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:change agent If I were Prime Minister for a day, what would I change? "It would have to be a reasonably long day…" world isn't as organised as i expect it to be" "I'm constantly surprised that the was like a sequence of epiphanies; realising the realms of the possible were much, much broader than I had ever anticipated. Meeting with social entrepreneurs I learnt there is an entirely different approach to business that successfully generates profit and drives real world social and enviornmental change that we all want. I was inspired by their commitment to use business to change the world." Sacha returned to New Zealand at the beginning of 2011 with notions to start her own social enterprise initiative when the February 22 earthquake hit; delaying her plans. She was fortunate not to loose her seaside home. The shake up presented a viable opening to launch a non-profit start up, The Ministry of Awesome which she founded with Sam Johnson, founder of the Student Volunteer Army and Young New Zealander of the Year 2011, Vicky Buck, former Mayor of Christchurch and Kaila Colbin, a serial entrepreneur and curator of the independent TED events in Christchurch. The Ministry is all about 'watering the seeds of awesome in Christchurch' by helping the community to do creative things that brings them delight and contributes to the recovery journey. Sacha is also currently working on a 22 | www.hermagazine.co.nz for-profit social enterprise using market mechanisms to create environmental and social outcomes. "I'm constantly surprised that the world isn't as organised as I expected it to be. One of the most liberating insights I have had is understanding that every day people are making things up in real time. We aren't on a preset highway. It is more like we are building the highway together as we go, which creates enormous openings for people with ideas and solutions. "Over time, my thoughts about how to change the world have moved through three stages: First, as a young person, I ardently believed that protest movements were the way to change the world. Then, I started to see the art of lawerying and advocacy as the way to change the world. And over the past five years I've started to appreciate, as important as protest movements are to create the climate for change and as lawyers are to articulate the case for change, there is real value in being an imaginative solutions builder who dreams up new ways of doing things that are fairer and better for all." www.catalytic.co.nz www.kaupapa.org www.ministryofawesome.com Photography: Neil Macbeth, neilmacbeth.com The first order of the day would be creating new ways for people to meaningfully contribute to the thinking and the direction of our country. Globally, people are striving for, and achieving, more active roles in democratic decision making, so I would start with opening up our democratic institutions. 1. Create a green growth strategy for New Zealand that charts the course for how we can foster national growth 2. through environmentally sound, profitable businesses, like clean tech, renewable energy and the like. Green growth is a recipe for significant economic growth, as much as it is for safeguarding the environment. Set up a social enterprise venture capital fund. Doing good by doing business is a new way of doing business, and while it 3. has been well proved overseas, it is still the new kid on the block in New Zealand that I think needs some help to access start-up funding. Hard to achieve in a day, but I would try to reframe our national discussion about the Treaty partnership to one focussed on outcomes. We are accustomed to the Treaty debate being about who has rights over what — which is inherently adversarial. The next stage is to see the value of Iwi and hapu being able to contribute to the national interest by having the recognition and resources to do so. For example, Ngai Tahu helped 10,000 people after the Christchurch Earthquake. 4. On a totally selfish level I'd invite Kim Hill to dinner. I think she's amazing and the quintessential generalist. 5.