Courageous Conversations: Social Venture Network Interview Series on Transforming the Way the World Does Business.

SVN (Martha Shaw): Does it take a lot of courage for you personally to be a leader of leaders?

Akaya Windwood: It takes courage to lead in these times. It’s dicey out there! The things we thought we could count on, we can’t count on anymore. People want concrete answers, which aren’t necessarily available in times of deep uncertainty — outcomes are not predictable. We need to be brave enough to say, “I don’t know.” It takes courage to say, “I’m not sure.” Or, “Let’s try something else.” It used to be you could make a good plan and if you had a good plan, you could predict what would happen. For instance, a social ill would be ameliorated. Or the financial risk factor would be X%. It’s not the case anymore.

SVN: How does fear play into courage?

Akaya Windwood: Courage is about acknowledging fear and doing what feels best for all concerned anyway. When people are not only putting their money, but their heart and their passion on the line, that takes courage. Woohoo! I think that this is a time in the world when people are operating in a great deal of uncertainty and that can make people afraid. When people are afraid, they don’t make the best decisions. That’s why good leadership is so important! That’s why Rockwood Leadership Institute is so important.

SVN: What does SVN mean for you?

Akaya Windwood: Well, SVN is a place where people go to say, “My business has to be about more than just my pocket book. I want it to have meaning” The days of doing things alone as a leader are past because it doesn’t get you very far. But when you get leaders together, it matters a lot. That’s why SVN matters. It’s a gift.

Akaya Windwood is the President of Rockwood Leadership Institute. She is recognized for elevating the effectiveness of leadership and collaboration, for infusing a sense of purpose, delight and wonder into our lives, and for her vision of a global community working together as a fair and equitable society.

Since 1987, Social Venture Network (SVN) has been the leading network of entrepreneurs and investors who are transforming the way the world does business. SVN’s Spring Conference, Courageous Conversations, will take place April 25-28 in San Diego. Visit www.svn.org for details and to register.

Interview by Martha Shaw, founder of Earth Advertising, which promotes the growth of environmentally responsible businesses through brand strategy and media campaigns.

Social Venture Network (SVN) interview series on transforming the way the world does business: SVN interviews Caryl Levine and Kenneth Lee, founders of Lotus Foods

Social Venture Network has an exciting interview series on major responsible business leaders in the food industry who will be speaking at SVN’s Spring Conference.

SVN: The two of you have set out to transform the way the world grows rice. In keeping with the theme of the Social Venture Network (SVN) Spring Conference, Courageous Conversations, how much of your success can be attributed to courage?

Caryl Levine: It takes courage from our supply chain. We are working with farmers who have never exported their rice before. But they have the courage to change the way they have been growing rice all their lives, and how it’s been grown for centuries.

Kenneth Lee: It always starts with a few brave farmers in a village to try System of Rice Intensification (SRI) methods. By the end of the first season, their neighbors are saying, “What are you doing and how can I get involved?” For us, we think more about our ability to manage risk. We have to create value chains from scratch. What we are doing is risky.

SVN: The Social Venture Network fosters partnerships. What value do you find in partnerships?

Levine: We are able to expand our impact through partnerships. Agriculture is full of many challenges. Our rice farmers don’t have access to capital for seeds, for fertilizer, to build their own mills, or for the infrastructure to store rice. And then there’s the challenge of educating consumers about all the complex issues related to global rice production. Everything hinges on relationships and building trust. For instance, Whole Foods is a large platform and Lotus Foods is a small company. But, we need one another. It’s how our comparative strengths work together. From the Social Venture Network to the natural foods industry, from grassroots organizations to farmers all around the world, relationships have been a source of courage for us. They also keep us on track.

Lee: Transforming how rice is grown is pioneering work. We have a long way to go. Many players will need to act in concert to get the job done. We were lucky, for example, that when Cornell (CIIFAD) was promoting the benefits of SRI, one of their staff persons interested in marketing aspects discovered Lotus Foods on the shelf at Whole Foods. We soon found that we shared the same values and could strengthen one another’s missions. It was a no brainer.

