“Talent is abundant, even where opportunity is not.” - Matthew Arévalo-Carpenter, CEO, Centrico Digital.

Opportunity has never been scarce for me. I grew up in a white, upper-middle-class family in Bay City, Michigan. When the unemployment and underemployment reached a peak of 21.5% in Michigan in 2010, I was 17, enjoying a Christmas in Bochum, Germany and the New Year in London, UK, without much thought to the realities many of my neighbors and classmates’ families were facing.

The next year, as a freshman at Alma College I could remain in my happy bubble of privilege, but not for very long. Traveling to Sierra Leone for a month in the summer after my first year at Alma woke me up to reality. I volunteered for a month at the Magbenteh Community Hospital with classmates. At the lone maternal hospital in the region, it was the closest we had ever come to life and death crises that were just a part of every day. There were a lot of spiritual and philosophical lessons we learned there, most of which I wouldn’t fully appreciate until years later.

But the most important thing I learned was from our translator, Musa. He was only a few years older than me but far more experienced and accomplished. Speaking three languages fluently--English, Mende, and Krio--he was a leader in his community in his early twenties, where he ran the therapeutic feeding center at the hospital. With neither a degree nor money, he rose on the strength of intelligence and resilience.

But after the Ebola crisis shut down the hospital, Musa was left without work and has been in and out of college for the last several years because he’s just scraping together enough for living expenses--never mind tuition.

Fast forward to the summer of 2014 and another international excursion (thanks, Alma), this time to the Ecuadorian Amazon, and another translator. William is bilingual (Spanish, Kichwa), a community leader, and head of a household (with a mother, sister, 2 nephews). He was 19 when I met him and had yet to finish high school, but had already built a house in a place accessible only by the river.

When I met up with William again a few years later, I asked if he was going to continue studying. His answer? “My sister got pregnant and she needs my help. Maybe once my niece can go to school I can go back too.”

Fast forward again to 2019. A friend’s daughter manages to escape Venezuela and join her family in Quito. When she arrived, her baby girl in her arms, she needed to find work immediately. Unfortunately, her first boss, like so many, took advantage of her desperation. The little she was actually paid for her work was late and not nearly the amount she’d been promised. It took her months and some support from her family to build up enough courage to leave. Now she’s hustling every way she can to make a living.

Every time I meet someone like this and learn their story, I think, “We are failing young people.” That reality came into sharp focus a month ago in Quito, Ecuador, where I live. Violent confrontations between police and protesters erupted and plunged the country into a 12-day crisis. Protesters--mainly young people--and police engaged in violence not seen in the last decade.

The protests began with a strike by bus and taxi drivers that shut down the capital city over a sudden hike in fuel prices after the government lifted decades-old subsidies on diesel and low-grade gasoline. But even when the transportation strike ended, the indigenous movement, including many young people, had already begun mobilizing--literally, on foot--to protest in the capital. The indigenous groups were joined by students and other groups in the city, leading to another 8 days of protests.

Mix thousands of angry people in the streets with an under-trained and ill-equipped police force (also many young people) and surprise! Violence breaks out: at least 8 deaths, more than 1,300 injuries, and more than 1,000 people detained.

Frustration and resentment over inequality and a feeling of voicelessness in the political process breed violence. We’ve seen it over and over again, in every context and with every level of intensity--young men, especially, who feel left behind for lack of opportunity and social capital, turning to violence when there’s nothing left to lose. Of course, violence isn’t excusable, but it is understandable. What’s left to do but fight tooth and nail when you have no access to education or employment and no way to get either one? If we write off this response as something only bad people do because they’re terrible, then we’re not seeing the real problem. And if we can’t see--or say--the real problem, we have no chance of solving it.

I will long remember this experience and likely reflect on it for years to come. While inequality continues to feed the fire, Quito, and many other cities like it, will continue to be subjected to such turmoil.

We need to act from our own spaces.

My experience living this national crisis was book-marked by two extraordinary events: the Latin American Impact Investing Summit in Quito (CLIIQ) and the Net Impact Conference in Detroit, MI (NI19).

CLIIQ, my introduction to the Nexus network, brought together investors and entrepreneurs from all over the world to discuss businesses that address social and environmental issues. Ironically, the protests in Quito started the very first day of the summit, trapping the 200 investors and entrepreneurs in the event venue until 12AM, when a police escort accompanied us out of the historical center. The next day we all agreed--it was one hell of a reminder of the need for real impact investing in our region.

Just three weeks later, I was on a plane to Detroit, Michigan for the Net Impact Conference. Not only was the content a refresher of what making an impact means at every level, but the energy there was a fervent reminder of the power of young diverse minds.

I spent much of my time at the conference working with Net Impact to produce promotional videos for the Net Impact network at large and the 2020 conference. Every interview I conducted reinforced my knowledge that this was the place to be to meet incredible people doing incredible work in the impact space.

In the midst of this worldview-changing, tumultuous, frightening, and inspiring October, we put into action what "acting from our space" means for Centrico Digital: we launched BCentrico. BCentrico is a new brand for our B Corp digital marketing agency (if you don’t know what a B Corporation is, please visit bcorporation.net) to exclusively serve other B Corps and purpose-driven brands.

What are we good at? Digital marketing. How can we use it? Helping businesses and organizations with a direct social impact scale, using digital ads, SEO and stunning graphic design.

Internally, we’re reexamining what diversity means for our company. Our lean team of 18 is diverse in many ways--socioeconomic background, nationality, gender, and sexual orientation. But there’s an area of diversity where we fall short--ethnic diversity. It’s a product of the profile we see: mainly 22-28-year-olds with perfect English, so most have had the opportunity to study in the US or Canada. That’s not exactly a big pool in Quito, Ecuador. So we’re seeking partnerships with organizations that can help diversify our team with indigenous and Afro Ecuadorian talent.

What are we good at? Hiring and training people in digital marketing. How can we use it? Giving youth from historically oppressed and underrepresented groups opportunities in the digital economy.

Whether you’re in Ecuador (or any of the other countless countries facing unrest now) or a more politically stable context, I want to know your answer to these questions:

What are you good at?

How can you use it to make a positive, net impact?

I look forward to reading your comments below.