Interviewee: Morimoto, Kikuo (Japanese)
Region: Cambodia
Category: Cultural heritage

"I will never forget the faces of the grandmothers when I delivered the [silkworm] eggs or the way they drew the thread so efficiently, just how they used to -- their fingers knew exactly what to do."

Kikuo Morimoto was born in Kyoto in 1948. In 1975, after a five-year apprenticeship, he started his career in the Japanese textile technique of painting and dyeing kimono fabric known as yuzen. In 1980 he made his first visit to Bangkok, where he discovered Khmer traditional silk ikat textiles at the National Museum.

In 1983, Morimoto moved to Thailand to serve as a volunteer in refugee camps in Northeast Thailand. He started a hand-weaving project in a village in Roi Et province in 1984. After leaving the project, he started to examine natural dyeing practices in the region. In 1988, he opened Bai Mai, a shop in Bangkok selling handspun silk dyed with natural dyes. In 1990, as a collaborating researcher for The Textile Museum (Washington, DC), he compiled a report entitled "Traditional Dyeing Methods in Northeast Thailand". From 1992 to 1995, he taught natural dyeing in the King Mongkut Institute of Technology (Bangkok).

In 1995, Morimoto was asked by UNESCO Cambodia to serve as a consultant for a project on the revival of traditional silk weaving. Following this first exploration of textiles in Cambodia, he researched and submitted a report, "Silk Production and Marketing in Cambodia". He remained in Cambodia, where he started a project to raise silkworms in Takaor village, Kampot province with the ultimate goal of saving the fast-disappearing silk industry of Cambodia.

In 1996, Morimoto founded IKTT (the Institute for Khmer Traditional Textiles) in a suburb of Phnom Penh to tackle revival and activation of tradition textiles in Cambodia ("neither art nor hope can exist on an empty stomach"). In 2000, he moved the Institute to Siem Reap, where he set up a workshop for weaving and dyeing with the goal of enabling elder craftspeople to hand on their skills to younger generations. In 2002, he purchased five hectares of land north of Angkor to begin his next project, "Wisdom from the Forest". (Challenge: Reforestation in Cambodia is a more arduous process than elsewhere, involving the added step of removing land mines.) In 2003, IKTT held an exhibition and seminar, "Hol, The Art of Cambodian Textiles," in collaboration with the Center for Khmer Studies in Siem Reap. In 2004, Morimoto received the Rolex Award for Enterprise. In 2007, he had the honor to be granted a royal audience with King Sihamoni at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.

Motivation of his Project:
The almost complete disappearance of traditional skills and the mass selling-off of museum–quality treasures during the war have meant that the younger generation knows nothing of this important part of the nation’s cultural past.

Key achievements of his Project:  
Kikuo Morimoto is making major progress in his project to re-establish local production of traditional textiles to help revitalize rural Cambodia. Morimoto is already providing ways to earn a living to more than 300 individuals in Cambodia.

Expectation:
He hopes that his example will inspire the youth of Asia’s richest nation as much as it will help those of Cambodia, the continent’s poorest.

As a social entrepreneur and a major contributor to the entrepreneurial world, how do you think the social entrepreneurship movement has evolved over time and benefitted the development of Cambodia? How do you think the social entrepreneurial world has changed over the past 30 years?
My track record is not enough to say that anything has changed in the last 30 years; I believe that there is a lack of research in this field. However, in 1995 at the time when I started my organization, Cambodia was in the middle of a civil war during which the textile traditions were about to fully disappear. It took the industry about 10 years to revive and more than 20 years to become a substantial source of income for the Cambodian population again. Today, several years later both stability and economic growth is taking place in Cambodia and the population is once again interested in cultural traditions and their reality.

Social Entrepreneurship serves as an important mechanism for organizing problem solving in today’s society. According to you, what are the fundamental differences between social and for-profit founders? What were your motivations to dedicate your life to saving Cambodia’s silk industry?
In 1995, the population, including myself, did our best to survive the civil war. In that period, society continuously shifted from periods of confusion to periods of growth.

In general, I believe that business owners focus on periods of growth and priorities the subjects, which will benefit the owners. Whereas, social entrepreneurs like myself don’t focus on benefits to our selves or the project, but on social significance and changes. I think this is a big difference and the diverse priorities will lead business in different directions.

When I first visited Cambodia in 1980, people were living in refugee camps. These people were in an extremely harsh environment and it highly motivated me to meet these people. It was one thing that triggered me to start my project in Cambodia. Also, I knew that before the war the traditional textile weaving had been great in the Cambodian village and I wanted to go back into this time of great traditions.

You created IKTT (the Institute for Khmer Traditional Textiles) in 1996 to re-establish local production of traditional textiles and to help revitalize rural Cambodia. This project is already providing an income to hundreds of individuals in Cambodia. How has it evolved over time? What were the biggest challenges you faced in the last 16 years?
I worked on the challenge to restore the fabric of tradition while activating it. I have given people different responsibilities. Firstly, I looked for people with experience in the field that could pass on the information to the next generations. Then, over time, I managed to hire people and as such provide work and an income to people in poverty. However, it was only possible over a long period of time, this is not something one can do in a hurry.

was a struggle to raise the funds we had to some degree. We came out of the struggle from temporarily borrowing funds, from relatives and friends. Other ways to raise capital is to borrow the capital necessary for the development of the business through authorities. I think this is a big problem for the development and sustainability of any social activity.

