosperity winners in Africa, AAR Health stands out as being among the only insurance firms that both insures against and treats HIV.   The story of Janet Nkubana of Gahaya Links is inspirational, from her beginnings in a refugee camp, to her ability to employ more than 4,000 women in rural Rwanda.   Her firm employs with no notice of ethnic heritage, trains, and pays above average wages.   All Gahaya employees are treated with dignity.   Each winner in the pioneers of Prosperity program is selected for their pro-social behavior.  They add real value for their customers, are profitable, treat their workers as partners, and have sustainable business strategies that support their communities and environment.

The most recent POP winners were from the Caribbean, and were honored in a ceremony in Jamaica on September 11, 2009.   Alternative Insurance Company of Haiti, founded in 2001 by Olivier Barrau, provides a range of insurance products aimed at Haitians earning less than $4 a day.  Robert Lopez of Belize’s Hummingbird Furniture Ltd. produces high-end furniture, and after starting his business in his house, with one other worker, he has grown the business to more than 50 employees.  Further, he only buys wood that has been approved for harvest by the Forestry Department of Belize as part of a sustainable forestry plan.

The list continues, as Sacha Cosmetics and Analytical Technologies of Trinidad, the grand prize winner – Balkan Timber of Guyana, or even runner-up firms, such as Mockingbird Hotel of Jamaica or Belize’s Lodge at Chaa Creek, all have one thing in common.   They are pro-social role models.  They are socially responsible entrepreneurs that struggled to succeed and in doing so created a much better life for their workers and communities.   They do not seek the spotlight.   But we may all be better off if the spotlight shines on them.

-Michael Brennan, Seven Fund