Social Enterprise in Latin America | Maria Glauser, Co-Founder of The Hub Oaxaca

I had the good fortune to meet with Maria Glauser, Co-Founder of The Hub Oaxaca, via Skype this week. Maria is leading a panel at the upcoming social venture capital/social enterprise conference, Connection Miami. In this video interview, Maria shares insights on Mexican business culture and explains how social entrepreneurs need to consider unique cultural factors when doing business in Latin America. Thank you, Maria, for your time to meet for this interview!

The Full Transcript

Katrina: Thank you so much for joining me, Maria. You are the Co-Director of The Hub in London. However, you are currently in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Maria: Yes, that’s correct. I worked in London for the last five years, before I moved to Oaxaca, Mexico three months ago. In London I was working with a team of people there, particularly Jonathan who is one of the co-founders of The Hub. So it was basically five years of starting up what we thought was a local organization at the beginning. But that inspired other people around the world. And, as you know, there are about fifteen and growing, the number of Hubs around the world – inspired by what we did in London.

Three months ago I came to Oaxaca, which in a way I came back to Latin America where I’m from. I’m originally from Paraguay. So I’m here, helping the team here start up their Hub, supporting them, and in a way “Latin-izing” the experience of The Hub to make sure it’s truly a global organization. Really, adapting the model to the realities of a small city in Mexico.

Katrina:

Fantastic. And what is the landscape of social enterprise as a business model in Mexico, and in Oaxaca specifically?

Maria: It’s completely different. For a business model for the The Hub based in Europe, where space is an issue – any city based in Europe is going to be full of people. So The Hub has a self-sustaining model based on the income of the membership. Whereas in Mexico, space is not an issue, it is full of free spaces, beautiful public spaces. People are used to getting any culture, or support, or any of those things for free. So we really need to re-think the way we’re doing The Hub here to make sure it’s adapted to the local economy but without losing the self-sustainability of the project.

Katrina: And, what got you interested in social enterprise to begin with, Maria? How did you become involved yourself?

Maria: I grew up in a house where that was, where social issues were the topic of every conversation – during lunchtime, evening. Both my mom and my dad were involved in founding fifteen or twenty organizations (like this one: iniciativa-amotocodie.org). It’s only recently or lately since I got to London that I understood more about this social enterprise model where you can combine elements from for-profits and not-for-profits.

Katrina:

Is this a new model in Mexico, or have a lot of Mexican business people been doing it this way for a long time – the idea of bridging business with social impact?

Maria:It’s actually very new. So in Oaxaca particularly the business sector is very small, it’s very traditional. Say, the people who have been in power, or have the businesses, have always had them and they are doing it (business). The social sector is very grassroots. So there’s a big disconnection where the money and power is and where the social sector is. So, I think the challenge and opportunity for The Hub here is to connect both worlds, as we’re proving to be doing fine by coordinating events and engaging the people.

Katrina: And, how did you choose Oaxaca, out of all the places in Latin America you could have started?

Maria: Because of a great writer who lives here. I’m on his rooftop right now. This is his office: Gustavo Esteva and the team here. I had read about them. I read a lot of essays and books he wrote about education and how society could be different, and about autonomy and radical democracy – issues that were really attractive to me for a long time. So when I was in London, about three years ago I decided to come here for a month as a sabbatical to learn all about him and we worked together for awhile. And when I was here I met a group of people who already had the idea of starting something like The Hub, without knowing The Hub, so we connected both ideas.

Katrina:

You’ve been in this sector for quite some time, what insights or lessons learned can you share?

Maria: Advice I can give to people, is to ask. Engage with other people. Conversations and events are a fantastic way of getting to know other people who are interested in the same thing you are.

Katrina: A lot of the things you’re shared are pretty universal, whether you’re in London or Oaxaca or San Francisco – the idea of talking with people and reaching out and collaborating. What are some of the cultural differences from your experience of working in say, London, and in Oaxaca?

Are there any unique cultural differences that social entrepreneurs need to take into consideration beyond the Spanish language?

Maria: Big ones. There are big ones. Particularly around time and timing of projects and engaging. I can tell you about one story, one little story, of a particular event. We were at an event at the newly opened Hub here and there were two people trying to offer advice and support to a member project who was doing a cycling project, part of a cycling movement here. And, he was petrified. There were two girls trying to give him, like “hey, I can give put you in touch with this guy, you can follow up on this, and I’ll send you an email…” And that’s the London way, the northern way of doing things. It’s quick, fast, I just met you and I give you all these contacts, I’m really good, bye. (smile) And the guy was petrified, he could not even answer. So I had to step in and say, “thank you girls, thank you so much, we’ll think about it and see how we do”.

Later on talking with him I understood that according to the culture here, if you don’t spend a day with someone understanding the project that they do, you can’t offer help because it doesn’t work. You need to really respect that, engage with them, praise the work they’re doing, value it, and then think about your own ideas.

Katrina: It’s always great to look at role models and mentors to help us as we’re embarking on new endeavors. Who are your mentors – you mentioned the writer you are staying with now.

Do you have any other mentors or role models who you can talk about and how they’ve influenced your work?

Maria: Well, I think Gustavo Esteva is definitely one, he’s one of my main ones. I think there are going to be many throughout life because we change as well. One of the constant ones, I think, has also been my mom and my dad, just because of their example, and the discipline of persevering. And in terms of inspiration, just everyday people – the members of any Hubs I’ve visited are very inspiring and they are the reason we are bothering, really.

Katrina: Social Venture Capital/Social Enterprise is coming up in Miami in March, and you’re planning to attend. What are you looking forward to most?

Maria: Meeting with my project partners. We’re just about to start a new project, creating a community of Hubs in Latin America. So we’re going to be meeting after many months of not seeing each another. Also, I look forward to hosting our panel, we’re hosting a panel on what we’re doing there [in Latin America] and anyone who’s interested is invited to come co-create with us what this community of Hubs in Latin America might look like, how to adapt the model, what partnerships, what’s the business model around it, what partnerships can we do, who wants to help, who wants to get help. So I think [this conference] is an important meeting point for the region.

Katrina:Wonderful. We’ll look forward to seeing you. Thank you so much for taking the time to meet.

Maria:You’re welcome.

Maria Glauser | Co-Founder, The Hub Oaxaca [Mexico]:

About: Hub Oaxaca seeks to establish a space and a network that connects, supports and inspires those with a passion for creating social change in Oaxaca, in Mexico and beyond. Website: www.huboaxaca.wordpress.com

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