In order to revive traditional weaving and provide profitable work to hundreds of people making heritage-class textiles, you have organized projects to replant trees in Cambodia. Reforestation in Cambodia is a more arduous process than elsewhere due to the land mines. How did you overcome the difficulties and finally succeed in it? 
I noticed that the rich natural resources of Cambodia have nurtured the textile tradition. To that end, forests play a critical role for my everyday business activities, which is why we have chosen to support the reforestation in Cambodia. However, regeneration of the forest is a time-consuming task that must be continued for many generations.

What are other obstacles social entrepreneurs are facing in Cambodia? What advice would you give to social entrepreneurs in order to overcome these obstacles?
In order to make your dreams come true you must have strong beliefs in what you are doing and align your knowledge and experience. I think it is important to have a good understanding of the field and good cooperation partners in the area you are active in, particularly in a country such as Cambodia.

People believe that the work of social entrepreneurs establish and strengthens emerging economies. What is you opinion on this? How has the political system in your country affected your project?
As a social entrepreneur, I believe that the field is very wide and that action is done in different fields respectively. However, the important thing is that businesses are running, contributing to the sustainable development of the society and the economy, in general. 

You have more than 400 employees at your studio - all earning much more than the average income in the country. What is your goal for the next 10 years?
My goal is to provide the highest quality silk in the world. I have seen old, splendid pieces of Khmer fabric. People have digressed since then. To bring back those skills is not going to be easy. A hundred years ago, Cambodians used to make magnificent fabrics. Cambodian ikat [fabric made from yarns that have been tie-dyed before weaving] is collected in famous museums around the world; they are in the hands of famous collectors. I have seen [the fabrics]. If we can restore and recreate a world that has been decimated by civil war, there are people who would most certainly want these fabrics. And this will allow people to put food on the table. Our first mission is to make the best ikat in the world. For this, there is no compromise.

What advise would you give to up-coming social entrepreneurs?
The mind is the limit. I recommend that you push yourself to achieve societal change in belief, knowledge and experience. In addition, don’t be afraid of taking risks. Please, take the first step!

Is there anything else you would like to add?
Where there is reality there is also a dream. In order to come up with this idea, don’t think about your restrictions, but your possibilities. It is important that you aim for the top. If you stop in the middle, it might be a failure, but as long as you continue, you will never fail. 

To learn more about IKKT and the work of Kikuo Morimoto, take a look at the following video. Make sure to also watch parts 2 and 3. 

Despite the fact that creativity is one of the main reasons for mankind’s evolutionary advancement, there are many ideas that have never been realized due to a lack of resources (The Entrepreneurs' Ship)

Interviewee: Alex Budak
Focus Region: Global
Category: Crowdfunding for Social Innovators

StartSomeGood empowers people from around the world to become social innovators, by connecting them with the financial and intellectual capital they need to transform an idea into a reality, to improve the world. Similar to what Kickstarter does for creative projects, StartSomeGood taps into the power of the crowd, allowing social entrepreneurs to ask for small amounts of money from supporters from around the world. Likewise, gives them the tools to update their supporters, providing unique rewards in exchange for support and run multiple campaigns over time. One if its’ unique features is that it includes a community element to engage monetary and non-monetary supporters.

Co-founders Alex Budak and Tom Dawkins first connected while working at Ashoka and here they connected because they shared the same belief: the immense power of technology and media to empower change-makers around the world. Inspired by Alex’s travels in India, the concept for StartSomeGood arose. A development team was brought together while they where all camping at a UCLA basketball game and after many late night, coffee-fueled discussions, the idea became reality. The team is located thought out the world, highlighting that even time zones cannot hinder a group of talents to help change-makers transform ideas into reality; leading to positive impacts upon societies. 

Alex has spoken about social entrepreneurship at the White House, the World Bank and leading Universities, and is as well a member of the Sandbox Network, a YouthActionNet fellow and a StartingBloc fellow. 

How did you get started with StartSomeGood? Tell us about this famous trip to India and the Basketball game which seem to have been the trigger to start this organization.
The concept for StartSomeGood grew out of a couple of light bulb moments, beginning while I spent a few months living in India. There, for the first time, I recognized that substantive social change wouldn’t come from one or two organizations, but rather from lots of people pursuing social good in their own individual way.

While in India I spent time volunteering with a social enterprise that taught local girls ultimate Frisbee. It was lots of fun, of course, but the core of it was about teaching female empowerment and leadership to the girls. I came back to the States ready to dedicate my life to improving the world through social entrepreneurship. I had an idea for a social venture I wanted to start, similarly leveraging sports for community engagement, but I realized that there was no good place to start raising the funds or growing the community that is so crucial to getting a social enterprise off the ground. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there must be countless wonderful ideas out there for improving the world that never go from the idea stage to action. It was my second “ah ha!” moment where I reflected back on my experience in India, and spent time thinking about how we could empower anyone, anywhere, to become a social innovator. My motivation at that point was to think hard about how we could tear down these barriers to enable all kinds of change makers to take action.

