Renjie Butalid is the Communications Coordinator at Social Innovation Generation at the University of Waterloo.
1) What are you working on and why does it matter?
I am currently working on a speaker series beginning May 5 in Waterloo, hosted by Social Innovation Generation at the University of Waterloo.
This speaker series will apply the ideas of social innovation to a number of specific sectors and issues – education, youth mentorship, inclusion, collaboration and fostering a culture of change – where each of the five speakers in the series will discuss and share their experiences of operating at the national level to identify and address the root causes of intractable social problems.
For each of these talks, all of which are free to attend and open to the public, we are strategically inviting people from sectors and organizations dealing with each of the issues mentioned above, to begin facilitating discussions within communities of practice around new ways of thinking and taking action, in ways that are more meaningful (especially for young people) and have a deeper impact within the community.
2) What motivates you?
The way I see it, people are inspired by role models, but are motivated by their peers. With that said, I am motivated by the excitement and energy found within this emerging field of ’social innovation’, especially among young people today.
Social innovation in this case, for me, involves new ways of thinking and acting within government, education, healthcare and even more so in the non-profit/charity and business sectors, that will ultimately lead to transformative and meaningful change within our local communities and across society as a whole.
3) What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned recently?
To always say ‘yes’ to things that scare me and to never be afraid to learn something new, you never know what opportunities may arise from these experiences.
Case in point, I am extremely claustrophobic and I’m afraid to be in tight, confined spaces. That being said, I was always afraid to go scuba diving because of the claustrophobic feeling I assumed I would get being underwater and relying solely on a tank of oxygen to breathe. I went and got my scuba diving license at the end of last year, and found that rather than feeling claustrophobic underwater, it was the most liberating feeling I have had in my life.
This has opened up some new possibilities for me, from pursuing underwater photography as a hobby to exploring sunken wrecks and cave diving.
4) If you could invite 5 people dead or alive to dinner, who would they be?
I would invite US President Barack Obama and the late Philippine President Cory Aquino, my late grandfather Romeo Butalid (whom I never met since he passed away when my dad was in his teens), the late British explorer Wilfred Thesiger whom I have always admired growing up in the UAE, and of course Barney Stinson from ‘How I Met Your Mother’ to lighten the mood. It would certainly make for an interesting evening and great conversation.
5) Best resource people don’t know about?
I am a firm believer in life-long learning and as a result, I find myself watching TEDTalks online very often. By now, most people would have heard of TED and if you haven’t, I would encourage you to check out www.TED.com.
Some other great resources that are very similar to TED that I would highly recommend, include Academic Earth (http://academicearth.org/) and the Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org/).
