The Impact Mind

By Fareeha Mahmood

Are you striving to effect positive change in your community or the world at large? In her book The Impact Mind: Unlocking Your Ability to Create Change, author Fareeha Mahmood uncovers the 14 key principles that can help you become a more impactful individual and make a difference in your society.

In this book, you'll

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Degree Press
• Release date: Jul 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781641377232

Book preview

The Impact Mind

Unlocking Your Ability to Create Change

By Fareeha Mahmood

New Degree Press

Copyright © 2020 Fareeha Mahmood

All rights reserved.

The Impact Mind

Unlocking Your Ability to Create Change

ISBN

978-1-64137-929-8 Paperback

978-1-64137-722-5 Kindle Ebook

978-1-64137-723-2 Ebook

Dedication

To Abbu, Ammu, and Ayman. Your unconditional love, tireless efforts, and unwavering support have made me the most fortunate person in the world. You have provided me with everything I could have ever asked for and inspired me to spark meaningful change around me. 

I hope this book makes you proud.

And to aspiring changemakers, I hope you discover your ability to create impact and use passion and privilege to achieve your greatest ambitions. Your power to make a difference is boundless.

Introducing the 14 Principles

Aspiring to Create Social Change

I’m from Dhaka, a city known to be crowded, congested, and buzzing with ambition. I’ve always felt deeply connected to my home, its colorful characters, and truly believed in its potential to be the greatest place on Earth. At the time, we lived in a gated community surrounded by evergreen trees, a private playground (which I cherished), and neighbors who were just like us—in terms of their income, social standing, and access to opportunities.

The neighborhood is also sectioned off from the rest of the city with a railroad. I remember that whenever a train passed by, we would patiently wait in our cars, and once the security guards lifted the lever, we would zoom through. Upon leaving our residential area, we were right in the heart of the city.

My memories of Dhaka are laden with the distinct differences I had noticed between where I lived and the rest of the metropolis. When we were stuck in never-ending traffic, I would look out the window of our car and see mothers and their children trying to find an idle spot to sleep on the streets. I watched fathers and their sons trying to make a living by selling children’s picture books and making sure they have enough money for their next meal. Witnessing the struggles of others while I comfortably sat in my air-conditioned car, I knew that there was something inherently wrong with that reality.

Almost always, I was shielded from the rest of the city because of my privilege. But every single time I went out, I carefully observed the immense disparity between the life I was living and those of others.

I only lived in Dhaka until I was six years old. But those six years perhaps shaped me, my identity, and my aspirations, more than I could have ever imagined.

***

Soon, my family and I moved to Jakarta; and then three years later, we hauled our lives to Dubai. While living in those two drastically different places, I was still cognizant of the unique advantages and benefits I possessed as an expatriate attending private school and residing in affluent areas of each city.

But it was only when I began researching Dr. Muhammad Yunus for my eighth grade English class essay that I realized I wanted to make a meaningful contribution to the world around me.

Dr. Yunus describes himself as the banker to the poor.¹ He transformed micro-credit into a global phenomenon, which focuses on lending small amounts of money to lower-income individuals. When I delved into his story, what struck me most was his experiment in the rural village of Jobra, Bangladesh. He lent a total of $27 to forty-two women entrepreneurs who invested the money into their small businesses.² He was shocked to learn that every single woman had repaid their loan, despite the lack of collateral. Not only were they able to grow their businesses, but they responsibly repaid the credit they had borrowed.

That revelation precipitated the founding of Grameen Bank, a microfinance institution and community development bank in Bangladesh, which has disbursed more than $24 billion to more than nine million individuals, helping to alleviate poverty across the country.³

Although Professor Yunus’ microfinance approach to uplifting individuals from poverty has faced reasonable criticism, his drive to help others and success in doing so inspired me. Like him, I wanted to make a tangible, positive impact. Like him, I decided to study economics in hopes that I would figure out how to make a difference in the world.

***

It’s obvious to me now that in eighth grade I wanted to create social impact or make positive improvements for the good of others. By social, I mean issues that pertain to a community’s well-being or benefit, whether that be access to computer science education, providing mosquito net beds, developing network infrastructure, or distributing mental health resources.

When I was younger, I wasn’t even aware of the existence of the phrase social impact. I only came to learn about it in my sophomore year of college. As I didn’t have the full picture of what social impact encompasses, I immediately associated it with the United Nations, the federal government, and the nonprofit sector. When I read about the UN’s peacekeeping efforts, the ability of nonprofits to focus on a dedicated cause, and the role of governments in enacting life-changing policies, I thought my life would lead me down one of those routes.

