Mental health issues represent a significant challenge, affecting millions of people. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 450 million people live with a mental health problempositioning these among the main causes of illness and disability worldwide.
Social entrepreneurship is a stimulating fieldwhich is exciting, but presents challenges. Solving root problems by caring for the most vulnerable people can be titanic. Added to this are vital situations such as overcoming a crisis after motherhood due to the difficulty in conciliation, having lived for many years with the pain of suffering gender violence, the stress of dedicating your life to others, having to deal with a team and the challenges that this humanistic leadership entails.
Chronic illnesses, painful separations, dysfunctional homes, gender exclusion, involuntary migrations, economic disasters, the illness of a child… They are all life situations that can be magnified in the case of a social entrepreneur, because his life, dedicated to seeking the well-being of others, is obsessed with solving a social problem, and with structural ideas to do so.
[Más de 450.000 bajas por salud mental en España en menos de un año: “En algunos sectores cuesta pedir ayuda”]
From revolutionizing school cafeterias to create a sustainable model to preventing rare diseases with artificial intelligence. This can be seen in the life stories of many Ashoka Fellows from Spain. A study by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship reveals that More than 40% of social entrepreneurs face challenges related to their well-being and mental health, and report high levels of stress and exhaustion.
This usually translates into physical and emotional ailments. Also in a kind of detachment of themselves, of their family and social environment, which distances them from a balanced lifestyle, both materially and spiritually. For many of them, the Covid-19 pandemic and its different consequences caused this situation to intensify. And, in certain cases, Their conditions worsened to the point that they had an impact on their organizations. and their ability to innovate, collaborate and generate change.
In view of this, Ashoka Spain and Portugal, the organization that has the largest network of social entrepreneurs, within the framework of its alliance with IKEA Spain, has developed the program Beyond well-being to offer tools and practices to help improve your well-being.
One of the tools that has originated from this initiative has been the Wellbeing Atlas. This report compiles both the learnings and reflections from the first edition of the “Beyond Wellbeing” program, as well as conclusions and experiences extracted from in-depth interviews about the life stories of some of the social entrepreneurs who participated in the program. .
“This document is a valuable guide to understanding sector-specific challengesry offers practical solutions to maintain well-being while pursuing objectives of social change,” says Mireya Vargas, the author of the text. Vargas has been an Ashoka social entrepreneur since 1998 and fellow from the Distinguished Career Institute at Stanford University (2019).
She has been dedicated to research, social innovation and consulting in entrepreneurship and sustainable development in Latin America for more than 30 years, especially dedicated in the last fifteen years to psychological well-being and human development.
Ana Bella Estévez, Francisco Díaz, José Mari Luzárraga, María Almazán, Marta Pérez and Pablo Santaeufemia have been the six Ashoka Fellows interviewed to complement the learning of the program Beyond well-being and other initiatives related to mental health and well-being in general. These become especially relevant by demonstrating how personal well-being directly influences the success and sustainability of social entrepreneurship.
Rise after pain
Ana Bella Estévez transformed her experience of domestic violence into the creation of a global support network for women survivors called the Ana Bella Foundation. Despite her success in connecting 50,000 women in 88 countries, she faced a painful epiphany about his own well-being in 2014.
[Quizás aún no lo sepas, pero eres un emprendedor social]
An Ashoka global meeting on wellness led her to question her personal neglect and shift your focus toward more holistic self-care. This eventually improved his leadership and impacted the sustainability of his foundation.
Innovation from empathy
Francisco Díaz grew up in an environment of generosity in Extremadura. And, therefore, he found in architecture, and later in technology, means to improve the lives of others.
Her project, Self-manufacturers, focuses on accessible technological solutions, such as 3D prosthetics for children. However, The frenetic pace of work taught him, forcibly, the importance of setting limits. His path to a healthier balance began when he realized that it was necessary to take care of himself in order to take care of others.
From social to spiritual education
José Mari Luzárraga, co-founder of Mondragon Team Academy (MTA), has transformed his experience in the business sector into a global educational platform for young people who solve challenges in their environment through team entrepreneurship. With a focus on collaborative learning and social innovation, it emphasizes the importance of mental health and well-being in entrepreneurial education.
[El día después de la ‘gran dimisión’: ¿qué han hecho quienes dejaron su trabajo?]
His own experience of suffering from a serious illness showed him that The path of spirituality and love of family are central to good living. It also became clear to him that the prosperity of any initiative depends on both personal and professional growth.
The fabric of emotional life
María Almazán left a promising career in the fashion industry for her disagreement with unsustainable practices and unethical practices he witnessed. He founded Latitude to promote a sustainable textile value chain.
The road was not easy. He had to face challenges ranging from exhaustion to rejection by his board of directors when he decided prioritize your motherhood. The support of Ashoka’s program and his own commitment to holistic well-being have been key to teaching him to connect with his own emotional life, prioritize the family, and maintain his integrity and effective leadership.
Sport that connects and heals improvement
Since she was a child, Marta Pérez was interested in sports and social justice. These passions led her to create the Second Part Foundation, dedicated to sport adapted for people with acquired brain damage.
However, the pressure of leading an organization and being a mother plunged her into an anxiety crisis that forced her to reconsider her pace of life. Your participation in the project Beyond Wellbeing (MAB) at Ashoka was crucial in learning to balance her personal and professional life, and integrating wellness as a pillar in her organization.
Entrepreneurship and full acceptance
Pablo Santaeufemia began his social journey with Bridge for Billions, a platform that democratizes access to entrepreneurship. Despite his initial success, his neglect of his personal well-being brought him to the brink of exhaustion.
After an emergency operation, he has begun to value his own health as much as his company. He learned the importance of leading not only with ambition, but also with empathy and self-care.
[La Fundación Ashoka España y Portugal presenta a los cinco ‘Emprendedores Sociales’ del 2023]
The stories of each of these change agents teach that Personal well-being is not a luxury, but a critical need for sustainable success in social entrepreneurship. Their personal journeys have not only transformed their lives, but have permeated their organizations, where there is now a culture of care that they extend to their communities and teams.
For this reason, Ashoka works to change the narratives so that they consider emotional life. The identity of social entrepreneurs must include the search for your own well-being in order to redefine the success of your ventures. Preparing the next generation of social entrepreneurs to take on these changes is an unavoidable and urgent task that must begin now.
*** Victoria de la Mora is responsible for the Ashoka Fellowship and Mar Bombardo, Ashoka Communication analyst.
