Qiujing Wong: The four ingredients of social change

Tariana Turia addresses the Leaders in Flight event hosted by the Be Institute to celebrate the launch of the Fab 50 accessibility movement and the graduation of the 2014 Be Leaders. Photo / Supplied

In her first monthly column, co-founder of Borderless Qiujing Wong tells the stories of successful social change movements. This month she profiles Be. Accessible.

One of the great attributes of humankind is our curiosity of, and desire for, better ways of being and doing. Calls for social change reach us every day from every direction. The challenge is to navigate our way through the 'noise' to identify a Great Idea from the rest.

One such Great Idea worth shining a light on is an initiative borne out of the call for change to the way one in four of us who lives with a disability (access needs), experiences our society, and the world.

The Be. Accessible social movement, started in New Zealand by Minnie Baragwanath in 2011, promises a brighter future for any person with access needs.

Three years later, we're seeing changes happen - employers are opening their minds to a wider range of workforce options, businesses are changing their physical infrastructure and cultures to be more inclusive and accessible, and we're witnessing a growing number of leaders with a disability taking up positions in mainstream communities across New Zealand. You could say the future now looks much brighter with this movement underway.

How has Be. Accessible managed to create and drive change, and what can we learn from great social movements like this?

Every Great Idea - just like Be. Accessible - is much more than just that.
My observation is that it needs four key ingredients; public and political will, a mobilising lens to activate greater collective action, capability of leadership and team, and a compelling vision and story.

Qiujing Wong

This was brought to life at a recent celebration ceremony for Be. Accessible Leaders by Hon Tariana Turia, former Minister for Disabilities, who said: "Inspiration is found in abundance in the Be. Institute. One of the most exciting approaches to transformation has been that which I have witnessed with Be. Accessible.

"In my eighteen years in Parliament, I came across many passionate individuals with projects which impressed me as I saw the many sacrifices made to improve outcomes.But with Be. Accessible, it is the whole package."

The overarching philosophy used throughout the Be. Accessible movement is to base the focus on value, strengths and contribution of us all, including those with a disability or access need.

Looking at it this way, we notice that the innovations, enhanced diversity, cultural richness, problem-solving skills, and economic value is significant and worth responding to.

That's where the Be. movement makes sense to businesses and communities.
With its unifying qualities, the Be. Accessible vision is simply that New Zealand becomes the best place in the world to Be. What New Zealander wouldn't hope for that?

Dean Easterbrook and I chose to create Borderless nine years ago. Our dream was to develop a company that is both a leader and supporter of those who wish to make a positive difference. It has been an evolutionary journey but an extraordinarily rewarding one.

A similar approach to the Be. Accessible campaign was taken when Borderless initiated the international social change film and campaign, A Grandmother's Tribe, nearly eight years ago.

The Great Idea was to support grandmothers in sub- Saharan Africa raising their orphaned grandchildren since losing their own children to HIV/AIDS. The movement began after building a community of interest and activating a network of 200 grandmother groups across Canada using the film as a catalyst.

Through a partnership with the Stephen Lewis Foundation, the initiative has remained alive and well, and the movement has delivered life-saving results to more than 450 grandmother groups in sub-Saharan Africa. The timing and will was the no-brainer; it was well overdue, the capability was created through an unexpected partnership, the problem was easily re-framed into an opportunity to change lives by supporting the grandmothers, and the vision remains simple - children are one third of our population and all of our future; through the grandmothers each one of them has a fair chance at life.

Qiujing Wong is the CEO and co-Founder of Borderless, a social change company activating change through storytelling and social movements. In 2012 Qiujing was awarded a Blake Leadership Medal by the Sir Peter Blake Trust and in 2014 she was a finalist in the Women of Influence Awards for her contribution to leadership, entrepreneurship and social change. Visit borderless.co.nz to learn more.

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