But as I started college, gained exposure to different industries, retrieved insights from other individuals’ professional careers, and continued to learn more, I realized that the traditional routes were not the only ones leading to impact. So, I set out to find a way to make my life meaningful by pursuing a career that would help me make structural changes in society, address persistent social issues, or simply transform the lives of a few individuals.

Constructing the Impact Mind

To figure out how to drive that positive change, I looked to the leaders who are creating social impact in the economy today.

Individuals I interviewed have engaged in new and innovative ways of tackling some of society’s biggest challenges. Some have founded social enterprises, national organizations, or nonprofits. Others have pursued roles in impact investing, sustainability-driven corporations, or international development.

As I spoke to professionals across the social impact spectrum, not only did I notice how they are positively affecting our world but I also observed what has helped them get to this point. Although every individual’s journey to social impact has been quite different, I picked up certain similarities and differences. I especially took note of which core principles have guided them to make a positive change.

By extracting the principles that my interviewees followed in pursuit of social impact, I constructed the 14 Principles of the Impact Mind, which are a guide to helping you engender change.

Each chapter focuses on a principle, unpacking how change-makers have weaved that tenet throughout their life. Although it isn’t necessary to read the chapters in chronological order, it can be helpful in understanding what’s most important when creating social impact.

A Brief Breakdown of the 14 Principles of the Impact Mind

Principle #1: Turn Passion Into Purpose

If you want to pursue a career in social impact, it’s imperative that you’re deeply passionate about making a difference. It almost seems silly to make this a part of the list because it seems so obvious. But it is vital. Your keen interest in positively impacting others will guide your decisions and endeavors, which will lead you toward social impact.

Amany Killawi, a confident, determined, and selfless social entrepreneur, is an example of such a guiding passion. When deciding whether to invest full time in LaunchGood, her nascent Muslim-community-based crowdfunding start-up, her passion to uplift and empower those around her helped her make the leap. At twenty-one, it was one of the hardest decisions of her career and frankly, her life. But through introspection and practical planning, Amany was able to turn her passion into a purpose. LaunchGood has raised over $143 million across 16,300 projects impacting 143 countries. In unpacking her moving story, I’ll demonstrate how you can use your passion to sow the seeds of change.

Principle #2: Lead with Impact

Building on the very first principle, I’ve learned that trailblazers in the field are impressed when they see that social impact has been a core mandate of your life, either personally, academically, or professionally. As social impact is becoming a more popular career choice, it can be tempting to jump in without really knowing whether you’re truly dedicated to making positive change. The chapter focuses on the different ways leading with impact in your life can shape your path to roles within the social impact space.

This principle has been central to Chaarvi Badani’s professional career. When she witnessed the steep decline in the income of local craftsmen in her community, she was determined to structure a solution. By co-founding a social enterprise, Chaarvi not only helped artisans turn their passion into profits but also grasped the value of placing impact at the forefront of her career. Chaarvi has led with impact by pursuing roles that have enabled her to make a genuine difference, whether that be working to fund social enterprise or becoming an impact investor. This chapter focuses on how she successfully leveraged her various passions to lead with impact and become a change-maker.

Principle #3: Be Driven to Act

Positive change doesn’t happen unless an individual, community, or organization initiates it. If you want to create social impact, you have to take action. That isn’t to suggest you have to change the whole world. Taking action means that you are proactive in seeking opportunities that help you get closer to making a difference. This drive to act has been essential to the success of impactful individuals in their respective industries.

Essma Bengabsia, a compassionate, bold, and fiercely driven individual perfectly embodies this drive to act. As a hijab-wearing Arab American impact investor, Essma has almost always been the first and only in the room. But she also stands out because of her intrinsic nature to take action and her unwavering dedication to effect change, whether that be in her academic, professional, or personal life. This isn’t a quality that we are all naturally born with, but the stories in this chapter may inspire and show you how to be proactive in your pursuit of positive change.

Principle #4: Evaluate Your Effectiveness

Being able to quantify and evaluate your impact is critical to engendering material change. Doing so can guide you toward actions and decisions that amplify the difference you are making within a community or for an individual. Moreover, examining the marginal benefit you provide to an organization or initiative can make you cognizant of the ways to strengthen your commitment to helping others.

In search of expanding his impact, Evan McVail landed upon the concept of effective giving, which aims to maximize the impact per dollar of donation. Effective philanthropy entails analyzing the most cost-effective, result-driven charities and directing dollars to those causes. Once Evan learned that the nonprofit One for the World is modeled on the principle of effective giving, he was eager to be a part of this movement. By reading Evan’s journey toward making the greatest impact, you’ll recognize how to do the same.

