Closeness brings empathy and understanding
Understanding how we're connected to our environment and community can be hard. Effective communication is key to sharing information accurately and showing what we've achieved.
“I would say one of the things we're trying to do, that's lacking, is connecting all those local people. It's super complicated, like if you're in Mauritius, how do you find the startup in Thailand with your solution? How do you connect to the expert in Singapore to manage your project and help you do it? And those big global collaboration projects are usually led by large organisations, right? You can do it top-down when you have less money, but it's hard to do it bottom-up. “
-Yann LeMoël / Founder of Living Labs Federation
“‘We're a bunch of smart banker, consultant types, but, for most of us, we don't really have any understanding of real lived experience and understanding of the people we're talking about working with. So we need to work with others and do.”
- Michael Grossman / Managing Director, Social Finance
“You used to go into any kind of nonprofit's offices or get the thing in the mail, and there would always be pictures of smiling and waving brown children. That is because people felt that that was compelling and would motivate the mind. But if you can actually make that so much more interactive and authentic using technology, I feel like that could only drive investor behavior.”
- Michael Grossman / Managing Director, Social Finance
“If I look at the investor base that we're working with, most donor-advised funds and super high net worths, our objective is to mobilize charitable capital to impact first investing. The increasing ability to deliver content to investors in a way that allows them to have emotional interaction with the investment opportunities is very powerful.”
- Michael Grossman / Managing Director, Social Finance
Insights
Proximity transcends boundaries
The challenge is to use proximity to make a real impact across different geographies, social groups, and industries. We need to overcome distance and find new ways to connect and work together with people from all over the world. By breaking down social barriers, we can find inclusive solutions that meet the needs of diverse communities and bring about positive change. Similarly, by crossing industry boundaries, we can encourage collaboration between different fields and use collective knowledge to solve complex problems.
The real test is whether we can recognize and make the most of proximity's power to create lasting impact that goes beyond traditional boundaries and brings about meaningful change.
Technology as a driver for closeness
Technology serves as a powerful role in nurturing closeness among individuals, both physically and emotionally. Through different communication channels, people can easily connect and collaborate regardless of distance. Social media platforms, in particular, facilitate the sharing of experiences and the maintenance of relationships. Furthermore, technology empowers us to exchange memories, evoking a profound sense of connection.
Design challenge
How might we enable proximity for capital, beneficiaries, communities at distributed and global scale?
By leveraging technology
Through cultural exchange
By individual connections