Caryl Levine and Kenneth Lee are the founders of Lotus Foods, producers of distinctive ancient and new rice grown on family farms on healthy, chemical-free soils.

Attend the Social Venture Network Spring Conference, Courageous Conversations.

For 25 years, the Social Venture Network has been helping leaders and social entrepreneurs to succeed, while transforming the way the world does business in favor of a more just and sustainable economy. Join the most extraordinary social entrepreneurs of our time in San Diego, April 25-28 at the Social Venture Network Spring Conference, Courageous Conversations. To see who will be there, and why you should be there too, visit www.SVN.org

Interviewer and author,, Martha Shaw, is founder and CEO of Earth Advertising which promotes environmentally sustainable businesses.

SVN: You are participating in the Social Venture Network (SVN) Spring Conference, Courageous Conversations. How much of being a pioneer is dependent on courage?

Errol Schweizer: I think courage is a big part of being a pioneer. Speaking from a perspective of working for Whole Foods Market, I think it’s one aspect among many. As a company with purpose, we’re looking for suppliers that also have purpose. So I think courage is one aspect of it but there are definitely other traits that go into being a good supplier and creating a product and partnership that is changing the world for the better.

SVN: Have you had to take some chances?

Errol Schweizer: Actually, for some reason I tend to find trouble. I tend to be attracted to the edge of discussions and to look for the seams or crack in situations that will either provoke innovation or new discovery. I don’t want to get too philosophical about this, but I tend to be attracted to those sorts of things. Sometimes people look at me with chagrin, but I have a good time. It’s better to apologize than to ask for permission. I’m good at saying I’m sorry.

SVN: Why are partnerships so important?

Errol Schweizer: It’s the main reason why I’m in business at Whole Foods Market. Partnerships are our bread and butter. It’s about being mutualistic. Creating win-win partnerships with our suppliers is core to what we do. Creating these mutually beneficial relationships in our business dealings is not always easy. It takes a lot of work on both sides. As just one example, when we find a supplier that we want to work with, we share ideas and devote intellectual energy and time to help them innovate their products and bring them to market so they’re not just out there on their own trying to figure out what’s going to work.

SVN: What would you say to a supplier about the strength it takes to be a social entrepreneur?

Errol Schweizer: You know, it’s retail so there are no guarantees and the customer always decides. So, it’s important to have ingenuity, and to maintain your integrity. And it always helps to be a little insane – not too insane. I think the most important of those is maintaining your integrity. We have shared values and passion for what we are doing. All of us, including the Social Venture Network, are attempting to do something that we value as good in the world.

Errol Schweizer is executive global grocery coordinator at Whole Foods Market. He is recognized for ethical sourcing and for creating ongoing win-win partnerships with suppliers. In his first three years as global coordinator, he brought more exclusive products to the shelves than in the company’s history.

Attend the Social Venture Network Spring Conference, Courageous Conversations, April 25-28, San Diego.

For 25 years, the Social Venture Network has been helping leaders and social entrepreneurs to succeed while transforming the way the world does business – in favor of a more just and sustainable economy. Join the most extraordinary social entrepreneurs of our time on April 25-28 in San Diego at the Social Venture Network (SVN) Spring Conference, Courageous Conversations. To see who will be there, and why you should be there too, visit svn.org/spring2013.

SVN Interviewer: Martha Shaw, founder and CEO of Earth Advertising which promotes environmentally sustainable businesses.

Part of a Social Venture Network (SVN) Series on Transforming the Way the World Does Business.

Submitted by:Martha Shaw
Posted: Apr 03, 2013 – 09:30 AM EST
Tags: svn, social entrepreneurship, american halal, whole foods, balle, net impact, bsr, asbc, green america, bioneers, culture, gmo, supply chain

By Martha Shaw

Hundreds of social entrepreneurs and business leaders who are committed to transforming the way the world does business will gather in San Diego this month for Courageous Conversations, the theme of Social Venture Network’s (SVN) Spring Conference, April 25-28. SVN has been fostering a movement toward a more just and sustainable economy for 25 years, and has spawned many of the world’s most successful triple-bottom-line businesses.