Principle #5: Speak up and Share Your Story

Speaking up is never easy. It takes confidence, vulnerability, and a whole lot of courage. So naturally, people want to avoid doing it. But speaking up also means sharing personal thoughts, opinions, and ideas about how to engender change. Avoiding opportunities in the fear of speaking up is often not worth sacrificing the transformative ideas you may hold. Moving the needle is only possible if people know that it needs to be moved.

It was not easy for Georgia Grace Edwards to share her story about being stuck in the Alaskan glaciers and dying to go pee, but she did it anyway. Speaking up about her challenging experiences with answering nature’s call in the outdoors made her realize that other women had faced the same problem. Allowing herself to be vulnerable helped her find common ground with others, which inspired her to co-found SheFly, an apparel company that makes pants that enable women to pee outdoors with ease and comfort. Learning about Georgia Grace’s courage to speak up can show you how to confront your fears and impart your ideas to others.

Principle #6: Keep an Open Mind

How different would your life be if you said yes to every opportunity? It’s impossible to predict how a singular experience can change the course of your life, so it’s worth keeping an open mind to find out. However, it’s just as important to be tactical when venturing into new opportunities, as they should be geared toward impact and be of value to your personal and professional growth.

Jonathan Goldman’s philosophy of saying yes and keeping an open mind built his credibility and nurtured his different passions, which shaped the trajectory of his journey from president of the debate club to founder of the Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice. His fierce commitment to helping others, openness to try new things, and multitude of experiences eventually led him to become an immigration advocate and train other students to represent immigrants in court and drive large-scale social transformation. In this chapter, I hope to guide you through Jonathan’s story to show how you can build a pathway to social impact.

Principle #7: Be Persistent and Patient

Tackling a pressing social issue is always a challenge. It requires a lot of heart, initiative, motivation, and support to spark change. It’s easy to feel discouraged if you don’t observe an immediate impact, but that’s why persistence and patience are so important. Starting small and taking focused steps can be impactful if you develop the grit to fight for a cause you truly care about.

Greta Thunberg, a revolutionary force in the fight against climate change, has been resolute on finding a solution to an immense, pervasive global problem. Expectedly, this is difficult. It’s a movement with many adversaries in the political and economic landscape. But the magnitude of the issue and the power of her opponents haven’t scared Greta from addressing it at a grassroots level; it has only encouraged her. Greta’s story illustrates how persistence and patience are paramount to successfully advocating for large structural changes and making a dent in the world.

Principle #8: Bridge the Gap

Recognizing the skills you need to improve is essential to any career path. Among endeavors in social impact, it’s just as important. It’s essential you ask yourself, What skills do I need to drive social change? The answers can be wildly different based on what you pursue. But the key to maximizing your impact is to advantageously apply the skills you already have and seek opportunities to develop the skills you’re missing.

Jennifer Wong and Julia Enyart, two outstanding and insightful individuals, both arrived at the same firm to pursue impact investing. Although their stories are unconventional in unique ways, they both sought impact-focused experiences that would utilize their skill set in a different industry or equip them with a new one. Through this chapter, you’ll learn how you can be proactive in filling these gaps and in making a difference.

Principle #9: Create Community Where You Go

When striving to create social impact, it can be natural to ask yourself, "How can I make a difference?" Believing that we have to singularly cultivate change can impede us from fostering a supportive community that can help us make a positive impact. We can’t change the whole world by ourselves. For that reason, it’s important to build a community that wants to achieve collective impact-oriented goals.

When founding Supergirls Code at the age of seventeen, Sophie Maniscalco created an open and supportive space for young girls to gain practical programming knowledge. In aiming to close the gender gap in the STEM field, Sophie has focused on building a community that encourages women to ask questions, develop meaningful relationships, advocate for one another, and find solidarity in a male-dominated field. Through Sophie’s journey, you’ll learn how connecting with people around you can help you initiate positive change on a scale larger than you imagined.

Principle #10: Build Resilience

Doing things outside the confines of our comfort and ease is tough. But when we push ourselves out of our comfort zones, we confront our fears. This gives us power to overcome the hindrances and doubts that previously commanded our thoughts and actions. We’re then better able to evaluate what’s holding us back and what can drive us forward. By pushing ourselves, we can become more confident in our abilities and gain emotional strength, thus helping us become more resilient individuals.

Saleema Vellani wasn’t always the confident entrepreneur and inclusive innovator she is today. Having endured life-changing experiences in her early twenties, Saleema was determined to look inward and build resilience. By launching Brazil’s largest impact-oriented language school at twenty-one, exploring her roots in India on a solo trip, and pushing herself out of her comfort zone in many other ways, Saleema discovered how she could best drive social change. She was then inspired to found Ripple Impact, which equips entrepreneurs and businesses with innovative