I called up my buddy Tom Dawkins, whom I had met while working at Ashoka, and through a lot of late night talks, and (too many) coffees, StartSomeGood emerged.

As for the second part of your question, I’m a die-hard UCLA basketball fan and during college I would spend most nights of the season camping out for the best seats to UCLA games. It was there that I met some of my best friends, including Bryan Parker and Emerson Taymor, who would become the engineers for StartSomeGood!  

 
Tell us a bit about yourself and how StartSomeGood fits into a bigger picture. What was your initial career plan before you came up with this idea?
I was initially set on getting really involved in reforming education through policy as a result of my experience at UCLA.  There, I lead the charge to reform admissions policies to better reflect the diversity of the state of California while maintaining high academic standards.  I set-out to pursue a masters in public policy to go down this path, to ensure a great public education is available to all, but then it was the trip to India that changed my focus to the potential of social innovation.

Did you raise any money for StartSomeGood?
This is a bit meta, but we actually did a crowdfunding campaign for our own crowdfunding site, raising the initial funds we needed to get started.

There are a lot of crowdfunding portals, which are set up as non-profit organizations. Nonetheless, they struggle to survive. StartSomeGood was set up as a for-profit organization. Why do you believe that you can make a profitable business out of crowdfunding? 
From the beginning, we believed that being for-profit gives us the best chance of remaining a viable platform for the long run.  But we were very conscious that we wanted to align our revenue model to be directly in sync with our impact. To this end, we only receive funds if a venture on our site successfully raises funds. That means that the more good that is started on our site, the more everyone succeeds.

If I approach you with an idea for a for-profit company, looking for funding, and state that as our social value we will be creating 5-10 jobs within the first year, will that qualify me as a social entrepreneur? In other words, what is your definition of a social entrepreneur?
We believe that social change comes in myriad forms and to that end we have an expansive definition of the type of good that can be started on our site. We support non-profits, for-profits, and unincorporated groups. We support organizations, agencies, programs, policy-research, media and other entities as long as social innovation and social change are at the core of the work being done. We want to create a world where people that want to take action on their ideas for improving the world are able to do so.

What were your biggest successes with StartSomeGood?
In terms of the most amount raised, The Do Good Bus holds the record.  They had a big vision: take their bus on the road, visiting 22 cities and involving thousands of young people in active citizenship and supporting local nonprofits everywhere they went.  All told, 691 people supported them with over $101,000 successfully raised to make their dream a reality. 

You can read the stories of some more of our successful campaigns here. 

How do you measure the impact of StartSomeGood?
The main metric we use to measure our impact is in the number of successful campaigns on our site, as each one means new social good is brought into the world. And then of course in following-up with ventures after they’ve raised funds, we’re able to learn about their impact and therefore measure ours, which is directly related to their work.

The following provides a great introduction to the amazing work being done by our ventures, when we asked them “What good are you starting?”

What was the project you found most interesting since you started?
That’s like asking a parent to choose their favorite child! I love all of our ventures, but one that I think especially highlights why we created StartSomeGood is the story of Jack McDermott and Balbus Speech.  Having spent years receiving speech therapy for stuttering, he looked for ways to support those who may not be able to afford such support, exploring how to empower the speech therapy community with technology. He had a great idea for an app but needed the money to make it happen.  He raised $3,246  on StartSomeGood to launch Speech 4 Good, an iOS app which makes speech therapy accessible and affordable.

Which challenges are you currently facing?
A major challenge at the moment is how we continue to provide the same level of high-touch support - whereby we guide ventures through the process from the moment they apply, to crafting their campaign and then making it a successful one - as we grow.  We’re passionate about helping changemakers and creating a site filled with high-quality campaigns, but as we serve more and more ventures, we face the challenge in making sure we can continue this support and guidance.  

What are the next steps at StartSomeGood? What can we expect from the organization in the future?
We recently celebrated our twentieth different country with a successful campaign, though we hope and believe this is just the beginning of reaching and empowering changemakers all around the world.  We look forward to playing a key role in growing the social innovation sector and enabling anyone, anywhere to take action on their ideas.  

What inspires and drives you from day to day?
My motivation comes from people, and I’m so fortunate to be surrounded by incredible and inspiring people every day.  Firstly I think of our team, including my amazing co-founder Tom, and our group of twelve people all dedicated to empowering changemakers. It’s an awesome feeling to be part of a group so passionate about having an impact through our work. 

And then of course I derive a great deal of inspiration from the ventures using our site.  The best part of my job is getting to meet, collaborate and support these incredible people taking the leap to create new futures for their community. It’s nearly impossible not to be inspired by them.

Do you have any advice for up-and-coming entrepreneurs?
Surround yourself with great people.  Ask a lot of questions.  Be humble.  And try to enjoy the ride.