Neeuko strikes again with another amazing dialogue that gave us the chance to get upfront and personal while talking about social innovation. But wait, what is social innovation all about? Well, the professionals all said something about it, and they all had an experience-based opinion. Out of all the things that were said it comes down to one definition, “social innovation is a creative and new way to transform communities for the better of things”. Through their projects these experts aim to do just that. Leadership, creativity, tolerance, empathy and team work are just some of the outcomes of social innovation.
People such as Javier De Jesús, Alejandro Cotté, Cristina Miranda, Marlyn Martínez and Mariana Reyes are great examples of people who work for the community. Javier is an architect and is the director of Neeuko at the University of Sacred Heart. Alejandro is a social worker and director of citizen participation of the project “Enlace del Caño Martín Peña”. Cristina is a planner, researcher and founder of “Taller D”. Marlyn is an industrial designer, social innovator and manager of “Nuestro Barrio”. Finally, Mariana, she is a journalist, entrepreneur of “Calle Loiza Inc” and “Leader La Goyco” in Machuchal in Santurce. As you may see these professionals all work in different areas, in other words, they don’t have a degree that tells them they are specialized in social innovation. You know what does define them as a socially innovative person? Their leadership; yes, that’s right. You don’t need to have a degree in social innovation to let yourself and others know that you are a leader.
We can all give in a little grain of sand to what social innovation is, either by your ideas or the support you give to a social project. One thing for sure is that we are all leaders and each one of us can do great things. We must work together as a team, as a community to ameliorate the hardships a group of people may be going through.