The historical significance of SVN is reflected not only in the role its members have played in transforming business, but in the many organizations which have sprouted, indirectly or directly, from the network over the years including B Corporation, BALLE, Net Impact, BSR, Slow Money, American Sustainable Business Council, Green America, Bioneers, and hundreds of others.

Among the business leaders who will be leading discussions at Courageous Conversations is Adnan Durrani, Founder and CEO of American Halal, Inc. As a prelude to the conference, SVN interviewed Mr. Durrani on courage and on the topic of his session, Big and Small Changemakers: Creating Smart and Effective Partnerships.

SVN: The theme of SVN’s Spring Conference this year is Courageous Conversations. What kind of courage does it take to be an entrepreneur?

Adnan Durrani: My wife jokes that only if you are truly insane are you qualified to be an entrepreneur. You are taking something that is a dream, developing it into a vision, and then hoping to execute it into reality as a for-profit business. Indeed, it is very irrational, yet requires extreme discipline. Being an entrepreneur is a 24/7 gig and one must have enormous passion and devotion. You need a certain amount of facts, research and knowledge on the ground, and good instincts. Also, of course it helps to have experience and you also need good luck. Underlying all of that is the courage of your convictions.

Having been involved in four successful start-up food companies, how do you stay sane?

I have been lucky. I’m on my fourth food company, and every one [of them] has been successful in turning something nascent into a market opportunity. To some investors they were silly ideas. For me, I continued to see healthy food trends in Europe and waited to see if those trends would cross to our shore. What convinced me to keep going was seeing the window opening on the other side of the Atlantic.

You are moderating a session at the conference. What can the audience expect?

If they are looking to make an impact in consumer goods, they’ll have a rare opportunity to hear stories from leaders of high-end mission-based companies that are transforming the way the world does business. One example is Errol Schweizer, the gatekeeper of Whole Foods in Austin. Because of Errol’s astute knowledge about innovative trends in the natural category, people clamor just to have a conversation with him. He’ll clue us in to Whole Foods and their cause, Whole Planet. The impact of Whole Foods is that it is one of the only retailers who will partner with an early stage start-up, and that has enormous social impact.

What role do partnerships play in social entrepreneurship?

When we launched our brand in Whole Foods, it was around the era when the tragedy of 9-11 was still raw. American Halal was among the first foods to appeal to the dietary restrictions of Muslims. The brand, Saffron Road, was developed not only to appeal to consumers who sought healthy, all natural, sustainably produced food, but to those whose spiritual principles guided their dietary needs. We were the world’s first halal-certified frozen entrée.

The launch coincided with the Islamic holiday, Ramadan.

Suddenly, there was an outbreak of bigotry in the blogosphere that became a media story. It was a tempest in a teapot. A heated religious debate was about to play out in the aisles of Whole Foods. But, they held their heads up high, taking pride in themselves as curators of culinary diversity. They weathered the storm like champions.

And thousands of American Muslim consumers flocked to Whole Foods stores for the first time to show their loyalty and solidarity with Whole Foods’ progressive values. Our sales soared 600 percent and we are now the No. 1 frozen entrée in Whole Foods stores nationally. It was a win-win. That is partnership.

There are hundreds of examples of partnership throughout our supply chain. Whole Foods is now requiring GMO labeling and Saffron Road is the first Non-GMO Project Verified entree as a result of partnership. Another example is our mutual relationship with our supply chain of organic chickpea farmers. These are the kinds of stories you’ll hear at the conference.

____________________

Adnan Durrani is the founder of American Halal, whose Saffron Road brand sells the first halal-certified frozen entrées available in mainstream supermarkets nationwide.

Find more Courageous Conversations, including interviews with Errol Schweiger of Whole Foods, and Caryl Levine and Kenneth Lee of Lotus Foods, at www.svn.org.

- See more at: http://www.csrwire.com/blog/posts/786-courageous-conversations-an-interview-with-social-entrepreneur-adnan-durrani#sthash.b21cf1DN.dpuf