Promoting Peace Through Commerce sounds like a great mission – if you know what this means. It is especially galvanizing if one understands how to pursue this mission.
Before explaining what the IBC does, it’s probably helpful to begin by first explaining what Peace Through Commerce even means.
Peace Through Commerce is the concept that strengthening economic bonds and cooperation between two countries, two regions, two states, or even two individuals removes the alienating struggle over scarce resources and replaces it with a cooperative pursuit of resource maximization. At its core, it is the belief that market forces can empower individuals to break the cycle of dependency and empower individuals to lift themselves out of poverty. Ultimately, it is the vision that commerce can lead to the eradication of poverty and the universal spread of peace.
In the spirit of this vision, the IBC was founded as a spin-off of a student group at the University of Notre Dame (the Notre Dame Council on International Business Development) which was itself founded over twenty years ago through the generosity of Notre Dame alum, Frank Potenziani, whose generosity continues today.
What role does the IBC play in this pursuit of Peace Through Commerce?
At its inception, the Council functioned as a professional networking and social group that provided members with opportunities to mentor students. Today, the organization executes on its mission by providing business consulting services to entrepreneurs in emerging markets. Our ideal engagements involve partners where we can do one or both of the following:
1. Act as a counter-part to a micro-finance organization by helping loan recipients maximize the value of the money that they’ve received.
2. Partner with organizations active in conflict zones, where the struggle over scarce resources has lead to violence and repression
Generally, our engagements involve members advising entrepreneurs on business fundamentals, from marketing to accounting to strategy. We advise on go-to-market strategies, assist with the creation of business plans, provide simple business training, and help write marketing plans. Our engagements can involve in-country work and remote work. In country, we work hand-in-hand with the NGO, MFI, or entrepreneurs themselves. When working remotely, we form virtual teams, which telecommute from around the US and bridge the gap of geographic distance through the use of email, web chats, and Skype.
The objective of each engagement is to provide entrepreneurs with the tools & skills they need to improve their own situation, to find ways to work with those previously viewed as competition for scarce resources, and to identify better ways to help themselves. At its simplest, the goal is to “teach a man to fish” while creating a more productive industry.
Before an engagement can start, a small IBC committee evaluates potential partners and, through a due diligence process, defines what the project should look like, and what the ultimate deliverables should be. Once the project is defined, the IBC’s membership is notified of opportunities for involvement, and a team is pulled together to execute on the engagement. A typical engagement can last 2-4 months and, depending on the project, could involve a trip to visit the entrepreneur or organization with whom the project team is working. Previous teams have traveled to Haiti, Cambodia, and Central America.
International Business Council
Social Enterprise
• Consulting engagements
• Partnership development
University Relations
• Mentoring
• Liaison
• Recruiting
Operations
• Marketing (promotions, branding, web dev, social media)
• Recruiting
• Fundraising
• Event planning
These projects are contained and managed within the IBC’s Social Enterprise Division. Besides the Social Enterprise Division, members have opportunities to advance the mission of the IBC by participating in the University Relations and Operations divisions. University Relations engages partner universities, today the University of Notre Dame, the University of San Diego, and Benedictine College, to mentor students and foster cross-pollination of ideas.
The Operations group is responsible for recruiting, fundraising, and promoting the IBC. Division members develop marketing materials, develop and maintain the IBC’s website, and plan and promote annual events held around the country to provide networking and social opportunities for members and the community.
The IBC is small but growing rapidly and actively seeks people interested in taking leadership roles in global economic development and cooperation. More than any other organization I know, it gives business professionals opportunities to volunteer their time in the most fundamentally valuable way—by using their professional skill set to train and advise others. These teams of professionals create knowledge sharing arenas and provide opportunities for unlikely partners to learn from each other in a non-paternalistic and professional manner.
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