Now that we are beginning to talk more about topics such as Social Innovation, it is important to say how valuable the power of alliances can be to work towards a common goal and generate a positive impact on our environment. From my personal perspective, I can say that this statement is as true as it is valuable because I have verified it directly.
To be more clear about what I am telling you, I must explain the definition of social innovation that, according to the Stanford Graduate School of Business, describes it as “the process of developing and deploying effective solutions to social or environmental problems in search of social progress. Social innovation is not the prerogative or privilege of any organization or legal structure. The solutions require the active collaboration of those who compose it, be they individuals, government or companies, all non-profit”.
This description fits perfectly into what various Hermosillo organizations, companies, and citizens have been developing with the “Ahora Nos toca” collective since last July 2020. The initiative arose in the midst of a pandemic to support the economic reactivation of Hermosillo through public awareness. Our initial value proposition was to help prevent infections through awareness, with the purpose of building in people the values of awareness and responsibility. We seek that the rules of conduct that are repeated to us every day by different means, such as wearing a face covering, maintaining social distance and reinforcing hygiene, among others, are understood as what they represent: small changes in habits that depend only on us to take care of the people who surround us and who we love.
What was very clear to us from the beginning is that to achieve these objectives we needed the combined efforts of all areas of civil society; For this reason, we gave ourselves the task of inviting, calling, sharing contacts and making calls in order to gather a network of proactive and purposeful allies of more than 70 organizations, companies, business chambers, the media, collectives, foundations and citizens who, Working in an organized manner, we managed to manage and carry out activities on different fronts. It is in this part of the actions where you can see the good results of collaborative work. Contributing all from our networks of influence we have achieved, in addition to the personal satisfaction of giving, the wide dissemination of our message in traditional and digital media, the construction of beautiful urban murals, the realization of various experiential activities, the organization of illustration contests , short film, story and drawing with a great call that also reached other municipalities in the state, and which will soon be reflected in an anthology book. All this, I repeat, thanks to the good will, time, donations in kind and pro bono contributions of the members.
The truth is, we never sized up a pandemic situation like the one we are experiencing and the impact it continues to have on all sectors. Starting from the fact that it is not sustainable to return to confinement neither in social nor economic matters; The challenge for all of us who make up the “Ahora Nos Toca” initiative continues to be influencing people’s habits to become aware of the importance of our actions, and in the search for building a better citizenship.
We know that achieving change towards a more responsible, supportive and empathetic culture requires everyone’s effort. It is a personal responsibility product of awareness and motivation; For this reason, we assume the commitment to support the objective of heading towards this new culture, working hand in hand with all those who seek the same thing and, although there is much to be done, we are convinced that it can be achieved through alliances. And because freedom is the product of responsibility, now it’s our turn. Learn more at www.ahoranostoca.mx
The author is a managing partner of Digitocreativo Publicidad SC and current president of the Sonoran Advertising Association, ASPAC.
Guadalupe Zuniga Elizalde
Email: presidencia@aspac.mx