Social Venture Network

Written by Tamara Schweitzer

There couldn’t have been a more fitting close to SVN’s fall conference, especially a weekend dedicated to the theme of “Movers, Shakers, and Changemakers,” than long-time SVN member Lynne Twist speaking about the power of taking a stand and the urgency of our work in creating a just and sustainable world.

That may seem like a redundant or even needless topic to discuss with a room full of changemakers and social innovators, but this wasn’t your typical plenary. Despite being bleary-eyed and exhausted on the last morning of the SVN conference, Twist awakened us all when she described her own transformative experience in taking a stand, one that not only led her to start the Pachamama Alliance, but that was so moving and profound that it really speaks to the essence of what SVN and the collective goals of this community are all about.

Lynne Twist

In fact, the Pachamama Alliance, an organization built on a partnership with the indigenous people of the Amazon to right the wrongs of our planet, came about because of Twist’s involvement with the SVN community. Twist was captivating as she told the story of a calling she had to help the indigenous Achuar people in Ecuador. It was 1994, and she was leading a donor immersion trip in Guatamala with friend and fellow SVN member, John Perkins. It was during a rare session with the local shaman that Twist had a vision of the Achuar people, recognized for the orange geometric shapes they paint on their faces.

Lynne Twist and Deb Nelson

As Twist describes it, the situation going on in South America, much less the remote Amazon, wasn’t even on her radar (and this is someone who had traveled all over the world as an activist and had dedicated her life’s work to ending world hunger). What followed completely turned Twist’s life upside down and led her down an unexpected path. Unable to shake the vision of these indigenous people, she took leave from her work with The Hunger Project and went with John Perkins to go meet the Achuar people of the Amazon. The Achuar are an ancient dream culture who live in harmony with their indigenous land, but increasingly, the interference of the modern world and its consumption of natural resources was becoming devastating to their existence. The hair on my arms was standing straight up when Twist told us her vision had been a calculated effort by the Achuar people to initiate contact with the modern world – and they did it through the minds of people who not only understood the need for a sustainable world, but who could heed the call.

The Pachamama Alliance (“pachamama” meaning Mother Earth in an indigenous language) was formed in 1994 and is recognized as one of the most effective organizations partnering with indigenous people today. When Twist and a group of 12 other people arrived in the remote part of the Amazon to meet the Achuar people more than 15 years ago, their region had been slated for oil development. But, because of the alliance, not only does this rich part of the rainforest remain untouched, but a law has been enacted by the Ecuadorian government giving nature fundamental legal rights. Awarding that kind of legal protection to nature as something to be preserved rather than exploited or destroyed was unprecedented, but now it ensures the indigenous people can maintain their way of life.

The Achuar people:

Twist’s story of the formation of the Pachamama Alliance was incredibly inspiring, and I’m sure many people in the room could relate to that feeling of compulsion to pursue a cause, however Twist came to SVN with a much greater universal message. Her experience with the Achuar people showed her what it really means to take a stand for something. The Achuar people believe deeply in changing the dream of the modern world, one that’s rooted in consumption and acquisition. Twist’s work in the Amazon is about something much bigger – it’s about taking a stand for a just and sustainable world because the modern way of life is not just threatening indigenous regions of our world, but it threatens our entire planet and all of humanity’s well-being.

In that way, Lynne distinguishes between taking a stand and taking a position. “When you truly take a stand, you move from taking a position to having a vision,” Twist says. “When you take a stand, you can hear all the positions and there is room for all the voices to be heard. Once a point of view is truly heard, it can dissolve in service of a higher goal,” she says. For Twist, this has manifested in the launch of a global media campaign called “Four Years. Go,” a campaign to ignite action over the next four years to bring about a more sustainable world and reverse humanity’s devastating course before it’s too late. The members of SVN are already there – you are the people who have committed to doing the work and who have found the solutions that will prevent a catastrophic future for our planet. However, Twist’s message is that the most important work is no longer in finding the solutions but in communicating the urgency of our time.

Four Year. Go. campaign:

A key component of SVN’s mission is in creating community around sustainability. I think Twist’s talk reminded us all of the need to go even further in our work by expanding this community. We all realize that our window of opportunity is closing to reverse the damage done to our planet, and it’s going to take widespread awareness and commitment to create fundamental change in our society. That is the real work of SVN, and the essence of what it means to take a stand.

You can show your support for the “Four Years. Go.” campaign by going to the website, sharing the video, and passing it on to as many people as possible in your networks. You can also become an allied organization and be part of building the collective will of people who are bringing about a just and sustainable world. Or, check out many of the other ways to get involved in changing the course of history. If not now, when?